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Dating and Hooking up: An Analysis of Hooking up as a Campus Norm and the Impact on Women's Self Perception

Skrobot, Sarah L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1276456827

Abstract Details

2010, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Sociology (Arts and Sciences).
According to literature hooking up has become the social norm for male and female intimate interaction on college campuses, traditional dating no longer is. Historically, how men and women participate in dating has transitioned alongside larger social changes. Literature suggests that dating trends have changed over time and that the new form of intimate interaction, hooking up, has come to replace dating on the college campus. Research indicates that people are now participating in hooking up, sexual behaviors without commitment with an acquaintance or someone they just met, more frequently than following the customs of traditional dating. However, how these cultural practices affect women's self perceptions and self esteem is almost non-existent in the literature. The goal of this study was to expand upon this knowledge base as well as discover if hooking up is taking place at a midwestern campus like it is on the East Coast as found in research conducted by Bogle. Through the implementation of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with fifteen heterosexual, undergraduate, women between the ages of 19-24, this research aimed to explore how women defined dating and hooking up and how these interactions affect their perceptions of self and self-esteem. After analyzing the data through a three step coding scheme proposed by Strauss (1987), the results indicated that women believed hooking up was the campus norm and was occurring more frequently than the traditional date. All of the women were able to define what a date and dating were but the majority of the women had not been asked out on very many traditional dates. Furthermore, all of the women knew what hooking up was but there was confusion as to the exact starting point, whether it had to be a stranger or friend, and how often it occurred with the same person. Individually women wanted equality for participating in hooking up, however, reflecting on how society views their participation, it was evident there was still a sexual double standard present. Additionally, it became evident that women's perceptions of self were contingent upon whether the dating relationship or experience of their hook up was overall positive or negative. In conclusion, the current study's findings support previous research that indicates the campus norm is hooking up, not dating. Additionally, the findings suggest that hooking up is not regionally bound since it was also found at a midwestern university.
Debra A. Henderson (Committee Chair)
Christine Mattley (Committee Member)
Thomas Vander Ven (Committee Member)
138 p.
Sociology
dating; hooking up; women's self perceptions; gender norms

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Skrobot, S. L. (2010). Dating and Hooking up: An Analysis of Hooking up as a Campus Norm and the Impact on Women's Self Perception [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1276456827

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Skrobot, Sarah. Dating and Hooking up: An Analysis of Hooking up as a Campus Norm and the Impact on Women's Self Perception. 2010. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1276456827.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Skrobot, Sarah. "Dating and Hooking up: An Analysis of Hooking up as a Campus Norm and the Impact on Women's Self Perception." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1276456827

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1276456827
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© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.