Hannah Davis
COMM 460-01
Dr. Johnson
Prospectus
LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX: EXAMINING PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF DRUNKEN
‘HOOK UPS’
Introduction to Hook Ups
As children are brought up, they learn about many things in life that they will face as they
grow older. As one hits the stage of a teenager, an all-known topic that parents will bring up is
the “birds and the bees” conversation. This conversation, being one of awkwardness and one of
informing the child to not have sex and to only partake in this behavior if one is surely in love
with another. However, how true is this in today’s society? Society has evolved and with that
the value and perceptions of sex have changed as well. What used to be a sacred activity has
now turned into an everyday occurrence referred to as a “hook up.” “‘Hookups,’ or
uncommitted sexual encounters, are becoming progressively more engrained in popular culture,
reflecting both evolved sexual predilections and changing social and sexual scripts. Hook-up
activities may include a wide range of sexual behaviors, such as kissing, oral sex, and
penetrative intercourse. However, these encounters often transpire without any promise of, or
desire for, a more traditional romantic relationship” (Garcia, 2012, emphasis in original).
These ‘hook ups’ are not a rare occasion and take place mainly when alcohol is involved
with a random person that one may have never been interested in while sober. The
communication phenomenon I am interested in exploring is the contradicting beliefs a person has
of sexual encounters compared to their beliefs of them partaking in that action. Therefore, the
purpose of my study will be to understand the explanations behind drunken sexual interactions
after a person has become sober. Specifically, I plan to analyze the explanations that people give
to others about why they have ‘hooked up’ with someone while drunk. By doing so, I then plan
to explain and understand why they have used these explanations instead of telling the story in its
original form. This is due to the fact that many people will either lie or make excuses for
conducting the sexual actions that they did while intoxicated. I also will be looking at the
differences in communication with this topic between males and females in college which would
be my communication gap because much research does not cover this issue. This phenomenon is
important because committing these sexual acts with random people is considered risky
behavior. Risky behavior in this situation would be having risky sex that could lead to sexually
transmitted infections, pregnancy, and possibly emotional damage.
The Beginning – Alcohol and Sexual Norms
Before one can begin to look deeply into hook ups taking place, one would have to start
at the root of the problem. Alcohol is a main factor in what we call “beer goggling”.
“ALCOHOL INTOXICATION is often said to alter perception in such a way that potential
sexual partners seem more attractive” (Lyvers, 2011, emphasis in orginal). Lyvers (2011)
explains beer goggling to consist of the definition above. Because of intoxication, people tend to
act in ways that are different than when they are sober. People start to use more intense
flirtatious communication that could lead to risky behavior by conducting sexual acts. Alcohol
can make people seem more attractive than they usually are to others, beginning the cycle of
sexual behavior. This could lead to certain things happening between two people that they will
regret later on when sober. The explanations behind these sexual acts while intoxicated are
intriguing and should be researched and explained in some way.
“Between 60 to 80 percent of college students have experienced some kind of sexual
'hook-up,' according to new research published in the Review of General Psychology”
(ScienceDaily, 2012). Due to the excessive growth of hook ups, sex has evolved into a common
reality taking place as an everyday occurrence. This is different from a traditional world view of
waiting till marriage for conducting the act of sex and is being shown in mainly college-aged
students. However, teenagers are also producing results of more hook ups as well.
Theoretical Grounding
In researching this topic, one could use many theories ranging from symbolic
interactionism to different aspects of semiotics. However, for this research, cognitive dissonance
theory has proven itself to be best theory applying to hook up culture.
Cognitive Dissonance
Griffin (2010) states that the theory of cognitive dissonance says that human beings often
have conflicting beliefs with actions they take or other beliefs they may have. This dissonance
creates a tension and tension reduction is automatically sought by changing the evaluations of
people by some degree. Cognitive dissonance is when a person has two good choices and they
make a decision, but then find themselves unsure or in doubt about the choice they made
thereafter. This theory also occurs when a person has a set of beliefs and ideas, and then
contradicts them with opposing ideas while trying to explain why they did the opposite of what
they believe. Those people might have to downplay the other choice in order to reassure
themselves.
Because of cognitive dissonance requiring people contradicting two ideals, this then
makes the theory apply to this research. “The effect of alcohol was most noticeable in ‘I both
wanted and didn't want’ narratives by girls who had shaky and situation-dependent self-control”
(Survivuo, 2008). When one person hooks up with another person that they are embarrassed
about they will try to convince themselves that it was okay to do so. Therefore they would be
contradicting what they have done by skewing their thoughts to make themselves feel better
about what has taken place. They could downplay the fact that they hooked up with another
person by making up excuses and explanations that never occurred.
Wicklund & Brehm (1976) add to this theory by stating that if people feel as though they
have little choice in their situation because someone else is heavily influencing them, they then
feel as though they are not responsible for what is happening. This attitude then reflects
cognitive dissonance. For example, the day after one hook ups with another person drunkenly
they could blame the choice they made on too much alcohol. Because of this factor they are
insinuating that they had fault in doing this because they had an extreme amount of alcohol in
their system which caused them to lack too much judgment.
Hook Ups: Totes Cool, TMI, or STI – Review of Literature
Overall, most of the studies researched throughout this prospectus came to the conclusion
that alcohol leads to more flirtatious communication reflecting in risky behavior. These factors
were measured by BAC levels, nonverbal communication increasing, and amount of alcohol
consumed by participants. The following points are broken down to evaluate the studies and
show why they are important to this study. They will cover the areas of the evolving acceptance
of a hook up, reduced ability to make judgments due to alcohol consumption, flirtatious
communication, risky behavior, and the justification for one’s action of conducting a drunken
sexual encounter after they have become sober.
Evolving acceptance
One very reoccurring statement among the articles of this study was the fact that hook
ups are now becoming more and more accepting in society while being viewed as a norm. This
pertains to my study because the more acceptances a hook up gains in society, the more stories of
acceptance will be found in the communication about them. In College Students' Sexual
Hookups More Complex Than Originally Thought (2012) Binghamton University found that
hook ups becoming a “norm” in society leads to a change in the acceptance and openness of
uncommitted sex in U.S. “emerging adults” during their time of developmental growth of an
adolescent to a young adult.
Reduced detecting ability/alcohol influence
“Acute alcohol consumption increases ratings of attractiveness to faces” (Halsey, 2010).
Because of this, a person’s system reduces more of that person’s detecting ability. This is key to
my study because it is the causes of drunken sexual encounters. “The reduced ability of
inebriated people to perceive asymmetry may be an important mechanism underlying the higher
ratings of facial attractiveness they give for members of the opposite sex and hence their
increased frequency of mate choice” (Halsey, 2010). Intoxicated people tend to not be able to
tell the difference between asymmetrical and symmetrical faces which proves that their judgment
begins to skew when consuming alcohol. BAC levels were also measured in most studies to
understand which level of intoxication starts to produce more risky behavior.
Overall, the more alcohol a person consumes the more judgment is lost. When people begin to
lose this judgment, they then become prone to hooking up with others that they would normally
not be attracted to. This could then also lead to sexual infections being shared. A way to figure
out the levels of intoxication when one begin to act more flirtatious were found by testing
participants BAC levels, which is not always a credible source in this research. “The negative
results may reflect the BAC levels achieved for these highly experienced drinkers” (Lyvers,
2011). The more tolerance a person may have for alcohol the less researchers can rely on BAC
levels to understand this communication phenomenon of communicating drunken sexual
encounters.
Flirtatious communication
This type of communication is the second step to hooking up, after alcohol consumption
takes place. This applies to every aspect of this study because of the communication leading to
risky behavior that has changed. Flirtatious communication was measured in some studies by
how people reacted to a person flirting with them when they were sober compared to when they
were intoxicated. This type of communication was increased with alcohol consumption in all
studies. Flirting consisted of more nonverbal cues such as playing with hair, standing closer to
others, and touching another person in regular conversation (Lannuti, 2007). More intense
flirtatious behavior is a sign of intoxication in people who have consumed alcohol. This
behavior is one of the first components of people conducting sexual acts. Much of this
communication is nonverbal and involves people touching others in conversation more and more
throughout consumption.
Risky behavior
“One of the principal concerns is that heavy drinking is associated with risky sexual
behavior and sexual victimization among college samples” (Vander Ven, 2009). Risky behavior
was shown to lead to sexually transmitted infections (STI) and pregnancy, which signifies its
importance. The more alcohol consumption made the more risky behavior occur in all studies.
Risky behavior includes sexual interactions taking place, also known as a hook up with a random
person that one has never met before. These strangers being intoxicated, therefore not knowing
if each other had an STI. This risky behavior has consequences of catching a STI or becoming
pregnant without knowledge of it perhaps even happening. These are the main reasons why it is
important to study this topic.
Justification for feelings after becoming sober
People were more emotional after occurrences of random hook ups in most of the studies
researched which calls for significance in my study. Guilt would enter the feelings of these
people and they would begin to make excuses for what had happened. They feel so guilty that
they find reasoning to not blame themselves. People trade in their guilt for the decisions they
have made for excuses as to why they conducted such sexual interactions. They are tricking
themselves into thinking that they are the ones who have been taken advantage of instead of
being responsible for what they have done (Personal Communication).
People also tended to make themselves feel better about such hook ups by blaming
alcohol and referring to themselves as “helpless” because they had too much to consume.
Cognitive dissonance starts to occur because of contradictions through making excuses and
blaming something other than what decision was made to hook up with a random person.
After having sexual encounters with random people, some participants may not be able to stand
the guilt that they experience and make up excuses to justify to themselves and others why they
did such activities. This in turn makes them feel better about themselves even though the action
was still conducted and it is still not safe to do.
Rhodes (2012) stated in his research that people identify these feelings in two forms:
stories of agency and stories of acceptability. “Stories of agency tend to deny agency and
abdicate individual responsibility given the circumstances…” (Rhodes, 2012). This would
explain the denying excuses of a hook up while also contributing to the excuses in explanations
made up on why a person had a drunken sexual encounter. While on the other hand, stories of
acceptability show how a person explains their hook up for what it was and does not try to make
up elaborate explanations.
Methodology
I have chosen to pursue a quantitative research methodology for my research study. Due
to the academic journals, popular press, and theories studied throughout this research, conducting
a quantitative study would show more results in my research topic at this point in time. am
interested in obtaining information on communication behaviors and experiences that lead to the
explanations of a hook up. This approach will help me do so by asking questions about why the
person explains a hook up they have had in which ways. This is also a better research method to
use a survey on so people will not have to disclose openly their personal sexual experiences and
explanations. I believe this to be an important gap in research, therefore my hypotheses are:
H1: Males will be more open in telling their friends about a hook up. This is a main
hypothesis for my study because it is a research gap that has not been explored, however has be
assumed. This will be an interesting factor to understand from my survey.
H2: Females will be more secretive in telling their friends about a hook up. This is a main
hypothesis for my study because it is a research gap that has not been explored, however has be
assumed. This will be an interesting factor to understand from my survey.
H3: Some participants will blame consuming too much alcohol as a reason for hooking up
with someone. I chose this hypothesis because it has been a reoccurring statement in my
research thus far. By seeing if this occurs in my study as well I will be able to understand
explanations about drunken sex encounters more to my audiences.
H4: Some participants will admit to never telling anyone about a hook up because of
embarrassment. I chose this hypothesis because I have not seen it in my research articles. I feel
like this does occur however and that it is a possible excuse for hooking up with a random
partner.
H5: Some participants will say that they felt comfortable telling their friends about a hook up
because of their friend’s acceptability on the topic. This is my main research hypothesis based
off of my research question and that is why I am interested in studying this statement. I believe
that the friend circle a person may or may not tell their hook ups about can be a huge factor in
whether or not the secret is disclaimed.
Participants
The participants in this study will consist of college males and college females that attend
Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College. These individuals will range from
approximately ages 17-23. Most characteristics of theses participants will not be prudent to my
study. However, the participants must consume alcohol on a regular basis; meaning about
weekly considering that I will be surveying college students. Obviously, these students must
also have previous experience with a hook up. This can also branch out to third parties of a hook
up; a person of who is told about a hook up by another person.
Procedure
In conducting my study I will use a survey with questions regarding hook ups and the
explanations behind them. This will be the most useful approach because this is a sensitive
subject to be open about in front of others or with others that a person is not comfortable talking
with. I will be looking at an independent variable of friend’s acceptability of a hook up. This
can fluctuate a hook up reveal due to if the person’s friends are more willing to accept the
situation or more likely oppose it.
Because of this independent variable, a few dependent variables can occur in regards to
explanations. People could openly admit fully to a sexual encounter acceptingly, make excuses
for the interaction, or disregard the activity ever happening and tell no one. This could be
because a person was raised with religious views, has different levels of sexual education, and
friend’s acceptability on the subjec
I would be using the ANOVA test and using the independent variable of friend’s
acceptability as my main source. Three groups of this variable could be friends acceptance,
friends not really caring either way, or friends rejection of the topic on hooking up.
Conclusion
I have decided to study how people explain themselves after having sexual relations with
another person while under the influence of alcohol. This is a topic that most college students
can relate to and have been involved with in some way. I am interested in figuring out why
people feel the need to explain themselves after such instances have occurred and how they
expect their explanations to make up for being intimate with others while intoxicated.
The findings of this question will help my research tie together the feelings of a sexual
encounter. This will also show connections in communication to cognitive dissonance and prove
how it can be applied in hook up situations.
References
Binghamton University, State University of New York (2012, October 17). College students'
sexual hookups more complex than originally thought. ScienceDaily. Retrieved
November 19, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/10.
Griffin, E. (2000). A first look at communication theory (4th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Garcia, J., Reiber, C., Massey, S., & Merriwether, A. (2012). Sexual hookup culture: A review.
Review of General Psychology, 16(2), 161-176.
Halsey, J., Huber, J., Bufton, R., & Little, A. (2010). An explanation for enhanced perceptions of
attractiveness after alcohol consumption. Alcohol, 44307-313.
Harden, P. (2012). True love waits? A sibling-comparison of age at first sexual intercourse and
romantic relationships in young adulthood. Psychological Science 2012 23: 1324.
Keyton, J. (2011). Communication research: Asking questions, finding answers (3rd ed.). Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Lannutti, P. J. & Camero, M. O. (2007). Women's perceptions of flirtatious nonverbal behavior:
The effects of alcohol consumption and physical attractiveness. Southern Communication
Journal, 72(1), 21-35.
Lyvers, M., Cholakians, E., Puorro, M., & Sundram, S. (2011). Beer goggles: Blood alcohol
concentration in relation to attractiveness ratings for unfamiliar opposite sex faces in
naturalistic settings. Journal of Social Psychology, 151(1), 105-112.
Ochsner, D. (2012). Does true love wait? Age of first sexual experience predicts romantic
outcomes in adulthood. The University of Texas at Austin. Print.
Rhodes, T. & Cusick, L. (2012). Accounting for unprotected sex: stories of agency and
acceptability. Social Science & Medicine, 55. 211-226.
Suvivuo, P., Tossavainen, K., & Kontula, O. (2008). The role of alcohol in a sexually motivated
situation. Health Education, 108(2), 145-162.
Vander Ven, T. & Beck, J. (2009). Getting drunk and hooking up: An exploratory study of the
relationship between alcohol intoxication and casual coupling in a university sample.
Sociological Spectrum 29: 626-48.
Wicklund, R.A. & Brehm, J.W. (1976). Perspectives on cognitive dissonance: Complex human
behavior.
Wood, J. T. (2005). Gender lives: Communication, gender, & culture. Belmont, California:
Holly J. Allen.
Appendix A
Sample Survey Questionnaire
This survey intends to identify and understand explanations behind drunken sexual encounters
after a person has become sober. These encounters are referred to as “hook ups” and include a
wide range of sexual behavior. Please answer the following honestly so that this research can
obtain full correlating results to other studies on this subject. Thank you.
1. How much alcohol do you drink on a regular basis?
a. This is a background question that could help me understand how much alcohol
the typical student consumes regularly.
2. Do you believe that alcohol is a main factor in leading to hook ups?
a. This will show if people are more likely to blame alcohol for a hook up.
3. Do you believe people tend to act more flirtatious after consuming alcohol?
a. This will prove if students can understand the steps taking place before a hook up
and if they are aware of them.
4. Have you ever had a hook up?
a. This will be a factor that shows if the person is communicating about personal
experience or not.
5. How much alcohol did you consume before this hook up occurred?
a. This will give this study correlating answers to how much alcohol was induced
before a hook up compared to other researches on this topic.
6. Were you embarrassed about a hook up before?
a. This question will show if a personal suffered some emotional damage about a
hook up.
7. Do you always tell your friends about a hook up?
a. This question will help me understand if a person is truthful more about a hook up
to their friends?
8. Have you ever lied about why you hooked up with a person?
a. This will either show that stories of agency were used or if stories of acceptability
were used instead.
9. If so, why?
a. This will let the participant explain themselves.
10. Have you ever hooked up with a person you did not know previously before this act?
a. This will help me understand if these colleges/universities are more comfortable
with hooking up with people they know or do not know.
11. Have you ever been worried about the consequences of a hook up?
a. This will help me see if participants are considering consequences of hooking up
or if they are carelessly not worrying.
12. Are your friends accepting of your hook ups?
a. This will help me understand if people do or do not tell their friends about hook
ups.
13. Do your friends tell you about their hook ups?
a. This will help me see if participants and their friends even communicate about
these encounters.