By Anne Marie Sanderson

The term “hooking up” is often used among college students. But the phrase is used more than the actual number of “hook ups,” according to a recent study.

“Hookups” is a term used when referring to intimate encounters outside of a dating relationship, according to a study by The University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The study surveyed 300 University of Montana students find how social networks impact the amount of hookups individuals have throughout a school year.

“The term ‘hooking up’ is very explicit and broad,” said Amanda Holman, graduate student at UNL and lead author of the study. “More people think college students participate in hookups more than they actually do because of the subculture.”

The study showed a large percentage of the students claimed to have spoken about hookups to peers regarding themselves and others in their social networks.

Though the percentage of students talking about hookups was high, the actual number of hookups was 54 percent of the students that participated in the study.

According to the study, 54 percent of participating students said they had one hookup during the school year. Of that percentage, 63 percent were male and 45 percent were female.

With that, 37 percent of the participating students said they had two or more hookups with one school year. The study also showed 90 percent of participating students estimated a “typical” student would have two or more hookups per year.

Holman said the definition of “hooking up” varied among students. Yet, the most common definition given was unplanned sex.

According to some students across UK’s campus, the idea of a student’s social status could provide them with more hooking up opportunities. Being involved in certain groups exposes students to a higher amount of people rather than the average student.

“There are more opportunities for students that have an active social life to participate in hookups,” said Katelyn Hawkins, an animal science senior.

Kameron White, a University Health Service Sexpert and a UK sophomore, said there is not a hookup rate for UK, but after looking at this study, she didn’t think the hookup rate would be drastically higher or lower.

She said she didn’t think a student’s social status would necessarily influence hookups.

“Social behaviors and their personal definition of having fun can affect the number of hookups thay have a year,” White said.