The automobile especially afforded a young couple the opportunity to have time together away from parental constraints.
With the shift of courtship from the private to the public sphere, it took on a new goal; dating became a means to and indicator of popularity, especially in the collegiate environment.
The primary change in courtship rituals during this time was a shift from marriage to social status as the desired result.
The date, which had previously been the public courting method for the lower class, was adopted by young adults across the upper and middle classes.
Meetings between lovers began to be more distant from rigid parental supervision.
Hooking up is unique for when and why the sexual encounter occurs: instead of building a relationship before initiating sexual acts (from kissing to intercourse), hooking up allows the participants to become intimate without the expectation of commitment.
Glenn and Marquardt's research shows the prominence of hooking up on modern-day college campuses; they found that approximately 40% of college women have participated in a hookup, with as many as 25% of that number having participated in this practice a minimum of six times.
Another potential form of harassment can be seen in professor–student relationships; even though the student may be of the age to consent, they might be coerced into sexual encounters due to the hope of boosting their grades or receiving a recommendation from the professor.
The practices of courtship in Western societies have changed dramatically in recent history.
However, the goal of the process was still focused on ending in a marriage.
Around the 1920s, the landscape of courtship began to shift in favor of less formal, non-marriage focused rituals.
It functioned as a way for each party's family to gauge the social status of the other.
This was done in order to ensure a financially and socially compatible marriage.
In this format, dating became about competing for the potential mate with the highest social payoff.