Everyone glistens with sweat under a strobe light, struggling to stand as they gulp down beer from red Solo cups.

It’s a typical party scene, familiar to many college students. Sometimes, these parties are in a private apartment or a residence hall. Complete inebriation is one thing they tend to have in common, though. Often, so is a hook-up.

“Hook-up” is a vague term that could mean anything from intense kissing to sex, and it’s the potential of a hook-up that seems to facilitate these party scenes. The result is a casual, no-strings-attached encounter that could end with a goodbye or an exchange of numbers for a future rendez-vous.

The appeal? No commitment necessary.

While casual sex is nothing new, for most young people the hook-up has replaced dating and courtship.

Laura Stepp is a reporter for the Washington Post and author of the book “Unhooked.” In her research for the book, she followed nine women for a year across six different colleges, closely studying their relationships and hook-ups. Stepp said she observed women who got exciting highs from going home with people they barely knew.

At first, the lack of commitment was exhilarating, Stepp said. Over time, though, the negative side of casual hook-ups began to emerge.

“The occasional hook-up does not do much harm,” Stepp said. “But as a pattern and as a social norm, young people are suffering.”

Stepp said girls are fooling themselves into believing casual hook-ups are satisfying. As the excitement of a hook-up wears off, women wonder why they aren’t getting asked out on dates, she said. Soon, the weekend rolls around again, with new prospects, and the women meet new men, permitting the cycle to continue.

“Girls and women will realize they are selling themselves short. We need to see some changes,” she said.