Chapter 9

Lecture Notes

Today, adolescents and young adults have their own form of casual sex, commonly called hooking up or "friends with benefits." These types of casual sex, analogous to the "one-night stands" of prior generations, describe sexual interactions ranging from kissing to intercourse between two people who are not engaged in a romantic commitment.

Evolutionary biologists have hypothesized that men's short-term mating strategy is rooted in the desire for sexual variety. Men possess more desire than women for a variety of sexual partners and are more likely to seek short-term relationships than women. This behavior, from an evolutionary perspective, would maximize reproductive success. Furthermore, sociologist Kathleen Bogel noted that compared to men, women were more likely to report a hope that their hookup would become a committed relationship.

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