The phrase “just talking” is ubiquitously used by emerging adults to describe amorous interactions. Despite the prevalence of this phrase in public discourse, little is known about what just talking means and whether it is simply popular slang for longstanding relationship patterns or marks a shift in romantic and sexual norms and behavior. We surveyed undergraduate students at a mid-sized university about just talking, then conducted focus groups to better contextualize the phenomenon. Participant responses were coded inductively and interpreted in the historical context of American courtship, contemporary social norms on campus, the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, and shifting patterns of everyday interaction brought about by smartphone technology. We propose that just talking is a veiled courtship behavior that denies the intimacy it builds thereby meeting emerging adults’ needs for emotional intimacy in a social environment where speaking frankly about emotional connections and seeking stable romantic partnerships are stigmatized.

This trend study analyzes nine years (from 2011-2019) of cross-sectional survey responses to Klein’s Sexual Orientation Grid (1978) to explore changes in sexual orientation among emerging adult college students. Categorical regression models based on ordinal responses revealed that participants were moving away from exclusively heterosexuality on attraction, behavior, and identity subscales at a rate of approximately 6% per year. This trend augments for women after 2014, coinciding with increased advocacy efforts related to U.S. marriage equality, but attenuates for men. Participants' race also related to variations in sexual orientation: Black participants were less likely than White participants to identify as exclusively heterosexual, whereas the pattern reversed for Asian participants relative to White participants. These findings suggest that changes in sexual orientation are occurring among emerging adults in the U.S., potentially in response to changing social and political contexts, but these changes are more pronounced in women and Black emerging adults.