La Salle University Professor’s New Book Explains the Perceptions, Misperceptions and Realities of “Hooking Up”

It started as an idea in 2000. Eight years later, Kathleen Bogle, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at La Salle University, will see her first book, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating and Relationships on Campus, on store shelves this month.  

Hooking Up (New York University Press) began as a study when Bogle was a graduate student at the University of Delaware. It is the result of interviews with 51 undergraduate students and 25 young alumni from two different types of colleges: a Catholic university and a state university.  The book provides an in-depth look at college life and the changes in store for men and women after college.  

“Hooking up is an outgrowth of how college students socialize in large groups at parties and bars,” Bogle explained. “The design of the college campus itself makes it easy to hook up.  Students have virtually unrestricted access to one another on many campuses, and a student can easily walk home with someone after a party to hook up.” 

Hooking up can consist of wide range of activities, said Bogle, from kissing to intercourse.  The fact that students use the term so broadly often leads to confusion among students about what their peers are actually doing.  Additionally, the media coverage of the topic creates confusion by portraying the most extreme behavior.  “My book will help to clear up a lot of misperceptions,” said Bogle.   

The book discusses when and why the hooking up system replaced traditional dating on college campuses, how hooking up affects men and women differently, and the lasting impact it has on those trying to navigate single life after college. “Students are delaying marriage, so there is plenty of time to ‘play the field’ in more casual relationships,” said Bogle. “Women do not have to feel as much pressure to get their “MRS” degree in college, and men often do not want to marry until their late 20’s or later.” 

As for developing relationships, Bogle’s noted that, “There are more women on many campuses than men.  There is power in lack of numbers.  Men are largely dictating whether a hook up evolves into a more serious relationship.” Bogle, who began teaching at La Salle this past August, hopes the new perspective her book provides will lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon.  She believes her book will be useful for students, single young adults and parents of college students. 

Publisher’s Weekly said of Bogle’s book “Bogle is a smart interviewer.  This evenhanded, sympathetic book on a topic that has received far too much sensational and shoddy coverage is an important addition to the contemporary literature on youth and sexuality. --- Publisher’s Weekly  

"A page turner! This book should be required reading for college students and their parents! Bogle doesn't condemn hooking up, but she does explain it. This knowledge could help a lot of young people make better choices and get insight into their own behavior whether or not they choose to hook up,"  said Pepper Schwartz, Professor of Sociology, University of Washington. 

-- Jennifer Portante