How Americans See Casual Hookups

Casual relationships and hookup culture have stepped out of the shadows and into mainstream conversation in America. As social norms shift, more people are openly welcoming casual encounters and rewriting what modern romance looks like.

In 2024, casual hookups have taken a prominent place in the dating world, offering freedom, spontaneity, and an escape from the usual relationship mold.

That growth raises plenty of questions, though. Do casual flings actually satisfy people, or do they leave them wanting something deeper? And how much do social pressures shape the choices we make?

For a clearer view, we polled more than 3,000 people across the country and gathered new findings on how often casual hookups happen, why people have them, and how they feel about them afterward.

Inside America’s Modern Dating Scene

Casual hookups play a big part in dating today: roughly 7 in 10 adults we surveyed (72%) have had one, while nearly 3 in 10 (28%) have never gone there.

Older individuals are more likely to have engaged in a casual hookup

Curiously, older people were more likely to say they’ve had a casual hookup:

• 54% of Gen Z
• 74% of Millennials
• 75% of Gen X
• 81% of Baby Boomers

People typically have their first casual hookup at 20, and that milestone keeps arriving earlier. Generation Z usually reaches it at 19, while the baby boomers in our survey said theirs came at 24 on average. Men and women hit this milestone at almost exactly the same average age: 20.

People hook up for all kinds of reasons:

• Physical pleasure is the main reason for 54%.
• Curiosity motivates 17%.
• 16% are looking for an emotional connection.
• Convenience is the top motivator for 10%.
• Peer influence is the reason for 3%.

Curiosity weighs heavily for Generation Z: 28% name it as the main reason they hook up. Among women, 12% said convenience is their chief reason for hooking up, versus 7% of men.

“The data here confirms what recent academic research has identified. Younger people are having less casual sex, and women are more likely to have a negative experience with casual sex,” relationship expert Kenji Takahashi said.

She continued, “There has been previous data to support the notion that younger people are having less sex overall, and this study also adds the idea that they are having less casual sex. This might be attributed to a number of things: Access to pornography, which may replace a real world sexual encounter, and also the proliferation of online social connections, which may satisfy a relational need.”

Why People Hook Up: Motives & Influences

Why people choose casual hookups comes down to a blend of personal wants and social influences.

Gen Z experiences the highest societal pressure to engage in casual hookups

Our survey found the following:

• Roughly two-thirds of adults (65%) say they feel no societal pressure either to hook up or to avoid it.
• 20% feel pressured, somewhat or strongly, to engage in casual hookups.
• 15% feel pushed, somewhat or strongly, to avoid them.

It’s worth noting that 1 in 4 Gen Zers (25%) feel pressure from society or peers to engage in hookups.

Physical attraction weighs heavily when people decide whether to hook up:

• For 46% of adults, physical attraction is very important.
• 33% call it extremely important.
• 19% see it as somewhat important.
• Just 2% said it doesn’t matter at all.

Alcohol and social settings also affect how likely people are to hook up:

• 65% of adults say drinking and social situations make them somewhat or much more likely to hook up.
• On the other hand, 31% said they make no difference.
• For 4%, they make a hookup somewhat or much less likely.

Casual Hookups Stir Mixed Feelings

Opinions about casual hookups vary widely, mirroring a wide spread of personal experiences and attitudes.

Most men view casual hookups positively, while most women view them negatively.

The survey showed:

• 45% of adults feel somewhat positive about casual hookups.
• 14% see them very positively.
• On the flip side, 29% feel somewhat negative.
• 12% feel very negative.

Younger Americans take a dimmer view of casual hookups than older generations do:

• Most of Gen Z (51%) see them negatively.
• Most people in other generations, by contrast, see them in a positive light:
• • 59% of Millennials
  • 61% of Gen X
  • 60% of Baby Boomers

Men and women also differ noticeably:

• A commanding majority of men (69%) see casual hookups positively, while most women (52%) see them negatively.

How people feel after a casual hookup varies:

• 64% of adults usually come away feeling somewhat or very positive.
• 36% end up feeling somewhat or very negative.

Women and younger people are more likely to feel bad afterward:

• Most of Gen Z (53%) said a hookup usually leaves them feeling negative.
• More than half of women (51%) said they typically feel negative after hooking up, while 78% of men said they typically feel positive.

Hookup Culture’s Regrets and Secrets

What happens emotionally after a casual hookup, and how much people keep quiet about it, deserves a close look.

Women are more likely to regret a hookup than men

In terms of regrets: 

• Among adults surveyed, 41% sometimes regret a hookup.
• 34% rarely regret one.
• 15% never do.
• 10% always regret it.

Younger people, especially Gen Z, report more regret, with 17% of Gen Z saying they regret every hookup.

Here, too, men and women differ:

• Most men in the survey rarely regret hooking up (40%), while most women sometimes do (49%).
• 16% of women always regret hooking up, versus just 4% of men.

On the privacy front, 6 in 10 Americans don’t share details of their casual hookups:

• 30% of adults describe themselves as somewhat private.
• 29% say they’re somewhat open.
• 30% say they’re very private.
• 11% say they’re very open.

As for ongoing hookups, more than a third of adults say they’ve never hidden one:

• 35% have never kept a continuing hookup secret.
• 33% have done it many times.
• 32% have done it once.

Casual Relationships, State by State

Attitudes toward casual hookups differ across the U.S., so we asked people in many states about them to spot regional differences. Our findings:

Louisiana is the most hookup-friendly U.S. state — New Mexico is the least.

How people rate the “hookup scene” where they live:

• 55% of adults call their state’s hookup scene average.
• 21% give it a good or excellent rating
• On the other hand, 24% say it’s poor or terrible.

When it comes to sexual satisfaction, Louisiana residents lead the pack with an impressive average score of 7/10, while the average rating across all states is 5/10.

On how accepted casual hookups are:

• 45% of adults believe their state somewhat accepts casual hookups.
• 27% think they’re widely accepted.
• 21% said people somewhat frown on them.
• 6% feel they’re strongly frowned upon.

Nevada is the most accepting state: 98% of residents we surveyed said casual hookups are somewhat to widely accepted there. Utah sits at the opposite end, with 74% of residents saying the practice is somewhat to strongly frowned upon.

How people feel emotionally after hookups also depends on the state:

• 44% of adults sometimes walk away from a hookup disappointed.
• 27% rarely or never do.
• 29% are often or always let down.

In Oklahoma, more than half of residents (54%) said hookups often or always leave them disappointed.

How long casual hookups last varies too:

• 38% of adults said theirs usually wrap up in under a month.
• 38% said they go on for 1-3 months.
• 24% describe them as one-time encounters.

Nevada leads in one-night stands: 43% of residents there said their hookups usually happen just once.

Where adults most often find hookup partners in their state:

• 44% through dating apps.
• 28% meet them at social events such as parties and bars.
• 12% through friends.
• 8% through online communities.
• 4% through work.
• 3% through other means.

Curiously, 12% of Washington residents said they find their hookups through work, more than in any other state surveyed.

These state-level findings reveal how much the casual hookup scene changes from place to place. Local culture and social norms strongly shape what people think and experience, so the hookup scene is as different as the states are.

Final Thoughts

Our survey shows how varied and fast-changing hookup culture is across America. Between the generation gap and regional differences, it’s clear that local culture and personal experience have a big hand in how people see and take part in casual hookups.

Physical pleasure, curiosity about something new, the pull of a social setting: people have many complicated reasons for casual relationships. Some come away with regrets and others with satisfaction, but these connections are still a big part of dating today.

Browse our site for more intriguing articles and detailed research on everything dating. Romance never stops evolving, and we’re here to keep you current on the newest trends and findings.

Our Methodology

Between April 30 and May 15, we surveyed 3,208 people in 44 states, asking whether they hook up, how they feel about it, why they do it, and more. We wanted to capture where hookup culture stands right now. By looking across many demographics and regional differences, we set out to give a full picture of how people in the United States view and experience casual hookups and relationships.