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Hooking up to getting hitched: Yes, it can happen

Purposely ambiguous and definitely provocative, the term “hookup” has gotten plenty of attention from researchers analyzing this sexual behavior that can range from kissing to sexual intercourse.

Now, a study out Tuesday answers one of those lingering questions – can a hookup lead to the altar? For almost one-third (32 percent) of those in a nationally representative sample, their relationship with their eventual spouse began as a hookup – however the respondents defined it for themselves.

“We found that people who said their relationship began by hooking up reported lower marital quality than people who didn’t start their relationship by hooking up,”says Galena Rhoades, a research associate professor of psychology at the University of Denver, who is co-author of the report from the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

While many liken these casual intimate encounters to the one-night stand, sociologist Kathleen Bogle, of La Salle University in Philadelphia, who studies hookups, says the most common outcome for both a date or a hookup is “nothing.”

“With the date, it was get to know you and see if something physical develops. With the hookup, it gets physical first – not necessarily full sex – and see what happens from there,” she says. “But sooner or later, that date might turn into someone you might marry, and for the hookup, you might meet someone you might marry. People who started out as a hookup sometimes evolve to something more. Sooner or later, they want to settle down and have a relationship.”

The national sample of those ages 18 to 34 was recruited in 2007 and followed for five years through mail. Of the original 1,294 participants who were unmarried but in an opposite-sex relationship with someone not participating, 418 married, thus becoming the report’s focus.

The report also found that the more wedding guests, the higher a couple’s marital quality.

For those whose wedding had:

50 or fewer guests, 31 percent reported higher marital quality

51 to 149 guests, 37 percent reported higher marital quality

150 or more guests, 47 percent reported higher marital quality

Researchers took into account income and education of participants but did not factor in others (such as parents) who may have contributed financially to the wedding, Rhoades says.

However, psychologist John Gottman, of Deer Harbor, Washington, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington who has studied marital stability for more than four decades, says he’s not convinced the number of wedding guests is a valuable way to measure marital quality. As an example, he says a young couple he knows well wanted a small wedding for their “tight community of friends.”

“I think it would be stupid for them to have a big wedding. They want intimacy,” says Gottman, co-author of the book What Makes Love Last?, which was released in 2013.

© 2014 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.



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