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A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation of Insecure Attachments and Hooking Up Among Chinese College Students

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Abstract

Introduction

This short-term longitudinal study examines the mediating role of sexual motives and the moderating role of gender on the link between insecure attachments and the number of hookup partners.

Methods

A sample of 260 Chinese college students completed measurements of adult attachment, sexual motives, and number of hookup partners at three time points, with an interval of 6 months, from November 2018 to November 2019.

Results

Intimacy and co** motives mediated the association between anxious attachment and the number of hookup partners. In addition, the indirect effect of co** motives was moderated by gender. More specifically, co** motives had a significant mediating effect between anxious attachment and the number of hookup partners among college women.

Conclusions

The findings of this study specifically highlight the effect of sexual motives on the relationship between attachment and the number of hookup partners among Chinese college students, especially college women.

Policy Implications

Sexual education should encourage college students to check their motivation and psychosocial factors before hooking up. Educators should provide them with practical, emotional, and social skills to cope with psychological distress.

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Data Availability

The research materials and datasets supporting the findings of this research are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This study was supported by Social Science Fund program of Southwest University of Science and Technology, China (21sx7110).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Psychology, Law School, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, Sichuan, China

    Ke Yu

  2. Reader Service Dept, Guangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanning, Guangxi, China

    Dongfang Yu

  3. College of Teachers, Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Renhui Zhou

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  1. Ke Yu
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  2. Dongfang Yu
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  3. Renhui Zhou
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Correspondence to Ke Yu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Prior to the study, ethical approval was obtained from the Academic Ethics Committee of the University. All participants were required to read and sign the informed consent before participating in the study.

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Yu, K., Yu, D. & Zhou, R. A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation of Insecure Attachments and Hooking Up Among Chinese College Students. Sex Res Soc Policy 19, 1997–2006 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00753-4

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