--- title: Casual Sex and Hookups Are Good for You, NYU and Cornell Study Says description: According to a new study from NYU and Cornell canonical: https://time.com/2917281/casual-sex-is-good-for-you-study/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-24T14:46:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:06.069Z og:title: Casual Sex Is Good For You og:description: According to new a study from NYU and Cornell og:url: https://time.com/2917281/casual-sex-is-good-for-you-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc25546ad9211df/698688aae8524b5cfd6022b0/453221523.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7000 og:image:height: 3938 og:image:alt: Couple feet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Casual Sex Is Good For You twitter:description: According to new a study from NYU and Cornell twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc25546ad9211df/698688aae8524b5cfd6022b0/453221523.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Casual Sex Is Good for You, According to Your New Favorite Study > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d1ed6d0f-0fa7-414e-bf7e-5f5260646549&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 24, 2014 2:46 PM UTC  Love Love Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 24, 2014 2:46 PM UTC Turns out that no-strings-attached sexy times are good for you, so don’t let the haters stop you [from doin’ your thang](http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr%5Flw70lm3i8o1r790gdo1%5F500.gif). A recent study conducted by researchers from NYU and Cornell dispels the popular notion that casual hookups — defined as sexual activity outside the context of a romantic relationship — will leave you with low self-esteem and depression. The research, [published](http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/03/1948550614537308.abstract) in the journal _Social Psychology and Personality Science_, involved a group of NYU students who kept a weekly diary over the course of 12 weeks documenting any and all adult snuggles — and the effect those instances had on their overall well-being. Sociosexually unrestricted students reported higher well-being after having casual sex compared to not having sex, the researchers found. Also, those who were sociosexually unrestricted reported lower stress and greater overall emotional health after casual sex. (This is … maybe not super surprising.) Although past reports have shown that women are [less likely than men ](http://healthland.time.com/2013/11/11/no-satisfaction-woman-are-less-likely-to-orgasm-during-casual-sex/)to orgasm during casual sex, this particular study showed few overall differences between genders. The study’s authors explained that “the effects of casual sex depend on the extent to which this behavior is congruent with one’s general personality tendencies.” So, in other words: if you want to have casual sex, you definitely should. If you do not want to have casual sex, you shouldn’t. The main takeaway of this study? 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