1. College Hookups: Understanding The Background Factors
Author and Investigator: Dominic Strangman
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Akiko Yoshida
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
Department of Sociology, Criminology, & Anthropology
Introduction
This study looks at what makes college students want to “hookup” with someone.
Fortunato (2010)
Study showed a positive correlation between amount of high school hookups and college hookups
Twenty-eight percent (28%) of high school students asked, reported that they had engaged in a hook-up encounter at least once
LaBrie (2014)
The results from this study stated that 2/3rds of participants were drinking prior to their most recent hook up
Nearly a quarter of those surveyed had met the person they hooked up with that night
Hamilton (2009)
Gender difference between males and females
Males with more hookups seen as “Manly”
Females with more hookups seen as a “Slut” or “easy”
Males see hookup as a way for sex with no strings attached
Females see hookups as a way to start a relationship
Purpose of this study
To be able to better understand hookup patterns
To be able to provide people with a better safe sex knowledge
Methods
Survey was completed completely online in the spring of 2016, participation solicited via to all UWW students
The population was: UW-W students age of 18 or above
There was no sampling involved in this study, all of the population was encouraged to participate
Out of the 11,142 surveyed, 1,193 responded (10.7% response rate)
Participants were first asked basic demographic questions, (Gender, Race, Religion) then asked about past hookup experience as well as alcohol habits
Participants were then presented a series of hypothetical hookup scenarios and were asked if they would hook up in the situation presented
Freshmen were found to be less likely to engage in hookups compared to upperclassman
Participants who had previously engaged in a penetrative hookup are more likely to engage in a hookup than those who had previously not
Participants who had reported recreational drug use within the past year were more likely to engage in a hookup than those who had not
Table 1. Logistic Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting a Stranger Hookup in Males (N=358)
Odds Ratio
Penetrative Hookup in High School
3.787***
1.830^
1.762^
Drug Use in the Past Year
3.338***
3.253***
Binge Drinking in High School
4.133***
4.957***
Year in School
1.386*
 Note: ^p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01. ***p<.001
Results
Table 2. Logistic Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting a Stranger Hookup in Females (N=752)
Odds Ratio
Penetrative Hookup in High School
3.128***
2.260***
2.289***
Drug Use in the Past Year
1.847**
1.841**
Binge Drinking in High School
1.898**
1.889**
Year in School
1.196^
Note: ^p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01. ***p<.001
Descriptive Stats
  Gender
Male (32.3%)
Female 752 (67.7%)
Year in School
Freshmen 217 (19.3%)
Sophomore 249 (22.1%)
Junior 269 (23.9%)
Senior 301 (26.7%)
High School Binge Drinking
Yes (38.3%)
No (61.7%)
Been Involved in a Previous Hookup
Yes (72.8%)
No (27.2%)
Penetrative Hookup in High School
Yes (35.0%)
No (65.0%)
Main Hypotheses
People who have had penetrative hookups in high school are more likely to hookup in college than students who did not have a penetrative hookup in high school.
Binge drinkers are more likely to hookup than someone who is not a binge drinker.
Freshmen will be more likely to engage in hookups compared to upperclassmen
Sources
Fortunato, L., Young, A. M., Boyd, C. J., & Fons, C. E. (2010). Hook-up sexual experiences and problem behaviors among adolescents. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 19(3),
Hamilton, L., & Armstrong, E. A. (2009). Gendered sexuality in young adulthood: Double binds and flawed options. Gender & Society, 23(5),
LaBrie, J. W., Hummer, J. F., Ghaidarov, T. M., Lac, A., & Kenney, S. R. (2014). Hooking up in the college context: The event-level effects of alcohol use and partner familiarity on hookup behaviors and contentment. Journal of Sex Research, 51(1),