A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation of the Perceived Hookup Attitude of Gender-Specific Close Friends and Hookup Behavior

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Ke Yu¹  Yong Zheng³ 

[1] Center for Studies of Education and Psychology of Minorities in Southwest China, Southwest University;Sichuan University of Culture and Arts;Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University

关键词: hookup;    peer norms;    hookup attitudes;    casual sex;    gender-specific;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01410

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Research suggests that peer injunctive norms (i.e., perceived attitudes) have an indirect effect on youth’s behavior. Few studies have explored the underlying mechanism of the relationship between the perceived attitude of gender-specific close friends and hookup behavior. Following the social norm approach and the social learning theory, a person’s own hookup attitude and their emotional reaction after a hookup would influence this relationship as mediators. We therefore examined the association between perceived hookup attitudes of students’ same-sex/opposite-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners via mediated variables (i.e., own hookup attitude and affect following a recent hookup) in Chinese college students ( N = 314) who completed self-report measures at 6-month intervals. The results of a path analysis showed that students’ own attitudes toward hookups and negative affect following a hookup significantly mediated the association between perceived hookup attitudes of same-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners over 6 months. These findings indicate that same-sex close friends’ injunctive norms were more strongly associated with future hookup behavior, as compared to opposite-sex friends’ injunctive norms. To better understand the relationship between peer norms and hookup behavior, both students’ hookup attitudes and negative emotional responses should be considered.

【 授权许可】

CC BY