Hook Up Culture

1695 Words7 Pages
The transition towards individualism has lead to the emergence of novel social phenomenon. Hook up culture originating in 1920s, has been defined in literature as uncommitted sexual encounters, and it is solely a temporary intimate physical encounter between non-dating partners (Arnold, 2010; Garcia, Reiber, Massey, & Merriwether, 2012). Among these, hook up culture is a mainstay across Western college campuses. A multitude of dominant causal theories have been investigated in literature, among which theories imprinted in developmental, social or evolutionary psychology are at the forefront. Proponents of developmental psychology pursue an ontogenic approach that addresses the impact of experiences that pervade human biological growth (Garcia et. al., 2012). According to Jean Piaget’s cognitive-developmental model, hook up culture takes place during the transition from concrete operational to formal operational stage. However, the concrete operational stage lingers into adulthood as evident “in dominant orientation to the present, motivation to meet immediate desires, and little consideration of future consequences” (Fantasia, 2009). Likewise, according to Erikson’s intimacy vs. isolation psychosocial stage, participation in hook-up culture dramatically shifts the focus from developing intimate sexual relationships to frequent and short-lived relations. It is an extended remnant of adolescence as young adults navigate their development. Nonetheless, these models are not perfectly fitting, because the borders of the proposed stages are fluid indicating the influences of other variables. Furthermore, it is complicated by patterns of neurocognition observed from young adults indicating hooking up as a repeating behavior and attitude (Wade, 2013; Wheeler, 2010). Further developmental research implicates adult attachment styles as a tenet of hook up culture
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