When Booty Calls

Remember the time when you actually had to call someone on their home number and pray to god their Mum didn’t pick up? Not anymore. With the advent of text messaging, Facebook, MSN and email you can have an entire relationship without speaking a word or using correct punctuation (and trust me, I have!). Sadly, our relationships have suffered.

Unfortunately, the following scenario is all too familiar to the modern single; It's 3am. Your phone beeps. You whip it out in anticipation and eagerly unwrap the little gift of ‘1 Message Received’on your mobile screen, it’s from that guy you’ve been ‘seeing’ (Seeing? Dating? Hanging out? Screwing? What exactly are you doing!!!).

Now, I know every situation/guy/text is different. And while I don’t know the content, I know the subtext, of that text is Boo-tay!(thank you SJP)

The booty call, which Science Daily defines as "a communication initiated towards a non-long-term relationship partner with the urgent intent either stated or implied, of having sexual activity and/or intercourse’," is finally being recognised by science.

In a recent study psychologist, Peter Jonason, studied nearly 300 college students to uncover just how common the Booty Call is in college dorms around the globe. Peter determined booty calls to be a hybrid of long-term relationships and one-night stands that can combine the best of both arrangements.

Peter goes on to characterise the booty call relationship by an individuals’ tendency to leave after sex, infrequent handholding, more sexual variety than long-term relationships and one-night stands (more time to experiment) and less emotion. The results suggest the booty-call relationship is a distinct type of relationship situated between one-night stands and serious romantic relationships.

It's no surprise that booty-call sex is less emotional than relationship sex, but a one-night stand? Most likely. Peter admits it could be the fault of a small sample size, but he suspects it has more to do with the overzealous nature of one-night stands.

Peter believes being friends with benefits can be healthy, but how do we keep emotions out? Setting up rules for engagement is a must, and Peter suggests avoiding conversation and leaving immediately afterward to keep the non-romance alive.

Whether you’re for or against the BC, you have to admit the results are wildly fascinating! - Rhea