Would you like to be in a relationship right now? Turns out, contrary to the media frenzy on casual sex that suggests that people are only interested in casual sex….well, that’s just not the whole story.

Recently, researchers asked 706 undergraduates if they would prefer to be in a traditional romantic relationship or an uncommitted sexual relationship? Turns out, quite a few of those undergrads would choose a relationship over casual sex (63% of males and 83% of females, actually).

There’s lots of reasons why casual sex and hooking up is trending right now…things like more people going to college/university (or some type of post-secondary education) than ever, higher rates of sex before marriage, widespread use of contraceptives, higher rates of living together before marriage = a later age of first marriage and subsequently, more casual sex.

But not as much casual sex as you think. This study from 2003 asked participants about their comfort regarding hooking-up and how comfortable they thought their peers were about hooking up. Turns out people really overestimate how cool their peers are with hooking up which may result in people thinking they since all of their peers are cool with casual sex, they should be, too.

So let’s all relax. Not everyone is having casual sex. And for those who choose to engage in casual sex, well it seems to be a bit of a norm for young adults and that’s okay.