Issues in Sexuality: Scholarly vs. Popular Media - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages This is a peer reviewed article (http://www.ejhs.org/volume16/onenight.html); the main purpose is to evaluate the one-night stand phenomenon among college students; this research article employs personal interviews with students who had recently been involved in a one-night stand encounter in order to determine the factors that affect the choice of sexual partner. The study employs Social Exchange Theory to explain the trends in sexual occurrences and the sexual patterns. The participants in this research were 28 college-age students from a South Californian University and had recently involved themselves in a single night sexual encounter (Marelich and Graham, 2013).
The hypothesis is that, based on Social Exchange Theory one-night stands operate as a form of reward-cost exchange, and behavior settings can have an influence on seduction. This research only seeks to identify the events that led to the one-night stands and not the details of the sexual encounter (Marelich and Graham, 2013).
Research Methodology and Results
The study revolved around 28 students (9 males and 19 females), from a large university in Southern California; open-ended and semi-structured interviews were used as the study design in this study; the interviews were conducted and tape recorded in a private lab. The research had no gender restrictions with the only restriction being the age bracket; it was set at 18-24 years. Based on multiple readings of the interview transcripts, and thematic qualitative analysis, results displayed the emergent themes of the precedents of one night stands (Marelich and Graham, 2013).
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nder the following four broad categories; behavior setting features, themes unique to females, themes, themes unique to males and themes shared across gender. Some of the behavior features identified were; alcohol use, physical setting, and the fashion sense of the hookup partner. Females themes included; attraction to confident males, the male’s expression of sincere interest in the female, the male’s exotic appearance, a long cultivation period by the male, and the male’s interest in helping the female achieve her goals. Males had a single unique theme which related to the female reacting positively to their sense of humor. Shared themes across the gender included being unhappy in a relationship or being single(Marelich and Graham, 2013). In conclusion, the research shows that one-night stands require an investment in time (probably a whole evening); the individuals usually interact in behavior setting that cultures a “hook-up” e.g. (house party, club or a private residence); the parties are usually in an unhappy relationship or single; over 50% of the time alcohol is involved and the male usually has to spend; the physical appearance and dress code of the potential partners also play a major role in the hook-up(Marelich and Graham, 2013). Popular Media Article The Science of One Night Stands Summary This article adopts its argument from studies published in a journal called, Human Nature (http://healthland.time.com/2009/08/11/the-science-of-one-night-stands/) the study involved investigating the factors that people consider when choosing a possible candidate for a single-night sex encounter; the findings showed that men had much lower standards in their choice of one-night stand partners than the women. The study population was College-aged students and ...Download file to see next pagesRead More