Sexual Hookups and Alcohol Consumption Among African American and Caucasian College Students: A Pilot Study.

The Journal of Psychology Interdisciplinary and Applied

ISSN: 0022-3980 (Print) 1940-1019 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjrl20

Sexual Hookups and Alcohol Consumption Among African American and Caucasian College Students: A Pilot Study Lisa Thomson Ross, Stephanie Zeigler, Amy M. Kolak & Dryden Epstein To cite this article: Lisa Thomson Ross, Stephanie Zeigler, Amy M. Kolak & Dryden Epstein (2015) Sexual Hookups and Alcohol Consumption Among African American and Caucasian College Students: A Pilot Study, The Journal of Psychology, 149:6, 582-600, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2014.946461 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2014.946461

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The Journal of Psychology, 2015, 149(6), 582–600 C 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Copyright doi: 10.1080/00223980.2014.946461

Sexual Hookups and Alcohol Consumption Among African American and Caucasian College Students: A Pilot Study LISA THOMSON ROSS STEPHANIE ZEIGLER AMY M. KOLAK DRYDEN EPSTEIN College of Charleston

ABSTRACT. This study investigated college students’ sexual hooking up and its associations with alcohol consumption for men and women; furthermore, potential differences related to ethnicity were investigated. Students at a midsized southeastern university who identified as Caucasian or African American (N = 227) completed a survey assessing sexual behavior, demographics, and alcohol consumption. Heavy drinking was associated with ever hooking up, number of hookup partners, hookup frequency, and level of sexual contact during hooking up for Caucasian students, but not for their African American peers. Among Caucasians, moderate drinking men reported more intense sexual contact during hookups than their female peers who were moderate drinkers; sexual contact levels were more similar for men and women who were either nondrinkers or heavy drinkers. Limitations and strengths are discussed, as are ideas for future studies on hooking up and for educational efforts to protect against potentially negative outcomes of hooking up. Keywords: hooking up, casual sex, alcohol, college students

COLLEGE IS NOTED AS AN ENVIRONMENT where emerging adults are likely to explore their sexuality, often for the first time (Fielder & Carey, 2010a). Overall, sexual behavior is prevalent among college students, and there appears to be decreased expectations of a current or future relationship as a context for this sexual activity (Stinson, 2010). Hooking up is defined as “a sexual interaction between two partners who expect no romantic commitment” (Fielder & Carey, 2010a, p. 1105). Hooking up is often termed synonymously with casual sex, yet hooking up may include nonintercourse sexual activity. Address correspondence to Lisa Thomson Ross, Department of Psychology, College of Charleston, 66 George Street, Charleston, SC 29424, USA; [email protected] (e-mail). 582


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This study investigates the role of alcohol, specifically heavy drinking, in college students’ hookups, as well as potential differences related to sex and ethnicity. Upward of 81% of students report hooking up at least once (Lambert, Kahn & Apple, 2003; Paul & Hayes, 2002), and these interactions seem to occur more often with friends or acquaintances than with strangers (Fielder & Carey, 2010b). Fielder and Carey (2010a) found 33% of the participants reported an oral sex hookup encounter and 28% reported a vaginal sex hookup encounter during their first semester, when students are first adjusting to college life and social norms. Stinson (2010) argues that “hooking up, or casual ‘no strings attached’ sexual encounters, has become the normative heterosexual relationship on college campuses” (p. 98), while others such as Fielder, Carey, and Carey (2013) assert hookups are less common than sexual activity within dating relationships. Alcohol consumption is frequently cited as a correlate of hooking up among college students (Fielder & Carey, 2010a; Garneau, Olmstead, Pasley, & Fincham, 2013; Lewis, Granato, Blayney, Lostutter, & Kilmer, 2012; Owen, Rhoades, Stanley, & Fincham, 2010). Fielder and Carey (2010b) found that a majority of first-semester hookups (64%) involved alcohol use (median = 3 drinks). Alcohol intoxication appears more strongly associated with sexual intercourse hookups than non-coital hookups (Paul, McManus, & Hayes, 2000) and may increase the likelihood of hookups among college women more so than among college men (Owen, Fincham, & Moore, 2011). One study found attending sorority and fraternity parties and drinking at such events was associated with having sex with a stranger (Bersamin, Paschall, Saltz, & Zamboanga, 2012). Thus, we generated a series of hypotheses related to alcohol and hooking up. Specifically, we predicted that heavier drinking would be positively associated with: 1) whether students ever hooked up; 2) the number of times in the past year students hooked up; 3) the number of hookup partners in the past year; and 4) the degree of sexual contact during hookups. Expectancies and personality both help explain the association between drinking and hooking up. Leigh, Aramburu, and Norris (1992) found men (but not women) thought characters in vignettes who meet at a party were sexier when they were drinking beer. George and colleagues (1997) found that college students presume that the more intoxicated other college students are, the more willing and available they are to have sex. Justus, Finn, and Steinmetz (2000) concluded the association between drinking and sex with strangers is explained in large part because both are correlated with disinhibited personality traits, especially excitement. It seems alcohol’s disinhibitory effects contribute to an “excuse” function by which college students are able to attribute their uncharacteristic sexual behavior as permissible (Leigh & Aramburu, 1996). A qualitative study of campus drinkers found many students use alcohol to explain or justify their hooking up experiences, which Vander Ven and Beck (2009) termed “casual coupling events.” It is presumed that men are more sexually experienced than women. Studies based on community samples of young adults (Eisenberg, Ackard, Resnick, &


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Neumark-Sztainer, 2009) as well as samples of college students (Grello, Welsh, & Harper, 2006; Regan & Dreyer, 1999; Owen et al., 2010) have found that men are more likely to hook up than women. However, Petersen and Hyde (2011) concluded in their most recent meta-analysis that men report only slightly higher rates of having sexual intercourse and only slightly more sex partners than women, and others have failed to find sex differences pertaining to casual sex (Herold & Mewhinney, 1993). It is interesting to note that Paul and colleagues (2000) found more college men reported hookups involving sexual intercourse, but more college women reported noncoital hookups. Given previous findings, the present study tested a set of hypotheses pertaining to gender and hookup experiences. Specifically, we predicted that compared to women, men would report the following: 1) higher rates of ever hooking up; 2) greater frequency of hookups; 3) greater number of hookup experiences, and 4) more intense activity during hookups. In addition to potential differences between men and women, it is important to consider potential ethnic group differences, which at this point in time are somewhat contradictory. Owen and colleagues (2010) found that college students of color were significantly less likely to have hooked up compared to Caucasian students. In a study by Paul and colleagues (2000), similar comments were made by African American focus group participants who suggested sexual interactions with strangers were uncommon in their community, and when acquaintances did engage in sexual relations, romantic relationships often ensued. In contrast, in a community sample of young adults, African American males were more likely than Caucasian males to report their most recent sexual partner was a casual partner; this difference was not found for women (Eisenberg et al., 2009). Others have investigated ethnicity and found it unrelated to sexual hookups in the past year (Fielder, Walsh, Carey, & Carey, 2013). Thus, results pertaining to ethnic differences for casual sex are contradictory. Few researchers have examined whether ethnic groups differ with regard to drinking as a risk factor for hooking up. National studies consistently conclude that African American adolescents drink less and/or less often than Caucasians (Bachman, O’Malley, Johnston, Schulenberg, & Wallace, 2011; O’Malley, Johnston, & Bachman, 1998) and the same is found in studies of college students (Barnes, Welte, Hoffman, & Tidwell, 2010; Despues & Friedman, 2007; Ernst, Hogan, Vallas, Cook, & Fuller, 2009; Poulson, Bradshaw, Huff, Peebles & Hilton, 2008). However, studies examining ethnic differences in alcohol as a contributor to sexually hooking up are much less common and are inconclusive. One study suggested Caucasians are more likely than African Americans or Latino Americans to consume alcohol and consequently engage in casual sex (Kahler, Read, Wood, & Palfai, 2003), yet Espinosa-Hern´andez and Lefkowitz (2009) found no ethnic differences in alcohol use before or during sexual experiences. DiIorio, Dudley, and Soet (1998) asked college students “how often do you drink alcohol before you have sex?” and found the highest rates for Caucasian men and women, and


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the lowest rate among African American women. Unfortunately, their question did not differentiate how well they knew their sexual partner(s). There are many variations with students’ hooking up behaviors. When considering sex and ethnicity variables, it seems young men are more likely to hook up than are young women, but it is unclear whether African American college students hook up as often as their Caucasian peers. Alcohol consumption seems consistently linked to hooking up; however, what is not clear is whether drinking habits relate to hooking up similarly for African American and Caucasian students. Due to contradictions in past findings, the present study explored potential differences for African American and Caucasian students; however, no predictions were made with regard to main effects or interactions with drinking or sex. In summary, hooking up appears to be a common experience for college students, and alcohol use is consistently associated with this behavior. Although past research documents that men have more hookup experiences than women, whether there are ethnic group differences is not clear, nor is it clear whether alcohol is associated with hooking up for students of color as well as for Caucasian students. This study seeks to expand the existing literature regarding drinking, gender, ethnicity, and hooking up among young adults.

Method Participants Students (N = 260, M = 19.1 years, ages 18 to 25) at a southeastern university completed a survey for research credit in their introductory psychology course. Several participatory options (studies including this one) as well as nonparticipatory options (summarizing brief journal articles) were offered for their research credit. The largest two groups were Caucasian (n = 197) and African American (n = 30). Students who identified with another ethnic identity (10 Asian, 10 Hispanic, and 13 who identified with another ethnicity) did not constitute groups that were large enough to be considered separately for analyses. We did not presume that all non-Caucasians would have similar hookup experiences, so we decided against combining all students of color into a unified non-Caucasian comparison group. Therefore, we only retained the 227 African American and Caucasian students for the current report. Of these 227 participants, more women (N = 153) than men (N = 74) completed the survey. The ratio of women to men in the survey is proportional to the ratio of women to men at this institution; however, the sample over-represents the percentage of African American students. Data were collected during several semesters; students who were not Caucasian females were targeted for recruitment during the last three semesters in attempt to diversify the sample. The ages and male-female breakdown did not differ between African American and Caucasian groups.

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Materials The survey contained demographic items and questions regarding recent (past 30 days) frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption (Hilton & Clark, 1987). Students were asked “How many days in the past 30 did you drink beer, wine, wine coolers, or liquor?” as well as “Think of one drink as meaning 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, a 10 ounce wine cooler, or one ounce of liquor. On the days that you drank alcohol in the past 30 days, how many drinks did you usually have per day?” We combined responses to these quantity and frequency of drinking variables into one multiplicative variable to represent heavy alcohol consumption. The resulting variable had a range of 0 to 240 and the distribution of scores was kurtotic (i.e., greater than 2; West, Finch, & Curran, 1996); therefore, it was modified such that those cases in the upper 10% of the range (with scores from 80 to 240) were recoded as having a score of 80. The kurtosis value dropped from the original variable (6.15) to an acceptable level for the new variable (–.97). For some analyses, this heavy drinking variable was the basis of a trichotomous variable (nondrinkers versus lighter drinkers versus heavier drinkers) created for Caucasians. A similar variable was created for African Americans, however due to less variability in drinking (i.e., there were no heavy drinking African American women using the original trichotomous categorization), this became a dichotomous drinking variable (nondrinkers versus drinkers). The survey also included several questions to assess sexual and hooking up behaviors based on prior research by Eshbaugh and Gute (2008), and Paul et al. (2000). Participants were given this description: “For the purposes of this study, hooking up is defined as a sexual encounter between two people who may or may not know each other well, but who usually are not seriously dating” and were asked to respond to four questions about their hooking up behavior. The first question, “Have you ever hooked up?” required a “yes” or “no” response from the participant. The second question, “During the past year, how many hookup partners have you had?” required the respondent to provide a number. The original variable was kurtotic (11.26); therefore, the variable was modified such that those cases in the upper 5% of the range (10 to 30 partners) were recoded as having a score of 10, which now represents 10 or more partners and the resulting kurtosis value was acceptable (1.33). For the third question “How often have you hooked up during the past year?” respondents chose from the following responses: 1 = rarely, only once or twice, 2 = every other month, 3 = every month, 4 = frequently, every few weeks, and 5 = very frequently, on a weekly basis. This item was followed by a question that asked “During the times that you have hooked up, have you engaged in any of these behaviors? (circle all that apply).” The responses were 1 (kissing), 2 (touching above the waist), 3 (touching below the waist), 4 (oral sex), and 5 (sexual intercourse). Students were categorized according to the “highest” level of their hookup contact (none, touching only, oral sex, and intercourse). Only 8 students circled their hookup experience was based on kissing; one of these


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students circled no other activities and was placed in the “none” category, and the remaining 7 indicated additional activities and were placed into those respective groups. For the questions inquiring about the number of partners and frequency of hookups, those who had no such experiences were allowed to skip these questions on the survey, yet for the purposes of data analysis their responses were coded as zero partners or zero hookup experiences. This allowed the focus of the study to be on college students and their experiences rather than only on college students who engage in sexually hooking up. In order for the researchers to control for social desirability, students completed a condensed 13-item version of the Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Ballard, 1992). A sample item is “I have never deliberately said something that hurt someone’s feelings” and participants responded on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Higher scores reflect a stronger tendency to present oneself in an unrealistically favorable light. In this sample the reliability was moderate (α = .72). Procedure The protocol for this study was approved by the college’s Institutional Review Board. The survey was pilot tested on a small number of students to check for clarity of items and to verify it could be completed within one hour. Students were then invited via the Psychology Department subject pool website to participate in a survey that included questions about their feelings, opinions, and behavior. Before beginning the survey, students were ensured of their anonymity and were told of the voluntary nature of their research participation. Participants were also invited to skip any questions that made them feel uncomfortable. After reading a brief introductory script, the students were given two informed consent forms, one that was signed and returned to the researcher and one for them to keep. After distributing the survey packets, students were instructed to complete the survey in as much time as necessary and to sit quietly until every participant was finished. They were then asked to place their informed consent sheets into a box separate from the survey packet once all surveys were completed. Prior to dismissing the session, the researcher read a debriefing statement, took questions, and offered contact information for relevant community and campus resources in case any students may have felt discomfort as a result of completing the survey. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS. Results Prevalence of Hooking Up Overall, a majority of students (67%) reported ever hooking up. In a separate question regarding hookups in the past year, 38% reported not hooking up, 14%

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reported touching, 7% reported oral sexual contact, and 41% reported sexual intercourse as the highest level of contact with their hookup partner. Preliminary Analyses Prior to testing hypotheses, we tested all variables of interest for social desirability bias. Social desirability correlated slightly but significantly with the frequency of hookups in the past year (r = –.14, p < .05, N = 222), the number of hookup partners (r = –.19, p < .01, N = 222), and with the intensity of hookup contact (r = –.16, p < .05, N = 222). Social desirability was more strongly correlated with the heavy drinking variable (r = –.27, p < .01, N = 219). A paired t-test revealed slightly higher social desirability scores among women (M = 2.46, SD = .44) than men (M = 2.61, SD = .42), t (220) = –2.43, p < .05; however, social desirability scores did not differ for African American and Caucasian students. Given that social desirability was consistently associated with sexual behavior, drinking behavior, and gender, all analyses included social desirability as a covariate. Five students had missing data on the social desirability scale; therefore, analyses from this point forward are based on this subsample of 222 students. Alcohol and Hookups The heavy drinking variable was compared for students based on whether or not they reported ever hooking up. This ANCOVA revealed a significant difference, F (1, 216) = 29.73, p < .001, such that students who reported ever hooking up were heavier drinkers (M = 41.57, SD = 42.20) than students who reported never hooking up (M = 12.61, SD = 18.47). Partial correlations controlling for social desirability revealed that each hookup variable correlated strongly with heavy drinking, as shown in Table 1. Together, the ANCOVA and correlations support our first hypothesis. Furthermore, the partial correlations revealed that all hooking up variables (i.e., number of hookup partners in the last year, number of hookup episodes [i.e., how often one has hooked up] in the past year, and intensity of hookup contact) were strongly associated with one another. Given that these hookup variables were intercorrelated, MANCOVAS were selected to test gender and ethnic differences. Sex and Ethnicity Differences Significantly more male than female students reported ever hooking up (80% versus 61%), X 2 (N = 225) = 7.45 p < .01. As for details regarding hooking up in the prior year, a MANCOVA was performed to determine whether there were sex differences for these variables taken together. The MANCOVA yielded significant main effects for sex, F (3, 217) = 4.19, p < = .01, partial eta2 = .055. In order to investigate which variables differed between men and women, follow up ANCOVAs were performed. These ANCOVAs revealed gender differences on all 3 variables. As shown in Table 2, men reported more partners, more frequency,

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TABLE 1. Partial Correlations (Controlling for Social Desirability) Among Hooking Up Behaviors and Heavy Drinking (N = 216)


1 1. Number of hookup partners in past year 2. Frequency of hookups in past year 3. Level of hookup contact in past year 4. Recent heavy drinking M SD ∗p

2

3

4

— .67∗

—

.50∗

.73∗

—

.56∗ 2.53 4.24

.59∗ 1.48 1.59

.51∗ 1.49 1.36

— 27.97 28.27

< .001.

and more intensity in their past year hookups than did women. These findings supported our second hypothesis. There was a significant relationship between ethnicity and ever hooking up, X 2 (N = 225) = 4.59, p < = .05. African American students were evenly split on whether or not they had done so, however a majority (70%) of Caucasian students reported ever hooking up. The MANCOVA yielded significant main effects for sex on hooking up details in the prior year, F (3, 217) = 4.39, p < .01, partial eta2 = .057. As shown in Table 3, follow-up ANCOVAs revealed the groups differed on two variables: number of partners and frequency of hookups. Caucasians reported more partners, and hooking up more frequently than did their African American

TABLE 2. Sex Differences (Controlling for Social Desirability) for Hooking Up Behaviors (N = 222) Men (n = 71) M (SD)

Women (n = 151) M (SD)

(df) F

Number of hookup partners 3.11 (3.31) 1.80 (2.58) (1, 221) 7.99∗ in prior year Frequency of hookups in 1.96 (1.62) 1.30 (1.54) (1, 221) 6.97∗ prior year Intensity of hookup contact 1.97 (1.30) 1.26 (1.33) (1, 221) 11.46∗∗ in prior year ∗p

< .01. ∗∗ p < .001.

Partial eta2 .035 .031 .050

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TABLE 3. Ethnicity Differences (Controlling for Social Desirability) for Hooking Up Behaviors (N = 222)


African Americans Caucasians (n = 30) (n = 192) M (SD) M (SD) Number of hookup partners in prior year Frequency of hookups in prior year Intensity of hookup contact in prior year ∗p

(df) F

Partial eta2

0.63 (0.89)

2.47 (3.01) (1, 221) 10.39∗∗ .045

0.67 (1.02)

1.64 (1.62) (1, 221) 9.63∗

.042

1.13 (1.36)

1.55 (1.35) (1, 221) 2.14

.010

< .01. ∗∗ p < .001.

peers. Caucasian and African American students did not significantly differ with regard to hookup intensity. The ANCOVA examining potential ethnic differences on heavy drinking was significant, F (1, 218) = 21.71, p = .001, partial eta2 = .09. Caucasian students reported heavier drinking (M = 31.37, SD = 28.62) than did their African American peers (M = 6.56, SD = 12.26). Hookups and Alcohol: Sex and Ethnicity Comparisons Although a test of the full model was planned (ethnicity by sex by three levels of drinking on hookup partners, episodes, and degree of contact, controlling for social desirability), there were no heavy drinking African American females. Therefore, how alcohol and sex related to hooking up was investigated separately for African American and Caucasian students, using the two-level categorization

TABLE 4. Sex by Drinking Interaction for Level of Hookup Contact Among Caucasian Students (n = 189) Recent Drinking Level Intensity of Hookup Contact Men (n = 63) Women (n = 126)

None (n = 33) M (SD)

Lower (n = 82) M (SD)

Higher (n = 74) M (SD)

.00 (.00) .42 (.85)

2.17 (1.19) 0.93 (1.14)

2.33 (1.13) 2.41 (1.09)

Note. Pillai’s F [2,188] = 8.35. p < .01. Partial eta2 = .08.

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of drinking for African Americans and the three-level drinking categorization for Caucasians. Ever Hooked Up Among African American students, the 2 (sex) by 2 (ever hooked up) MANCOVA to examine drinking differences yielded no significant findings. Among Caucasians, this MANCOVA yielded significant main effects for sex F (1, 187) = 4.12, p < .05, partial eta2 = .02 and for hookup status, F (1, 187) = 28.02, p < .001, partial eta2 = .13, but no interaction. Men (M = 33.04, SE = 3.80) reported heavier drinking than women (M = 23.97, SD = 2.34) and those who ever hooked up (M = 40.32, SE = 2.29) reported heavier drinking than those who have not hooked up (M = 16.70, SE = 3.82). Hookup Details Among African Americans, the 2 (sex) by 2 (drinking level) MANCOVA did not detect any main effects or interactions for the group of hookup activity details (hookup partners, episodes, intensity of contact). Among Caucasians, there was a significant sex by drinking level interaction (Pillai’s F [6,362] = 4.79, p < .01, partial eta2 = .07) as well as a main effect for drinking level (Pillai’s F [6,362] = 15.25, p < .01, partial eta2 = .20). Follow-up ANCOVAs detected the significant interaction was for the intensity level variable. As shown in Table 4, among nondrinking Caucasians, men did not hook up at all and women had a relatively low level of contact. Among moderately drinking Caucasians, males reported more intense hookup experiences. However, among heavier drinking Caucasians, males and females were much more similar, with females reporting slightly higher (i.e., more intense) levels of sexual contact. As for the main effects of drinking level, the follow-up ANCOVAs revealed differences for number of partners and frequency of hookups (see Table 5). The means were confirmed as being significantly different across all three groups via Tukey’s tests in two one-way ANCOVAs. Heavier drinkers reported significantly more partners and more frequent hookups than lighter drinkers, who had significantly higher scores than nondrinkers for number of partners and frequency of hookups. Caucasian men and women did not differ with regard to hookup partners or frequency. In summary, the first set of hypotheses examining the associations between drinking and hookups was supported. Heavier drinkers were more likely to report ever hooking up, having more hookup partners, more frequent hooking up, and more intense hookup activity. The second set of hypotheses examining gender differences were also supported. Men reported higher rates of ever hooking up, as well as more partners, more frequent hookups, and more intense hookup activity. The final set of exploratory analyses revealed ethnic differences with regard to drinking and hooking up, such that Caucasians reported drinking more heavily

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TABLE 5. Hookup Partner and Frequency Scores Among Caucasian’s Drinking Levels (N = 189) Recent Drinking Level


Hookup Variable Number of partners Frequency

None (n = 33) M (SD)

Lower (n = 82) (M (SD)

Higher (n = 74) M (SD)

(df) F

Partial eta2

.29 (.53)

1.56 (.31)

4.52 (.30)

(2, 188) 34.86

.28

.34 (.29)

1.24 (.17)

2.68 (1.65)

(2, 189) 32.02

.26

Note. Both variables represent estimates from the prior year.

and having more hookup experiences than African Americans. In addition, among Caucasian students, hookup behavior differed according to drinking levels; heavier drinking students reported more partners and more frequency. Among heavier drinking Caucasians, males and females reported similar and intense levels of contact, whereas among lighter drinkers males’ contact level was higher than that of females. However, among African Americans, alcohol was not related to hookup activity and there were no sex differences.

Discussion As predicted, recent heavy drinking correlated with ever hooking up, hookup partners in the prior year, hookup frequency in the prior year, and level of contact during hookups. These findings parallel previous research that has also conceptualized drinking as a habit (Fiedler & Carey, 2010a; Lewis et al., 2012). For example, Owen and colleagues (2010) found hookup activity correlated with a combined index of quantity and frequency of drinking. The findings in the present study also relate, albeit less directly, to prior studies linking hookup activities with daily drinking (Kiene, Barta, Tennen, & Armeli, 2009) or drinking at the time of the hookup (Fielder & Carey, 2010b). Whether college students are frequent binge drinkers or drinking at the time of a potential hookup, alcohol appears to serve a disinhibitory function (Justus et al., 2000) and provide an excuse for behaviors deemed as undesirable to or uncharacteristic of the individual (Leigh & Aramburu, 1996; Vander Ven & Beck, 2009). More men than women reported ever hooking up, and men had higher scores than women for number of partners, frequency of hookups, and intensity of contact during hookups. Even though the effect sizes were low, these findings support our


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second hypothesis and are consistent with prior research (Eisenberg et al., 2009; Grello et al., 2006; Owen et al., 2010). Our findings that Caucasian students, compared to their African American peers, were more likely to hook up, were consistent with Owen and colleagues (2010), but not with Fielder, Walsh, et al. (2013). We also found that Caucasian college students have more hookup partners and more frequent hookups than their African American peers, and the present study appears to be the first investigation to document this. Moreover, we found that African American students were less likely to drink heavily than Caucasians. Indeed, there were no African American females who could be considered heavy drinkers. These findings have been supported by other studies which found that alcohol consumption and binge drinking were much less prevalent among African American students compared to Caucasians (Barnes et al., 2010; Despues & Friedman, 2007; Ernst et al., 2009; Poulson et al., 2008). Hookup partners, frequency, and intensity were associated with heavier drinking for Caucasian students but not for African American students. This is similar to the findings of DiIorio and colleagues (1998); however, their study conceptualized alcohol use prior to sex (without specifying the relationship with the sex partner). Therefore, this appears to be the first study to demonstrate that heavier drinking is not a risk factor for hooking up among African American students the way it appears to be for Caucasian students. It would be interesting to see how the attitudes and behaviors of this small sample of African American students compares with other emerging adults in the African American community who are not attending college. One interesting finding was that the sex difference for the degree of sexual contact (from touching to oral sex to vaginal intercourse) differed according to drinking level among Caucasians. The presumption that men would report more sexual contact during hookups than women was true only for those who were relatively lighter drinkers. Specifically, among lighter drinkers, the higher scores for men suggest that more of them reported oral or vaginal sexual experiences, whereas lower scores for women suggest more of them reported touching as their highest level of sexual contact. Thus, our results parallel the finding of Paul and colleagues (2000), but only in this drinking subgroup. Among nondrinkers, men had no hookups and women reported very low levels of sexual contact. Among heavier drinkers, men and women both reported high levels of contact, suggesting higher rates of sexual intercourse during hookups. Perhaps at lower levels of drinking, alcohol does not provide sufficient disinhibition (or serve as an adequate excuse) for women compared to men. Men may be seeking less disinhibition from alcohol and feel more comfortable engaging in more sexually intense hookup experiences even when they are not heavy drinkers. These explanations presume, of course, that those students with higher quantity-frequency scores also are more likely to be drinking (and drinking more heavily) at the time they engage in sexual hookups.

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In addition, it is interesting to note that when Caucasians and African Americans were analyzed separately, there were no sex differences related to number of partners and number of hookup episodes with regards to main effects or interactions with drinking levels. Furthermore, African American men and women did not differ with regards to level of contact during hookups. It is not clear why sex differences were found for the full sample but not for these ethnic subsample analyses, Perhaps in some ways traditional gender roles are weakening and men and women are becoming more alike with regards to hookup behaviors, as they are with other sexual behaviors (Petersen & Hyde, 2011).

Future Research and Implications The current study broadened our understanding of the roles that drinking, gender, and ethnicity play on hooking up behavior and generates several new directions to pursue. Future research with larger populations of ethnic minorities is needed to validate our findings, and it would be important to sample students with many different ethnic backgrounds to do so. As the media and culture of American society continues to sexualize children, especially girls (APA Task Force, 2007), it is necessary to examine hooking up behaviors among high school and even middle school students as well. Future studies are needed to understand the association between drinking, sexual decision making, and contraception availability and correct usage. Examining situational factors may help identify which students are more inclined to hook up and do so under the influence of alcohol and/or without necessary precautions. Pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are the result of being unprepared and having unplanned sex regardless of the relationship context; however, hooking up may involve heavy drinking more frequently than intercourse in a committed relationship (Kiene et al., 2009). Therefore, moderate and heavy drinking Caucasian students appear to be an ideal target group for campus efforts to provide education regarding potential negative outcomes of hooking up. Though not examined in the current study, an additional situational context to consider is housing. For example, Hittner and Kryzanowski (2010) found that where college students lived was predictive of casual sex for men but not women. There are relationship-relevant issues pertaining to hooking up that also need to be examined more carefully. Wentland and Reissing (2011) conducted focus groups with college students regarding casual sexual relationships; they concluded there are four subtypes (“friends with benefits,” “booty calls,” “fuck buddies,” and “one night stands”) that vary according to frequency and type of contact, communication, and friendship status. Whether these subtypes are equally likely to involve alcohol consumption is not yet known. In addition, although young adults may feel that being sexually involved with someone whom they know is more desirable than sexual behavior with a person they do not know, these types of hookups may damage or ruin those friendships. Being “friends with benefits” has


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the potential to “complicate friendships by bringing forth unreciprocated desires for romantic commitment” (Bisson & Levine, 2009, p. 66). As hooking up is becoming more common in the college environment and for some seems to be replacing the dating context, future research is needed to determine students’ motives and consequences. As for motives, it would be interesting to investigate whether hookup experiences involve planned sexual behaviors or are based on spontaneous sexual desire/attraction (Grello et al., 2006; Regan & Dreyer, 1999). Some college women interviewed by Hamilton and Armstrong (2009) stated they actively sought hook ups, especially in their early college years, either because they perceived it to be part of the college experience or because they wanted to challenge the double standard and stereotype that women are expected to have less sexual prowess than men. Thus, these encounters may be viewed as supporting “women’s sexual agency in the context of a hookup” (Reid, Elliott, & Webber, 2011, p. 563), which challenges the notion that young women prefer traditional dating relationships more than hooking up (Bradshaw, Kahn, & Saville, 2010). As for consequences, there is a cultural debate about the potential socioemotional harm of hooking up. For example, Glenn and Marquardt (2001) suggest that the rules and scripts of nontraditional dating (i.e., hooking up) are less healthy for young women, as supported by studies showing young women report more regrets or have more negative post-hooking up reactions than men (Fielder & Carey, 2010a; Grello et al., 2006; Owen & Fincham, 2011), especially when intercourse occurred (Eshbaugh & Gute, 2008; Roese, Pennington, Coleman, Janicki, & Kenrick, 2006). Furthermore, Sandberg-Thoma and Dush (2014) found that teens who engaged in casual sexual relationships reported more subsequent suicidal ideation but not depression. In contrast, Grello and colleagues (2006) found college men who had engaged in casual sex reported fewer depressive symptoms than their peers who had not had a casual sexual encounter. In addition, two longitudinal studies using nationally representative samples of adolescents found depression symptoms preceded the initiation to casual sexual encounters (Grello, Welsh, Harper, & Dickson, 2003; Sandberg-Thoma & Dush). Still others conclude that “Young adults who engage in casual sexual encounters do not appear to be at greater risk for harmful psychological outcomes than sexually active young adults in more committed relationships” (Eisenberg et al., 2009), a position similar to the one Stinson (2010) reached after reviewing relevant literature. Thus, further research is needed to elucidate the circumstances under which casual sexual encounters may be more or less harmful to young adults. Additional research in this area may also uncover protective factors that may inform young adults’ ability to make more positive sexual decisions. Limitations and Strengths Although our findings shed light on emerging adults’ hooking up experiences, some limitations exists. First, despite several attempts to recruit students of color, the sample of ethnic minorities in general was much smaller than the Caucasian


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sample and our ethnicity findings must be approached with caution. Second, there are issues pertaining to generalizability. This convenience sample of students from Introduction to Psychological Science classes may not represent all students at this institution. Moreover, research suggests that college students are heavier drinkers than their peers of a similar age who are not attending college (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2013), suggesting, these findings may not generalize to community samples of young adults. Limiting factors aside, our study was strengthened by attempting to minimize any bias due to social desirability. Previous research studies have failed to include a social desirability scale within their survey instrument, and we believe that controlling it helped reduce the risk of this confound. Although Meston, Heiman, Trapnell, and Paulhus (1998) suggest that a social desirability bias may not be of concern when participants complete self-report questionnaires anonymously, the tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner correlated with our variables of interest and we are somewhat more confident of our findings having statistically controlled for it. In summary, college students who were heavy drinkers, male, or Caucasian, reported higher rates of hooking up and more activity regarding hooking up (more partners, more frequency, and more intensity). Heavy drinking was associated with all aspects of hooking up for Caucasians but not for African Americans. Given the potential risky outcomes and given that only 22 states are required by law to teach sexuality education in the public schools (National Council on State Legislatures, 2014), the need for awareness, discussions, and programming at the college level is essential. Continued research in this area could help inform prevention and intervention efforts to empower individuals to make healthy choices. AUTHOR NOTES Lisa Thomson Ross earned her doctorate in Social Psychology from Wayne State University and completed a Research Fellowship at The University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. She is a Professor of Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies at the College of Charleston. Her research interests revolve around the sources, correlates and consequences of unpredictability (e.g., family chaos or unpredictability beliefs) and several common struggles of college students (e.g., alcohol misuse, risk-taking behaviors). Stephanie Zeigler earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the College of Charleston. She is currently finishing her Master of Public Health from the University of South Carolina. She is a Research Coordinator at the Ralph H. Johnson VAMC in Charleston, SC, where she coordinates several studies on the efficacy of using telehealth in the treatment of PTSD. Amy M. Kolak earned her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State and completed a Research Fellowship in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the College of Charleston. Though her primary area of research centers around children’s development of self-regulatory processes

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within the context of the family, she has become increasingly interested in studying individual well-being during emerging adulthood. Dryden Epstein transferred to the College of Charleston after attending Tulane University for her freshman year where she received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is now living and working in Washington, D.C.


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Original manuscript received October 21, 2013 Final version accepted July 13, 2014

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