Dating Patterns Among College Students
Dating today differs greatly compared to dating say sixty or even eighty years ago. Dating trends today, such as cohabitation, would be considered insanity or chaos if these patterns were displayed in the 1920’s. Today the majority of persons who date are seeking the outcome of a marriage (although research does not agree with this). Eighty years ago, people dated for fun, pleasure, and recreation (Schwartz 116), and only “popular” people dated (Waller 1937), dating was a rarity, and limited to people in their late teen years or early adulthood. However, today it is quite different from eighty years ago with respect to the purpose of dating, and trends. Dating starts at earlier ages such as 13, and everyone dates, regardless of social standings. What we are going to be looking at is the patterns of dating among heterosexual college students (or non-students) ages eighteen to twenty-four, and how these trends differ from previous dating trends. The research questions as are based on geographical location, ethnicity and race, age, sex, and touches on religion. The geographical location is listed because we are in southern California. This region of the Untied States is full of the most races, including African-American, Asian, Hispanic, South American, Caucasian and many more. This will also ensures that we get a full random sample. The age is there to ensure that we are covering the college age groups, ages eighteen to twenty-four. Sex of course pretty much limits us to male and female. Religion will be mentioned, but is not a major concern as far as the research goes. There will be six major issues discussed. These issues will include: the frequency of dating; how many time...
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...more valuable lesson than I thought I would on this paper.
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Beth Bailey published the article “From Front Porch to Backseat: The History of Dating” in the magazine titled “OAH Magazine of History” in the July 2004 issue. This excerpt comes from her book, From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in the Twentieth-Century America. Bailey is a social/cultural historian of the 20th century United States. She is employed with Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her area of research focusing on the history of gender and sexuality and on war and society/military institutions in the U.S. history. Bailey has published numerous other books that have received high ratings. In the article, Bailey presents some...
Entering a high school today, one might not see too many relationships, but one thing one might see is that the people in a relationship care about dating for a significant amount of time. The teenage culture of the 1950’s believed “going steady was a sign of popularity,” and the popular kids dated each other (Bailey 140). In Rebel Without a Cause, Judy, who is the dominant female of her group
DeVault, C., Cohen, T., & Strong, B. (2011). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. (11th ed., pgs. 400-426). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth cengage learning.
In the essay by Vanderkam, she says that hook ups “have all but replaced dating at most colleges” (Vanderkam 345). Some support that she uses when proving this was that she said “only half of the women .. had been on six or more dates...a third had been on no more than two” (Vanderkam 345). This shows that this is not just some fad that some kids at colleges are trying to start but rather it is something that is already implemented and has affected most college students. In the short story, Jackson was explaining how all of the citizens were coming together for the lottery when she said “The other boys soon followed his example” after she had saw one boy who had picked up some stones on the way to the lottery. Later in the day after the selection process of the lottery had been completed a person from the crowd yelled “Come on, come on, everyone” (Jackson 1243). Both of these quotes show how quickly the citizens are to listen to and follow the actions of other people. These qualities have even been taught to the children. These two texts show how people are quick to follow the lead of another and that stems down to the younger generation which means that the trait of following will only continue to grow. Also in the essay, Vanderkam said that hook ups have “pervade[d] college culture” (345). This shows
Emmers-Sommer, T. M., Farrell, J., Gentry, A., Stevens, S., Eckstein, J., Battocletti, J., & Gardener, C. (2010). First date sexual expectations: the effects of who asked, who paid, date location, and gender. Communication Studies, 61(3), 339-355. doi:10.1080/1051097100375267
Hooking up on a college campus has its positives and negatives. First off men benefit more from hooking up than women do. Women benefit more from traditional dating. The article “To Hook Up or Date: Which Gender Benefits?” by Carolyn Bradshaw, Arnold S. Kahn, and Bryan K. Saville explains how men benefit from hooking up and how women benefit from traditional dating. It explains the consequences of hooking up and the consequences of traditional dating. Hooking up has become so popular on college campuses that it has become the norm. In the article it explained how both genders have a similar ideas to hooking up as well as similar ideas to traditional dating. Both genders said hooking up is more popular than traditional dating because there is no commitment to continue the relationship. You meet a stranger at a party and if there is alcohol involved it makes the “hooking up” an easier process. You then start flirting with the stranger and engage in sexual behavior whether it is kissing or having sex. Traditional dating does have its benefits as well because you have the feeling of being liked/loved and also your partner is a friend to share happy moments with. The article did mentioned that both genders wanted a traditional date if you knew the other person had the same feelings for you.
Arnett (2000) explains the nature of romantic relationships in adolescence as tentative and transient where dating has more of a social component rather than romantic. He also describes dating in adolescence as often taking place in groups, where “adolescents share recreation such as parties, dances, and hanging out” (p. 473). It is evident that romantic relationships in adolescence are unstable, short-lived, and lack the mature component seen across adult romantic relationships. Arnett conveys that exploration in love becomes more serious and intimate during emerging adulthood. As opposed to adolescent romantic relationships, dating in emerging adulthood “is more likely to take place in couples, and the focus is less on recreation and more on exploring the potential for emotional and physical intimacy” (473). For instance, an adolescent in high school may seek a romantic partner to gain some sort of social status or experience in the process of romantic exploration whereas a senior in college may seek a long-term and mature partner to build a life with in adulthood. Exploration in the area of love during emerging adulthood “tends to involve a deeper level of intimacy, and the implicit question
Dating is definitely an "American phenomenon." Few other countries carry on this practice with as much fervor as Americans do. Then again, few other countries have the same social conditions as America. Since the turn of the century, there has been a greater freedom between men and women, for example, both attend the same schools with the same classes. Both sexes become accustomed to the other at early ages which is very conducive to the practice of dating (Merrill 61).
When it comes to dating, we like to put our attention on seeing the fun and attractive side of them. Sometimes when we fall for our partner, we may believe how much they have or how much money they earn doesn’t matter because we may be in the stage of “are they the one?” (Leavy, 2013). You have the right mind set if you believe money shouldn’t matter, but the harsher truth is social class does affect our romantic relationship. If you and your partner grew up in different economic environments, you should be aware of the difference because they may have taken life so easily to appreciate that may cause you to feel uncomfortable because you may have had to struggle for it (Jezebel, 2015).
Social status has played a major role in many different aspects of life practically since the beginning of time. Social status acts as a label for one’s predicament of living. Such a label directly affects day-to-day tasks, opportunities, and interactions. Generally, how we perceive others is a determining factor for the value we place upon them to our lives. For this particular study, I will be focusing on how social status affects dating/relationships. Dating is the basis of any intimate relationship that can potentially lead to a long-term arrangement such as marriage and pro-creation.
The United States has experienced constant heterosexual change in acceptable social behaviors that evoke sexual relations. These changes expanding from the past half-century, which includes drastic shifts in premarital attitudes and behaviors. Shift changes in heterosexual courtship are seen from 1950’s and early 1960’s, where the standard for sexual interactions was abstinence, and intercourse was only acceptable in marriage (Perlman & Sprecher, in press), to the 1970’s. Whereas, in the 1970’s there’s a witnessed shift to a more lenient social standard, ”permissiveness with affection,” where engaging in sexual behavior was acceptable as long as the partners were fully committed to each other (Perlman & Sprecher, in press; Sprecher 1989). Sexual standards within the 21st century first decade are p...
Baylor University is a college that carries high moral beliefs and shuns the idea of its students committing acts like casual sex. Students at Baylor find many ways to disregard the morals and beliefs that were given to them as they were growing up. They rely on their animal instincts and sneak around authority to take part in sinful acts. They relax on the weekends with the occasional drinking and inhibiting of their thought functions. Baylor University has created many rules that try to keep students from actions of casual sex, but with students that are trying to show that they can not be controlled go around and break the rules brought forth in hand books, just to show that they can.
Simply defined, courtship is a reformed version of dating under the supervision of parents between a man and a woman who are ready to marry in the near future. In consumer terms, contemporary dating is the equivalent to window-shopping and courtship is shopping w/ cash in hand under the direction of experienced buyers. The te...
1. Houser, M., Horan, S., & Furler, L. (2008, October 1). Dating in the fast lane: How
Are relationships in high school truly worth the potential heartache? Answers to this question vary, ranging from the enthusiastic “yes!” to the skeptical view of which cutting off one’s own third toe makes more sense to indifference. Yet, how can the value of a relationship be determined when the tumult of everyday teenage life may result in the potential loss or gain of a new relationship every week? One view may be relationships teenagers enter into are valuable practice for later in life, teaching those which engage in them how to interact with members of the opposite sex in a way which leads to marriage or family. Others, however, state the truism being a significantly low percentage of high school romances result in marriage. Although some may say the benefits outweigh the risks, relationships in high school are not feasible for many and may not be worth the effort put into them.