How common are one night stands?
Over the past two decades, casual sex between two people that are not in a stable relationship have been integrated in the culture of young people.
Although the majority of systematic sexual encounters of youth is in the context of a steady relationship, 80% of youngsters report having one night stands in the past. Also, many say that having sex on the forst date is the appropriate context in order to move on to a stable relationship.
In contrast, in previous years, the appropriate context in order to move on to a stable relationship was provided by the dating before the initiation of sexual activity.
Such data have raised concerns about the possible psychological effects of one night stands, which, unlike the stable relations, is estimated to be particularly aggravating.
What are the consequences of occasional sexual intercourse?
In order to answer this question, 528 Swedish students were asked to complete a series of questionnaires at the beginning and end of the academic year.
Their responses showed that when the incentive for an occasional sexual encounter was exogenous (eg the belief that they had to do it or the belief that this is the expected behavior), then the consequences are negative.
Among other things, the effects reported a year later was the reduction in the levels of self-esteem, higher symptoms of depression and anxiety, and physical symptoms.
However, when the incentives were endogenous (ie the person feels autonomous in choosing to engage in occasional sexual encounters), no negative nor positive effects were reported. Although usually it is difficult to distinguish whether the sexual motivation is based on an autonomous choice or if it seems to be an autnomous choice, but in fact reflects the social “rules”, this study highlights the importance of strengthening the sense of autonomy in sexual choices.
Vrangalova Z (2014) Hooking Up and Psychological Well-Being in College Students: Short-Term Prospective Links Across Different Hookup Definitions. J Sex Res; 2014: 1-14.
