Queering Hookup Motives in a Diverse Sample of LGBTQ+ Young Adults

Bibliographic Data

ID10207648
AuthorsShannon Snapp (0000-0003-1486-7310, Department of Psychology, California State University, Monterey Bay, corresponding author), Terence H W Ching (0000-0002-8850-2237, Yale School of Medicine, OCD Research Clinic), Maria A Miranda-Ramirez (School Psychology, California State University, Monterey Bay), Connor Gallik (0000-0001-5054-2631, Clinical Psychology, University of Connecticut), Ulises Duenaz (Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut), R J Watson (0000-0001-7824-7714, Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut)
Year2023
Volume61
Issue1
Pages133-143
Publication date2023-03-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Sex Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4499 • E-ISSN: 1559-8519
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00224499.2023.2183175
PMID36896994
OpenAlexW4323806409
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited54

There is a paucity of research on hookup motives among LGBTQ+ young adults, despite the importance of such sexual encounters for the development of LGBTQ+ young adults' identities. In this study, we examined the hookup motives of a diverse sample of LGBTQ+ young adults through in-depth qualitative interviews. Interviews were conducted with 51 LGBTQ+ young adults across college campuses at three sites in North America. We asked participants, " What sorts of things motivate you to hook up ?" and " Why do you hook up ?" Six distinct hookup motives emerged from participants' responses. They included: a) pleasure/enhancement , b) intimacy and social-relationship motives , c) self-affirmation , d) coping , e) cultural norms and easy access , and f) multifaceted motives . While some of our themes cohered with previously identified hookup motives among heterosexual samples, LGBTQ+ young adults identified new and distinct motives that illustrate major differences between their hookup experiences and that of heterosexual young adults. For example, LGBTQ+ young adults were motivated to pleasure their hookup partner, not just themselves. They were also motivated by cultural norms within the queer community, easy access to hookup partners , and multifaceted motives . There is a need for data-driven ways to conceptualize hookup motives among LGBTQ+ young adults, instead of unquestioningly using heterosexual templates for understanding why LGBTQ+ individuals hook up

Developmental psychology · Pleasure · Psychoanalysis · Queer · Sexual orientation · Young adult · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology