The Advantages and Myths of Age Differences in Romantic Relationships

More dedication and confidence

But according to researchers at Deakin University in Australia, couples with at least a 10-year age difference have one big advantage over couples with no significant age difference.

In the romantic field, they have it better for each other. They trust each other more, are more committed to each other, and are much less jealous than other couples.

Two-thirds of couples in which the woman is much younger than the man report that they are satisfied with their romantic relationship. research.

Younger women can still have children

In about 8 percent of Western heterosexual marriages there is an age difference of 10 years or more, and in most cases it is the man who is older. In only 1 percent of cases, the woman is at least 10 years older than the man.

It is interesting to look at the criteria on the basis of which men and women choose their partners, and science does not yet have an unequivocal answer to that. There is a biologically relevant reason for men to choose a younger woman. They can still have children.

Conversely, many younger women would like an older man with status and a good financial position, because they see this as a stabilizing factor in the relationship.

A man’s wealth is no longer decisive

But that doesn’t explain why an older woman would choose a younger man, or why there are same-sex couples with an age difference.

Today, there are more women with good careers, and most of the time they are no longer financially dependent on a man. That is one of the reasons that fewer women take the financial position of the man into account when choosing a partner. This has not been studied in same-sex couples.

A matter of life experience

There is another factor at play – namely life experience. In a 20-year-old and a 30-year-old, an age difference of 10 years is emotionally many times greater than between two people aged 53 and 63 respectively.

It’s basically about someone’s stage of life, whether they already have children, whether they’re retired yet, and so on.

Happiness more important than age

Ultimately, a relationship stands or falls with the similarities in values, ideologies and goals between the partners, and whether they support each other and communicate openly.

This determines for all couples – age difference or not – whether they can be happy together. As long as two people with a big age difference don’t care about what others think of them, there is basically no limit to how many years can pass between two people in a relationship. As long as they’re happy.