Understanding Men In Contemporary Society Carlee Kreisel, Samantha Ring, & Samantha Sunga Week 9 Panel Presentation Fall 2014

Hooking Up: Gender Difference, Evolution, and Pluralistic Ignorance Chris Reiber and Justin Garcia Journal: Evolutionary Psychology

Hook up culture video

Introduction ●Hooking up has become very common among college students ●507 college students and their sexual behaviors were studied ○ Men were more comfortable exploring sexual acts than women ●Pluralistic ignorance effect ○ Reason for why college students have frequent hookups ●Women choosing uncommitted relationships ○ Large variety in male resources and status, therefore, female-female competition

Findings Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Findings Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Findings -Men and women overestimated the comfort levels the other sex had with every sexual behavior -Women attributed higher comfort levels to men than they had themselves with every behavior -Men attributed lower comfort levels to women than they actually had with every behavior Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Interesting Points ● Pluralistic ignorance explained from an evolutionary perspective ● Women thinking the comfort levels of other women are much higher than their own causes them to see each other as threats: increases intrasexual competition ● The chicken or the egg? An interesting question posed is- what came first? Did cultural norms (sex in the media) come as a result of the younger generation hooking up more? Or did the sex in the media influence hookup culture? Because the article explains evolutionary explanations for each gender’s perception of comfort levels, perhaps the “hookup culture” is a sort of adaptation in our current society, influenced by, but not created by, oversexualization in the media. Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Weak/Unclear Arguments ● The researchers based their findings on young adults who are strictly from North America. Their argument could be stronger and more intriguing if they included in their study people from different countries as well. ● Participants were mostly underclassman in college who are more likely to engage in hookup culture ● Sexual orientation was left out ● Did not consider the effects of drinking Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Discussion ● Over a third of women reported engaging in oral sex even though there comfort levels were generally negative. Why? ● Men’s higher comfort levels + men’s overestimations of women’s comfort + women’s overestimation of other women’s comfort = recipe for disaster/ sexual assault ● Why do you think women’s sexual interest is generally perceived as greater than it actually is? ● Why do you think that people overestimate levels of comfort in both the opposite and the same sex in hookup relations? ● Social Norms Programs- like alcohol.edu Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from

Evolutionary Perspective ● Women overestimating male comfort levels = makes them more cautious ● Men overestimating male comfort levels = increases reproductive possibilities- they would engage despite their comfort levels ● Women overestimating female comfort levels = Intra- sexual competition within females Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance. Evolutionary Psychology,8(3), Retrieved from