Social changes over the past century, which separated sexuality from its exclusively reproductive function and linked it to pleasure, have shaped the formation of intimate relationships, a transformation that remains visible today. This thesis examines casual sex as one of the commonly practiced forms of intimate relationships in contemporary society. Using semi-structured interviews and an anonymous survey, it focuses on young people in Slovenia between the ages of 20 and 30, exploring their understanding, attitudes, experiences, norms, and perceptions of casual sex. With the help of sexual script theory, casual sex is analysed on the cultural, interpersonal, and intrapsychic levels, which actively interact with one another. Despite being a prevalent and increasingly accepted phenomenon, various discourses in broader society differently frame casual sex and the individuals who practice it. In Slovenia, sexual culture is heterogeneous, with the medical-psychological and the media-consumerist discourse being the most prominent. The interplay of permissive and traditional sexual cultures and discourses has situated casual sex between normalization and stigmatization. Although casual sex appears to be a spontaneous practice, the thesis reveals it as a highly reflexive process for each individual, involving negotiated rules of conduct aimed at achieving a moral minimum of not harming anyone involved. These rules also function as mechanisms of emotional labour and the rationalisation of intimacy. Both interviewees and survey respondents display a strongly ambivalent attitude towards this practice. Despite the growing acceptance and frequent practice of casual sex, a serious relationship and sex within it continue to appear as the ideal of intimate relationships and sexuality.
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