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February 1, 2007

the hookup culture (II)

In a comment to yesterday's post on the "hookup culture," Mike Weiksner asks whether this is a new phenomenon. I don't know for sure, but I find two trends interesting: the rate of sexual intercourse is basically flat, but the percentage of adolescents who "never date" has almost doubled. (Trends are shown for 12th graders.)

This graph is consistent with the idea that "hooking up" is replacing "dating." But it raises several questions that I cannot answer without obtaining direct access to the data. (It would also be very useful to add other survey items.) What proportion of the young people who "never date" have sex? What would the trend look like for sexual behavior other than intercourse? What are the mean numbers of sexual partners for those who do and do not "date"?

February 1, 2007 2:13 PM | category: none

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