Objective: The current study examined the extent to which negative affect moderates the relationships between distinct hookup motives and hookup consequences.
Participants: Data were collected from 271 heavy-drinking undergraduate college students.
Methods: Students from 3 US universities completed online surveys assessing hooking up-related motives, behaviors, and consequences.
Results: The results showed that conformity motives to hookup and negative affect predicted hookup consequences. Furthermore, negative affect moderated the relationship between hooking up for relationship reasons and hookup consequences. Specifically, among students with high negative affect, hooking up to secure a long-term relationship was positively associated with hookup consequences whereas among students with low negative affect, securing a long-term relationship was negatively associated with hookup consequences.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the role that motives and negative affect play in the prediction of negative hookup consequences. Moreover, the findings from the current study have the potential to inform prevention efforts designed to reduce hookup consequences.
Keywords: Hookup consequences; hookup motives; negative affect.