The majority of past work on hooking up among emerging adults uses a researcher-led definition and often uses college student samples. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine participant-led definitions of hooking up using a large sample (N = 701) of college-attending and non-college emerging adults. Most definitions included behaviors (91.7%), a partner type (64.3%), and references to commitment (69.2%). However, considerable variation in definitions within these categories was identified, in particular with reference to commitment. In our sample, definitions attended to what a hook “is” and “is not” as it relates to commitment. Hookup characteristics were also discussed in definitions, including frequency of hooking up, decision making, sexual health and safety, and purposes for hookups. Participants regularly referenced other common terms in relation to hooking up, including one-night stands, casual sex, no strings attached, and friends with benefits. For some, hookups were similar to these other types of casual sex experiences, whereas for others hooking up was distinct. We also quantitatively examined proportional differences in definitional categories and sub-categories based on sex/gender (men vs. women) and educational background (college-attending vs. non-college). Although some proportional differences were found, in general men and women and college-attending and non-college emerging adults defined hookups in similar ways. Programming focused on emerging adult romantic and sexual relationship education would benefit from addressing these subtle, but meaningful variations, as individuals enact hookup scripts based on how they define their encounters. Future opportunities for research to integrate both researcher-led and participant-led definitions of hooking up are discussed.

过去关于新兴成年人之间的勾搭的大多数研究都使用研究人员主导的定义，并且经常使用大学生样本。本研究的目的是使用大样本（N = 701）大学就读和非大学新生成年人来定性研究参与者主导的勾搭定义。大多数定义包括行为（91.7%）、合作伙伴类型（64.3%）和承诺参考（69.2%）。然而，这些类别内的定义存在很大差异，特别是在承诺方面。在我们的样本中，定义关注了钩子“是什么”和“不是”，因为它与承诺相关。定义中还讨论了勾搭特征，包括勾搭频率、决策、性健康和安全以及勾搭目的。参与者经常提到与勾搭有关的其他常见术语，包括一夜情、随意性行为、无附加条件以及有好处的朋友。对于某些人来说，勾搭与其他类型的随意性经历相似，而对于另一些人来说，勾搭则截然不同。我们还定量研究了基于性别（男性与女性）和教育背景（在大学与非大学）的定义类别和子类别的比例差异。尽管发现了一些比例差异，但总的来说，男性和女性以及正在上大学和未上大学的新兴成年人以相似的方式定义勾搭。专注于新兴成人浪漫和性关系教育的节目将受益于解决这些微妙但有意义的变化，因为个人根据他们如何定义他们的遭遇制定转播脚本。 讨论了未来研究整合研究人员主导和参与者主导的勾搭定义的机会。