Ryan Kelly

Writing 2
De Piero
2/16/16
Hook-up Culture Throughout Perspectives: Psychology, Child and Family Studies (Family
Studies), and Social Media
Whether meeting at a party on a Friday night or meeting while studying in the library,
hooking up in college is something that everybody imagines everybody does. Many college
students sexual encounters tend to be thought of as exclusively hooking up. Throughout this
paper, I will be analyzing and discussing three different methodologies used in looking at the
culture of casual sexual encounters of todays youth. These articles include: a scholarly journal
published by the American Psychology Association titled Casual Hook up Sex During the First
Year of College: Prospective Associations with Attitudes about Sex and Love Relationships, a
scholarly journal article published by The University of Tennessees Department of Child and
Family Studies titled, Hooking up during the college years: is there a pattern? and an online
social media article from Teen Vogue titled The Surprising Reality About Hook-Up Culture in
College. While all the publications have a specific area of focus and discuss a similar theme,
the scholarly journals employ rhetoric features such as purpose and audience and conventions
such as beginnings and general layouts to more solidly support the topic with better arguments,
while the social media source uses moves more effectively to engage and inform its audience.
When analyzing articles from different disciplines, it is important to note how each text
begins and discusses the same topic. When looking at both the Psychology and the Family
Studies articles, it is easy to notice that they have similar conventions. For example, both articles

begin with an abstract which gives a brief overview of the entire article and then is followed by
an introduction. When looking at Teen Vogues article, the article begins in a very different way
by first using an anecdote about hook-up culture, and then leads in to give their own definition of
what hooking up really is. For example, the article began with Last year I heard a frat guy ask
one of my sorority sisters. and goes on to say What is a hook-up? No one really knows. By
using this rhetorical feature, the author is able to grab the readers attention by telling them a
personal story experiencing the hook-up culture as well as telling the reader a definition of what
hooking up is. When looking at the argument of each piece, it is easy to notice that they actually
do differ from one another. In the Psychology piece, the authors discuss attitudes about sex and
love using past studies as well using their own ideas on how these attitudes make people feel
before and after a hook-up. For example, the authors say how students who are embarrassed by
genital contact may avoid casual hook-up sex therefore comfort with casual genital contact may
be meaningfully associated with involvement in casual hook-up sex (Katz 1452). In the Family
Studies article, the researchers aim to determine if the rate of hook ups in college aged students
relate to increased health risks. For example, the author separates the discussion of hook ups into
three different sub-topics (alcohol consumption, gender, and relationship status) and discusses
how these categories may affect behavior. The author does this in order to clearly organize his
writing to effectively convey the information. In the Family Studies article, the researchers use
these categories in the hope to determine if risky behavior from hooks up can be changed while
the psychology article evaluates attitudes about sex and love and their relationship to hook ups.
Each article discusses the same topic but in a different way from one another depending on the
conventions employed by each author.

In addition to using rhetorical features, an author also uses moves to make his or her
writing their own. An authors moves are what make his or her writing their own. Moves
allow the author to be able to employ certain writing tactics in order to engage the reader in a
specific way. When looking at scholarly publications, it may be hard to decipher certain moves
the authors make because these articles are typically laid out in a very similar way using the
IMRAD organization structure - introduction, methods, results, and discussion. But, it is
important to look closely because each article is written by a different author and with with a
different writing style. In the Psychology article, a certain move the authors employ is using
expectations. For example, throughout the piece the authors use phrases such as may be or
might predict. By using this move, the reader realizes that although the authors refer to
previous studies for support, the authors also stimulate additional questions and their own
thought. An example of this is Participating in casual hook up sex may be associated with
attitudes about love relationships. As a Psychology disciplined article, this move really show
that the authors are challenging their own knowledge and looking deeper than just the results that
came from prior studies.
Regarding the Family Studies article, a move that reoccurs throughout the piece is
something I would like to call the Spit and State. As I pointed out previously, the authors use
sub-categories in order to connect previous studies to the the one studied in the article. In each
of these categories, the authors ultimately state all the facts that these previous studies found
regarding each sub-category, then concludes at the end of each one what hypothesize to happen
in this study given all the prior knowledge and studies done regarding the same topic. For
example, in the gender paragraph the authors exclaim, after stating all the prior facts, that For
the current study, we expected that men and women would differ in their hook up pattern and

similarly in the relationship status paragraph For this study, we expected the hook up pattern to
differ based on relationship status during the semester of the study (Roberson 579). The Spit
is the restating of all the facts regarding the topic from previous studies and the State is stating
what the authors expect from this study given all this prior knowledge.
Unlike research articles, when examining an authors moves from a pop culture source, it
is easier to identify their specific moves because these type of articles are much more
opinionated and created to appeal to the general public. A move these authors use is the Quote
and Note. With this move, the author pulls quotes from doctors and professors that have done
research on hook ups and then incorporates her own insight about the statement that the outside
source has given. For example, the author states that 67% of people in relationships have hookup prior to them being in a relationship. After stating so, the author chimes in and articulates
Now were not saying that you should start hooking up with guys if you want a relationship
(Dwyer). By doing this, the author is supporting the statement given but also putting another
perspective on it because they want the reader to think about what is being said in more than one
way.
With different authors employing different moves, you need to be able to realize what is
the purpose of the moves and the entire article altogether. In So What? Who Cares?
Birkenstein states that although a statement is clear and easy to follow, it lacks any indication
that anyone needs to hear it. Relating Birkensteins statement to the Psychology article, the
Psychology article explains the so what and who cares clearly within the text. For example,
the authors concluded that It is unclear whether gender moderates the potential effect of these or
other attitudes about sex and love on future involvement in casual sex. These possibilities were
explored in the current research. By saying this, the authors distinctly let the reader know that

previous research has not established sufficient evidence regarding the topic and therefore that is
why the author is conducting this study. The purpose of the Family Studies article and its moves
are to determine the different criteria associated with hooking up and whether there is a pattern in
the hook-up culture based on behaviors related to the three correlates: alcohol consumption,
gender, and relationship status. However, when looking at the Teen Vogue article, the purpose is
to display and disprove common misconceptions most teens have concerning the hook-up
culture.
Based on the traditional research format of each academic article, both are tailored to an
audience of mostly scholars, such as researchers and professors. Conversely, the Family Studies
article is also aimed at health professionals with the goal of creating change in sex education on
college campuses. Additionally, both articles state a need for further research. For example,
Katz says Future research is needed to replicate our findings and to investigate prospective (but
not concurrent) associations between instrumentality and casual sex. In regards to the Teen
Vogue audience, the article is most likely designed to reach out to a majority of college students
struggling with finding a partner and to help teens decipher common statistics regarding teen
sexual behavior.
The structures of both scholarly articles are very similar. These articles both follow the
traditional research genre layouts which include the following sections: abstract, introduction,
background information, materials and methods, and discussion and implications. Similarly,
each section satisfies its common traditional rhetorical feature. Both determine a research topic
and question, evaluate current knowledge and research, discuss methods, analyze data, evaluate
data and offer interpretations for future research. The Teen Vogue articles structure is much
different than that of the scholarly publication, it does not contain a traditional research genre

layout. As I stated, it begins with an anecdote and then reveals what the author believes to be the
definition of hooking up. After that, the entire article doesnt follow any traditional outline. The
author throws in statements and research results from a few possibly credible sources, such as
doctors and professors, while also incorporating her opinion. There is no order to the authors
statements or claims in the article. Lots of previously thought ideas are proven wrong
throughout, but randomly. The author closes the article concluding that most ideas are
misconceptions stating, Its pretty safe to say that societys ideas about dating have changed
since the age of the dance card, but nowadays, there is no universally accepted norm we just
think there is. Simply, the author does not follow a good organizational structure but still does
a good job introducing and closing the discussion.
When comparing the effectiveness of scholarly texts versus non-academic texts, it
depends a lot upon the audience. A college student looking for information on hook-ups most
likely wouldnt want to read a fifteen-page research article when they can find information from
a public friendly website such as Teen Vogue. I believe that is the case because the Teen Vogue
article contained first-order thinking. In Two Kinds of Thinking, Peter elbow declares that
unplanned and descriptive exploratory writing will almost invariably lead the person
spontaneously to formulate conceptual insights that are remarkably shrewd. What this means is
that first-planned thinking really gives way for the author to express great information along with
being able to connect with the reader through everyday language and expression. Although a
college student may prefer a non-academic text, that does not elude the persuasiveness of an
academic publication. Academic publications cater to the research and scientific community
while the non-academic publications cater more towards the general public, yet both are
persuasive through the use of credible information and tactical writing styles.

When analyzing the same topic through different disciplines and sources, you are able to
see their similarities as well as their differences. By observing those, you are given insight into
how the structures, conventions, and moves differ while also observing how persuasive and
effect each type of piece is. Looking at a single topic through different perspectives allows the
reader to understand how and why each author decides to do what he or she does. Both scholarly
articles and the social media source allow the reader to accurately determine and understand each
authors perceptions and assessments which eventually lead to the reader to become more
informed and educated about the topic. While the scholarly articles and the social media source
use rhetorical features, conventions, and moves, the social media source allows the more fluid
use of moves and engagement for the reader.

Works Cited
Dwyer, Kate. "The Surprising Reality About Hook-Up Culture in College | Teen Vogue." Teen
Vogue. N.p., 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
Elbow, Peter. Embracing Contraries: Exploration in Learning and Teaching. New York.
Oxford U Press. 1986.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. "So What?/ Who cares?" They Say/I Say: The Moves that
Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton, 2010. pp. 92-101.
Katz, Jennifer, and Monica E. Schneider. "Casual Hook Up Sex During The First Year Of
College: Prospective Associations With Attitudes About Sex And Love Relationships."
Archives Of Sexual Behavior 42.8 (2013): 1451-1462. Academic Search Complete. Web.
17 Feb. 2016.
Roberson, Patricia N.E., Spencer B. Olmstead, and Frank D. Fincham. "Hooking Up During The
College Years: Is There A Pattern?." Culture, Health & Sexuality 17.5 (2015): 576-591.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.