The Notre Dame Hookup Culture Michelle Mowry University of Notre Dame

The Notre Dame Hookup Culture Michelle Mowry University of Notre Dame Advised by Elizabeth McClintock 1 The Notre Dame Hookup Culture The heterosexual “hookup culture” on college campuses has received copious attention since the year 2000 (Bogle 2007: 775). It has altered preconceived notions of modern romance as students pursue hookups in addition to traditional relationships. Hookups are defined as “brief uncommitted sexual encounters between individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other” (Garcia et al 2012: 161).In my senior thesis, I examine the hookup culture at the University of Notre Dame through an online survey of Notre Dame undergraduates. This university provides the unique opportunity to examine the hookup culture at a university known for its rigorous academic standards as well as strong Catholic roots. I investigate the effects of academic and extracurricular commitment and religiosity on frequency of hooking up. Information such as this is useful to the academic community in its quest to track and comprehend the evolution of romantic relationships as well as academic and extracurricular involvement and to the Notre Dame administration that strives to create useful, educational programming for students. Key words: hookup, academic/extracurricular commitment, religiosity, Notre Dame 2 The Notre Dame Hookup Culture THE HOOKUP CULTURE The hookup culture on college campuses has changed modern conceptions of romance and dating for emerging adults. Traditional dating and courtship are steadily decreasing as students choose to pursue physical and sexual encounters with various partners as opposed to with a single partner in the context of a well-defined, formal relationship. However, traditional dating has not become entirely antiquated because many students still pursue committed, monogamous relationships ; even so, the hookup culture is conceived by some sociologists as the driving force behind gender relations on college campuses (Glenn and Marquardt 2001: 4) and the “hallmark of the college experience” (Bogle 2007: 776). Researchers have responded to these claims by investigating the effects of the hookup culture on students’ mental health, such as respective levels of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety, and physical health, especially the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and infections (Garcia et al. 2012). Though the aforementioned research has been instrumental in formulating responses to the hookup culture, little has been done to investigate its various forms and the causal mechanism(s) behind them. A common error made in studies on the hookup culture is the assumption that its manifestation is identical across environments. On the contrary, the hookup culture is a polymorphous phenomenon that is shaped by the university environments, and as such, should be regarded on a case-by-case basis. To lump all American colleges and universities together is to ignore fundamental characteristics that determine the hookup culture, such its reputation for academic prestige, religious affiliation, the size of the student body, and its geographic location. All of these characteristics play role in defining each university’s social norms and, 3 consequently, the type of hookup culture that exists.i My research investigates the hookup culture at the University of Notre Dame, an elite university with a strong Catholic identity. These two aspects of the Notre Dame community create an interesting system of social norms governed by secular and religious forces. As such, it provides the unique opportunity to analyze the interplay of high levels of academic and extracurricular commitment and religiosity and hookup behavior. This research touches on several subfields of sociology, such as modern romance and sexuality, academic and extracurricular commitment, and religiosity of emerging adults. LITERATURE REVIEW Modern Romance and Sexuality Since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, social and cultural norms governing heterosexual male-female interactions on college campuses have become gradually more informal, leading to higher frequency of hookups (Bailey 1988). Though formal dating still exists on college campuses, opportunities for romance, sexual expression, and exploration of one’s sexual identity have been diversified by the introduction of informal hookups. The hookup culture reverses the traditional order of romance, placing sexual intimacy before commitment and removing the obligation of emotional attachment and future interaction. Though many people consider the hookup culture a recent development of the 1990s and 2000s, Garcia et al. (2012) argue that its roots can be traced back to the 1920s to the development of the entertainment and automobile industries, both of which allowed young people to escape the highly-scrutinized and well- supervised domain of courtship (162). The sexual revolution of the1960s only augmented this freedom with the advent of feminism and the widespread availability of contraceptives (Garcia et al. 2012: 163). Heldman and Wade add that the creation of co-ed dorms in the 1960s and 1970s 4 and the popularity of binge drinking have brought men and women together in informal contexts often driven by the presence of alcohol (2010: 328-329). Data collected by several studies estimate that three quarters of undergraduate students hook up during college (Armstrong et al. 2009; England et al. 2008; Paul et al. 2000). According to England et al (2008), vaginal intercourse took place in approximately 38% of hookups, oral sex without intercourse in 15% of hookups, and kissing and “nongenital touching” in 31% of hookups. Though the number of partners varies among individuals, nearly one third of students have ten or more hookups during the four years of college (England et al. 2008). England’s research also emphasizes the spectrum of behaviors that are encompassed by the term “hookup.” An inherently ambiguous term, it first appeared in research on college slang in the 1990s (Eble 1996; Glowka et al. 1999; Hancock 1990; Murray 1991) and was used to described the acquisition of a “sexual companion” (Murray 1991: 222). As the research on this topic has expanded, the definition has been further refined. Garcia et al., define hookups as “brief, uncommitted sexual encounters between individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other” (2012: 161). Stepp refers to a hookup as an “unrelationship” to delineate the distinction between hookups and formal relationships (2007: 24-31). The word “hookup” is thus conceived as an all-inclusive term used to describe any physical contact ranging from just kissing to vaginal intercourse; regardless of the sexual act that occurs, one observes an absence of commitment in the form of a clearly defined relationship and delineated expectations for the future.ii The hookup culture has diversified socially acceptable sexual acts and redefined “sexual intercourse.” Rates of vaginal intercourse have dramatically decreased while rates of anal and oral sex have risen (Heldman and Wade 2010: 324). Due to the diversification of sexual practices 5 involved in the hookup culture, a “hierarchy of intimacy” has emerged that allows students to subtly demonstrate intimacy and level of emotional involvement by the acts they choose to pursue with partners (Heldman and Wade 2010: 324). In this way, commitment can be expressed through physical intimacy rather than through a verbal agreement usually found in traditional relationships. The hierarchy of intimacy has also changed the parameters of “sexual intercourse.” According to data collected by Sanders and Reinisch (1999), 60% of college students surveyed did not believe that oral sex constituted sexual intercourse, thus resulting in the concept of “technical virginity” (277). This concept renegotiates previously accepted definitions of sexual intercourse and allows students to become sexually intimate with others without losing their virginity. This may encourage students to explore their sexuality more feeling and also assuage the guilt of religious undergraduates who fear the consequences of being seen as “impure.” Academic and Extracurricular Commitment Research on the academic success of undergraduates has long looked to high school grade point averages and standardized test scores as predictors of college achievement (Chemers et al. 2001: 55). However, recent studies suggest that standardized tests disadvantage minority populations, such as women, Latinos and African-Americans, thus underestimating their academic potential and exaggerating the potential of their white, male counterparts. According to Chemers et al. (2001), levels of self-efficacy and optimism were directly correlated with academic performance and adjustment to the university setting for first-year college students. They also found that self-efficacious attitudes had a positive effect on the reduction of stress and illness during the first year of undergraduate study (Chemers et al. 2001: 62). Though significant research has documented the factors that influence academic success, very little research has 6 examined the effects of high-pressure environments on students’ personal choices, particularly romantic relationships and sexual behavior. The modern university environment is characterized by heavy academic workloads, opportunities for employment, and a variety of extracurricular activities. Ross et al. (1999) identified increased academic workload (compared to high-school academics) and new responsibilities as two of the top

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