We’ve all heard of it. It’s what worries our parents, shocks the prude, and mystifies high-school students: the controversial college hookup culture, young people throwing commitment and caution to the wind to casually engage with one another in what used to have reserved to relationships. Yet, as this article in the NYtimes discusses, the recent “rise” of hookup culture has been the result of economic forces. Some researchers argue that, since “women now outnumber men in college enrollment by 4 to 3,” it creates a gender imbalance that gives men more power in the sexual marketplace, which could be represented by a supply & demand graph with fewer sellers than buyers, the supply of men being less elastic, and that if men prefer casual sex to long-term relationships, hooking up will become more common.
However, the real reason is much more practical. The premise is simple: time in college is a highly-limited and valuable resource. As much as students want and try to do everything, their supply of time eventually has to run out. Thus, students have to make calculated choices when it comes to allocating this precious resource. When it comes to dating then, many are finding that the opportunity cost of committing to a relationship is simply too high, saying things like “a relationship is like taking a four-credit class” or “I could get in a relationship, or I could finish my film. ” It’s just yet another factor that contributes to one’s daily stresses and can keep one from their ambitions; when applying to internships, writing essays, organizing clubs, playing sports, rehearsing, etc., few have the spare hours in their day to sleep, much less to invest time in establishing and maintaining a relationship. Indeed, relationships are seen as investments and as one women put it “we are very aware of cost-benefit issues and trading up and trading down, so no one wants to be too tied to someone that, you know, may not be the person they want to be with in a couple of months.” When forced to choose between a romantic interest and one’s future career, self-development, and success, few will opt for a relationship, especially in college, where one’s investments of time and effort yield a much higher utility than any other period in one’s life.
Instead, “hooking up,” an ambiguous term that can mean any number of things, though always signifying low-commitment encounters that allow otherwise busy students to enjoy what they’d be missing without a relationship, has become the answer for many students. In economic terms, hooking up costs less time, has a lower opportunity cost, and has a more elastic supply, since one is not limited to any one partner, compared to an inelastic supply curve for a relationship. It’s not that young people are upending societal conventions as some might claim, it’s just that they are becoming more calculated and practical when making choices about time management. They’re thinking economically.
I think that you are absolutely correct. Though I couldn’t read the NY Times article (the link didn’t work), from your summary, it seems as though the author of that article was resting on some pretty faulty assumptions about gender as well sexual preference. Additionally, the author’s argument would not hold true for homosexual individuals. The fact that a relationship takes time and hooking-up involves less commitment seems to be a much more sound argument for the increase in hook-up culture.
I too agree that the nature of time in college is such that individuals have to make a considerable sacrifice to enter into a relationship while in college. One point that I must disagree with is the change in culture. Hasn’t the culture really changed? Have college students really become more economically minded people? What is the difference between college twenty years ago and college today? If hookup culture has really developed so dramatically wouldn’t it be fair to assume that this change was caused by some change in the nature of college? I think that while yes, individuals weigh the commitment necessary for a relationship heavily, but I don’t think that can be the only reason for such a dramatic change. The benefits of college relationships, in my opinion, have decreased significantly in the past two decades as upon graduation individuals today graduate with a far more ambiguous idea of the future. Employment today is far more fluid than it was twenty years ago, leading to a far more unpredictable market in the future. This ultimately leads to far fewer relationships in the collegiate setting
To me, the “rise” in “hookup culture” (if such a thing can be said) is much less of a product of the academic rigors of modern higher learning but rather is a product of the elongation of the average life. It is no secret that nowadays the marriage age is higher than it used to be. As a result the weight of a relationship at age 20 isn’t quite as heavy. A generation ago it was expected for people to find their spouses in college, now, without the cloud of adulthood looming quite as close, a more relaxed tone has moved towards dominating collegiate sexual encounters. I am of course speaking in absolutes, and I of course I could be wrong, but nevertheless; the article does raise some good points (like there being more females at college than males), but the general idea that people are too busy to be in a relationship seems to be a bit overreaching.
I think Patrick makes some great points here. Great work Patrick.
How is it that John’s link works just fine, but the article links here don’t seem to be working well?
I’ve never thought of the hookup culture this way! This is cool, but you may have missed an obvious point–it’s also economically efficient to hookup instead of date because if you’re not involved in a serious relationship, you aren’t required to spend money on the other person, as you would if you were dating!