College Student Development and the Hook Up Culture

Abstract

College students have always searched for meaning and purpose through romantic and intimate relationships. As the dominant script for sexual activity on most U.S. residential campuses, “hooking up” explicitly separates physical intimacy from interpersonal closeness and mutual commitment. A developmental analysis of hooking up demonstrates that normative undergraduate identity development and meaning-making structures map closely onto the contemporary hook up peer culture. A developmental lens suggests why the hook up scene is resistant to change but also implies directions for effective campus intervention.