Sociosexuality and Sex with New Partners: Indirect Effects via Drinking at Parties and Bars

Objective: The desire for many novel, concurrent, uncommitted, sex partners (i.e., unrestricted sociosexuality) may encourage individuals to seek out contexts that facilitate casual sex. We tested a model in which the effects of sociosexuality on sex with new partners were mediated via drinking in specific contexts. We hypothesized that drinking at parties and bars, which are known to facilitate casual sex (but not drinking at home) would contribute to sex with new (but not with previous) partners. Method: Participants were 427 freshmen men from a large, public, Northeastern university. They completed a baseline survey in their first semester followed by 56 days of daily reports on drinking and sexual activity during their second semester. Results: As predicted, sociosexuality measured at baseline positively predicted occasions of sex with a new partner, but not sex with a previous partner. In support of the model, effects were partially mediated by frequency of drinking at parties and bars across the 56-day reporting period, but not by drinking at home. Conclusions: Previous research has demonstrated associations among sociosexuality, drinking, and casual sex. Our study is unique in suggesting that drinking in specific contexts—that is, drinking at parties and bars, but not drinking at home—partially mediates the effects of sociosexuality on sex with new partners. This pathway suggests that men with a desire for many novel, concurrent, uncommitted, sex partners seek out drinking contexts as a way of facilitating these encounters.