College hook-ups are more talk than action: study

Fifty-four per cent reported having participated in a sexual hook-up during the school year. A greater number of males 63 per cent reported engaging in a sexual hook-up than females 45 per cent,the study found.

Thirty-seven per cent of students reported two or more hook-ups during the school year. But 90 per cent of the participants assumed that a typical student had been involved in two or more hook-ups,the report said.

The researchers said that regular talk about hook-ups had a 8216;normalizing8217; effect on students views about the practice. That led to a more approving attitude toward hook-ups and,often,riskier sexual behavior.

We were interested in how communication about hooking up with friends and family may justify or normalize a potential risky behavior, said Amanda Holman,a graduate student in UNL8217;s Department of Communication Studies and the study8217;s lead author.

Students with strong ties to peers and frequent peer conversation about sex were more strongly related to participation in hook-ups and more favorable attitudes towards hooking up, she added.

The study was recently published in the journal Health Communication.