“Sex is Fun”: A Study of Hook Up Behaviors and Experiences of Post-College and Middle-Aged Adults

This research is a qualitative study of the hook up and casual sex behaviors and experiences of those in full adulthood, focusing on their motivations to hook up and the subsequent outcomes of those casual sex activities. Most of the existing scholarship on hooking up and casual sex primarily investigates the behaviors, attitudes, and experiences of college students within emerging adulthood. Little consideration is made for the ways in which adults negotiate hooking up and casual sex in other stages over the life course and after major life transitions. In this dissertation, I asked three questions: 1) How do adults engage in hooking up and what are their motivations for seeking a hook up? 2) What outcomes do adults experience from hooking up? 3) Do adults experience stigma from engaging in hook-up and casual sex behavior? I answered these questions by conducting lengthy semi-structured interviews with post-college and middle-aged adults who actively hook up and engage in casual sex. My findings indicate some similar hook up motivations and outcomes between what is found in the literature on emerging adults and the adults of my study. The unique differences, however, offer new perspectives and conceptualizations of hooking up and casual sex. I pay specific attention to the interconnectedness of hook up motivations and outcomes and how they are influenced by participants mature stage in the life course.