Chapter 36 Quiz
12 questions. Questions 1–8 are multiple choice; Questions 9–12 are short answer.
1. According to longitudinal data from the General Social Survey, which of the following best describes American sexual behavior trends in the 2010s?
a) Young people were having significantly more casual sex than prior generations b) Rates of sexual activity, particularly among young adults, declined — a pattern called the "sex recession" c) Lifetime partner counts rose sharply across all age groups d) Hookup rates doubled among college students relative to the 1990s
Answer: b — GSS data showed declining rates of sexual activity, with more young people reporting no sex in the past year, contradicting the "hookup culture explosion" narrative.
2. The definitional problem in hookup culture research refers primarily to:
a) Researchers disagreeing about whether casual sex is ethical b) The fact that "hookup" covers a range of behaviors, making studies using the term measure different things c) IRB restrictions on studying sexual behavior d) Lack of funding for sex research in American universities
Answer: b — "Hookup" can mean anything from making out to sexual intercourse, making prevalence estimates across studies difficult to compare.
3. The orgasm gap refers to:
a) The overall difference in lifetime orgasm frequency between older and younger generations b) The difference in orgasm rates between men and women, which is larger in hookup contexts than in relationship contexts c) The difference between online surveys and in-person survey measures of sexual satisfaction d) The gap between reported orgasm rates and physiologically confirmed orgasm rates
Answer: b — Research by Frederick et al. (2018) documents that heterosexual women orgasm in approximately 40% of hookup encounters vs. 65% of relationship encounters, compared to men's consistent ~95% rate across contexts.
4. Lisa Wade's concept of hookup culture as a "norm" (rather than just a behavior) means:
a) Most college students are constantly having casual sex b) The primary feature of hookup culture is its ideological demand that everyone perform emotional casualness, not just the behavior itself c) Hookup norms have replaced all other dating scripts on American campuses d) Hookup culture is primarily a media creation with no basis in real behavior
Answer: b — Wade argues that the performance of not wanting anything more is the defining cultural demand of hookup culture, and that this norm harms people who actually do want connection.
5. Research on psychological consequences of hookups generally finds:
a) Hookups consistently cause depression and decreased self-esteem in most participants b) Hookups consistently produce positive outcomes including sexual exploration and confidence c) Outcomes depend heavily on individual factors including attachment style, whether the hookup was genuinely desired, and alignment with personal values d) There is no measurable psychological effect from hookup behavior
Answer: c — The literature is genuinely mixed; the moderating variables (especially whether the hookup was desired vs. pressured) are strong predictors of outcome.
6. Stanley Cohen's "moral panic" framework suggests that media coverage of hookup culture:
a) Is accurate but underreported b) May amplify perceived threat beyond what empirical evidence warrants, relying on vivid anecdotes rather than representative data c) Systematically understates the harms of casual sex d) Is a deliberate conspiracy by conservative media
Answer: b — Moral panics rely on extreme cases presented as representative, nostalgic idealized baselines, and disproportionate alarm relative to empirical evidence.
7. The sexual double standard, as documented in contemporary research, has:
a) Completely disappeared from American college campuses b) Strengthened significantly since the sexual revolution c) Weakened in explicit attitude measures but persists in behavioral responses and social sanctions d) Reversed — women are now praised for hookups while men are stigmatized
Answer: c — Research finds that explicit verbal endorsements of equal sexual standards have increased, but actual judgments of specific individuals still show asymmetry, with women facing more social sanctions for identical behavior.
8. In the Swipe Right Dataset analysis (Figure 36.2), users seeking relationships compared to users seeking casual encounters:
a) Had dramatically higher satisfaction and much higher match rates b) Showed slight advantages in satisfaction and dates per month, but the groups overlapped substantially c) Were younger and more educated on average d) Were exclusively women
Answer: b — The relationship_goal differences in outcomes were real but modest, with substantial overlap between groups — much less dramatic than cultural discourse might suggest.
9. Short Answer (3–4 sentences): Explain what research on the role of desire (versus consent) in hookup outcomes reveals, and why this finding complicates the simple framing of hookup culture as either uniformly harmful or uniformly beneficial.
Model answer: Research by Conley and others finds that whether a hookup was genuinely desired — not just technically consented to — is a strong predictor of subsequent wellbeing. People who hooked up because of social pressure, to avoid appearing uptight, or to comply with a norm report much worse outcomes than those whose behavior matched their actual desires. This complicates both the "hookups are harmful" and "hookups are fine" framings: it suggests that the harm (or lack thereof) is not intrinsic to casual sex itself but to the conditions under which it occurs — specifically whether the norm of casualness coerces people to act against their genuine desires.
10. Short Answer (3–4 sentences): Describe two mechanisms proposed to explain why the orgasm gap is larger in hookup contexts than in relationship contexts.
Model answer: First, in hookup contexts, partners fall back more readily on default sexual scripts that center male pleasure, because there is less familiarity and investment to override the script. In relationship contexts, communication and knowledge of a partner's specific needs modifies this default. Second, communication and feedback about what stimulation is needed for orgasm requires a willingness to be explicit that can feel awkward in casual contexts where the norm discourages "too serious" interactions; relationship contexts lower this barrier.
11. Short Answer (2–3 sentences): What does the "sex recession" finding in GSS data challenge, and why might it be surprising given the prevalence of hookup culture discourse?
Model answer: The sex recession — declining rates of sexual activity among young people, particularly in the 2010s — directly contradicts the implicit premise of hookup culture discourse, which assumes young people are having more sex than previous generations. It challenges both alarmist accounts (that casual sex is skyrocketing) and counter-narratives (that robust sexual activity is the norm). The fact that more young Americans are reporting no sexual activity, not less, suggests that the cultural visibility of hookup norms is not the same thing as widespread participation in them.
12. Short Answer (3–4 sentences): Explain why researchers who study consent in hookup contexts argue that the dominance of nonverbal consent communication creates ethical challenges, even when both parties consider themselves well-intentioned.
Model answer: Research by Jozkowski, Peterson, and colleagues finds that the most common consent signals in hookup contexts are nonverbal — movement toward the partner, lack of resistance, reciprocated touch — rather than verbal. These signals are interpreted through gender-asymmetric lenses: men tend to interpret ambiguous signals as positive more readily than women, who interpret the same signals as more ambivalent. This means that two well-intentioned people can have genuinely different readings of whether an encounter was wanted, creating conditions for harm without deliberate malicious intent. The ethical challenge is that "both of us thought we were consenting" does not guarantee that both were.