Casual and Romantic Relationships in College
The Casual and Romantic Relationships in College project explores experiences of dating in college through in-depth interviews with single and partnered ASU students aged 18 to 23. These data were collected by students in SOC 490: Advanced Sociological Research Methods in Spring 2025, led by Cassandra Cotton. Students in the course collaboratively designed the project and conducted interviews with 26 ASU undergraduate students.
Our study focused on understanding how college students approach different kinds of relationships in college. We included participants who had started a relationship in college, those who were interested in dating or starting a relationship, and those who were not interested in dating and had no plans to begin a romantic relationship. This allowed us to capture experiences of those who were actively dating as well as those who had no desire to date. We asked participants questions about many topics related to dating, including the terms they use to discuss relationships, relationship and dating experience, partner preferences, college life and dating, and family dynamics and dating. Those who were not interested in dating were asked about their experiences, desires for romantic or non-romantic relationships in the future, and how they handled assumptions about not dating.
Our Spring 2025 interviews were completed in February and March. We’ve prepared a report of key findings across a number of topics – terms for dating, partner preferences and culture, family dynamics, and substance use – which you can read here. In addition, members of the research team are preparing manuscripts for publication in academic journals.
