An Analysis of Personal Factors Relating to Emotional Outcomes of Casual Sex in the College Student Population
Location
Room 232, Schewel Hall
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Start Date
4-17-2024 2:15 PM
End Date
4-17-2024 2:30 PM
College
Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Keywords
Casual sex, Hookup culture, Personality, Emotional outcomes, Social influence, Motivation, Intimacy, College students, Sexuality
Abstract
Casual sex relationships are becoming increasingly commonplace and encouraged by Western cultures. With the decreasing taboo around the subject, individuals in the early stages of adulthood are speaking about their experiences, and a clear division emerged between those who have positive and those who have negative experiences with casual intimacy. The present study combined elements of previous research in order to better understand factors that lead to these polarized attitudes surrounding casual sex. Previous research examined a limited number of variables regarding sexual intimacy in various contexts using correlational research (Jonason et al., 2019; Kaufman-Parks et al., 2022; McKeen et al., 2022; Thorpe & Kuperburg, 2020). The present study selected and combined variables from past research studies in an attempt to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between many factors and the polarizing positive and negative attitudes surrounding casual sex. The three variables included for analysis were motivation, social influences, and personality. The variables were each examined for commonalities based on reported emotional outcomes experienced after casual sex. Implications of the study indicated that personal and intrinsic factors may predict emotional outcomes beyond the situational external factors. Further research is needed to examine the interaction between the independent variables beyond their individual relationship to the dependent variable.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Virginia Cylke
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An Analysis of Personal Factors Relating to Emotional Outcomes of Casual Sex in the College Student Population
Room 232, Schewel Hall
Casual sex relationships are becoming increasingly commonplace and encouraged by Western cultures. With the decreasing taboo around the subject, individuals in the early stages of adulthood are speaking about their experiences, and a clear division emerged between those who have positive and those who have negative experiences with casual intimacy. The present study combined elements of previous research in order to better understand factors that lead to these polarized attitudes surrounding casual sex. Previous research examined a limited number of variables regarding sexual intimacy in various contexts using correlational research (Jonason et al., 2019; Kaufman-Parks et al., 2022; McKeen et al., 2022; Thorpe & Kuperburg, 2020). The present study selected and combined variables from past research studies in an attempt to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between many factors and the polarizing positive and negative attitudes surrounding casual sex. The three variables included for analysis were motivation, social influences, and personality. The variables were each examined for commonalities based on reported emotional outcomes experienced after casual sex. Implications of the study indicated that personal and intrinsic factors may predict emotional outcomes beyond the situational external factors. Further research is needed to examine the interaction between the independent variables beyond their individual relationship to the dependent variable.