Women prefer men close to their own age?

[oc16]

If this is true, why do so many men 18-29 struggle to get a girlfriend?

Abo Akademi University in Finland confirmed that women have a way narrower age preference as compared to men. They prefer the partners who are about their own age or a year or two older not to that

Why Do Men Prefer Younger Women Regardless of Their Age (marriage.com)

 

[alexjohnson90]

If this is true, why do so many men 18-29 struggle to get a girlfriend?

Abo Akademi University in Finland confirmed that women have a way narrower age preference as compared to men. They prefer the partners who are about their own age or a year or two older not to that

Why Do Men Prefer Younger Women Regardless of Their Age (marriage.com)

I've personally met czech ladies who seemed to prefer older men, as they find them more financially stable and experienced. It's interesting how different individuals have varied preferences when it comes to relationships. Has anyone else had similar experiences or observations in the realm of dating and age preferences? Share your thoughts and stories – I'm curious to hear different perspectives!

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

If this is true, why do so many men 18-29 struggle to get a girlfriend?

I posit that men 18-29 nowadays are not what they were in yesteryear. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a 21-year-old man who owns his own home or has a well-established career. I bought my first condominium apartment at 21, and not because it was easier to do then; trust me, my interest rate was 12.5%.

This is why women often choose older, more established men.

For a 21-year-old in 1990, buying a home was an endeavor fraught with multiple economic challenges. High-interest rates, an uncertain job market, inflationary pressures, and a sluggish real estate sector all converged to make home buying a particularly daunting task for young individuals.

As such, driving a newish car, owning my home, and being employed made me attractive to a woman in my age group. At that time, I was dating a lingerie model (total ditz, but very attractive).

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

If this is true

It isn't, so there's no reason for this discussion.
There is no 'women', just as there is no 'men'. Those sweeping generalisations cloud your mind with drivel.

Some women like men their own age, some like younger men, some like older men, and all for a variety of reasons that are not going to help you find 'your' woman.

If you use the Search function, you will find a ton of threads on what people think other people will like or dislike or prefer or avoid. None of that is relevant, except if you want to write statistics.

Maybe you should go out and meet people, instead of reading about them.

 

[DreamAgain]

It isn't, so there's no reason for this discussion.
There is no 'women', just as there is no 'men'. Those sweeping generalisations cloud your mind with drivel.

Some women like men their own age, some like younger men, some like older men, and all for a variety of reasons that are not going to help you find 'your' woman.

If you use the Search function, you will find a ton of threads on what people think other people will like or dislike or prefer or avoid. None of that is relevant, except if you want to write statistics.

Maybe you should go out and meet people, instead of reading about them.

Are you a postmodernist? You believe everything is relative and there is no objective truth? If generalizations were worthless, statistics would be thrown away at universities many, many years ago. Yet it is perhaps, along with probability theory, the most interesting and dynamic of disciplines.

You are living in a fantasy land.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Are you a postmodernist? You believe everything is relative and there is no objective truth? If generalizations were worthless, statistics would be thrown away at universities many, many years ago. Yet it is perhaps, along with probability theory, the most interesting and dynamic of disciplines.

You are living in a fantasy land.

If this is an objective truth explain how I have been dating someone 20 years younger than I am for several months now.

There are things that may "generally" hold true for a group of people but still allows for large subsets within that group to prefer something else.

Ever see a Gaussian Curve(Bell Curve)? Probably same idea.

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

@AmsterdamAssassin and @BackInTheGame78:

You make a valid point about the limitations of broad generalizations. It's true that individual preferences vary widely, and categorizing people based solely on age or gender can oversimplify complex human behaviors and attractions.

Regarding the suggestion to engage more in real-life interactions as opposed to theoretical learning: this approach aligns with experiential learning theories, which emphasize the importance of direct experience in acquiring knowledge. While theoretical research can provide broad overviews and trends, it lacks the personalized nuances that real-world interactions can offer.

Real-life experiences are crucial for understanding the diversity of individual preferences and for developing a more refined understanding of interpersonal dynamics. This experiential approach can lead to more accurate and meaningful insights into what one may seek in a relationship.

We can, however, agree that there are generalizations about genders, like "men are more visual". It is the case for 90% of the population. And exceptions do not make the rule.

e.g. if we are to be believed, we are more successful with women than the lion's share of the men here, might have to do with experience, physical attractiveness (not in your case ), maturity, confidence, and station in life. Therefore we are the exception, not the rule, so the things we take for granted in these discussions are most likely not something many of the readers do.

It isn't, so there's no reason for this discussion.
There is no 'women', just as there is no 'men'. Those sweeping generalisations cloud your mind with drivel.

Some women like men their own age, some like younger men, some like older men, and all for a variety of reasons that are not going to help you find 'your' woman.

If you use the Search function, you will find a ton of threads on what people think other people will like or dislike or prefer or avoid. None of that is relevant, except if you want to write statistics.

Maybe you should go out and meet people, instead of reading about them.

 

[patb]

They may “prefer” the same age on paper, but only conditional on meeting all their other myriad “requirements.”

 

[DreamAgain]

If this is an objective truth explain how I have been dating someone 20 years younger than I am for several months now.

There are things that may "generally" hold true for a group of people but still allows for large subsets within that group to prefer something else.

Ever see a Gaussian Curve(Bell Curve)? Probably same idea.

You just disproved yourself citing the bell curve. Your personal experience means nothing about the broader population, you are just a single sample somewhere on this curve.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

You just disproved yourself citing the bell curve. Your personal experience means nothing about the broader population, you are just a single sample somewhere on this curve.

Do you even know what a bell curve is? It means that 99.7% of the results fall within 3 Standard Deviations on either side of the mean. Which means that yes, while most of them are stacked around 1 STD around the mean, there are plenty that are outside that as well.

Yes, and there are plenty of other women who date older men and plenty of other younger guys who date older women. Or don't they count either?

You appear to be making a nonsensical argument where no amount of proof is enough and you will run around in circles telling others that it "doesn't prove anything", so I'll let you chase your own tail, I've got better things to do.

 

[Stanley]

There are hundreds of studies and datasets publicly available that show women across the board prefer their partner to be their age or older. There also several studies which say otherwise, but the massive amount of data suggesting that women like men their age or older is literally gigantic. We also have many studies suggesting that in casual relationships and flings that age more or less becomes irrelevant with both sexes.

How about we look at the CPS gathered from the US census which has a gargantuan sample size






The work cited on this page is a gold mine if you want to dig into it.

Age disparity in sexual relationships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BackInTheGame78]

There are hundreds of studies and datasets publicly available that show women across the board prefer their partner to be their age or older. There also several studies which say otherwise, but the massive amount of data suggesting that women like men their age or older is literally gigantic. We also have many studies suggesting that in casual relationships and flings that age more or less becomes irrelevant with both sexes.

How about we look at the CPS gathered from the US census which has a gargantuan sample size

View attachment 11703


View attachment 11705

The work cited on this page is a gold mine if you want to dig into it.

Age disparity in sexual relationships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These don't count according to @DreamAgain

 

[Slowhandluke]

The dating game is radically changing. It's hard to predict what will happen in the future. Right now, there are so many unmarried singles. Right now, there are so many young male virgins. The body counts of women are also sky rocketing, etc.. etc..

I agree, PAST data suggest in general the average young woman is marrying a man a few years older -- that is what the PAST data suggest. However, "past performance does not guarantee future performance". I have noticed a trend of younger women with radically older guys. Remember, it was only a few generations ago that 16 year old's were getting married:

Change happens. If I had to predict, I feel the age gap between men and women dating will widen. In the past, if a young girl wanted to date/marry an older guy, she probably couldn't. Why? Because that older successful guy was already married. People got married in the past quickly and stayed together due to societal pressure (which I think was probably a good thing for the benefit of both the children and the parents).


Right now, a lot of young men cannot compete with older successful guys especially older men who are in shape. In the past, older successful guys would have mistresses or flings because these guys were married; now older men are more likely to be unattached. Also, unlike the past, younger women have more exposure to older men. Either through social media, dating sites, etc. The world is more connected and people accept wider age gaps.

It is predicted that 65% of women over 40 will be single (something like that). Indirectly, that means there's going to be a lot of older guys available. That young babysitter who thought that the dad of the kids she's babysitting was hot, but she couldn't do anything because of the wife. Well, there's a good chance he doesn't have a wife. Or the young lady who has the hots for her older male boss, in the past he was probably married. Not now. There's a higher chance he's single. There's less obstacle for her to try and hook up with him.

Will the majority of relationships have a wide age gap? I don't think so, but I think there will be a lot more than they are now. Perhaps 10x as much. But they wouldn't be the majority. Successful men of any age is rare even though older men are more likely to be successful.

At the end of the day, in general men want fertility, and women want RESOURCES and STABILITY. If we accept this premise, the only conclusion is that we will see more relationship with wider age gaps especially if going forward more relationships become casual. A rich successful older guy can date many young women especially if he doesn't have a wife to worry about or society telling him to settle down. Also, there seems to be a trend for younger women to "wait at the goal line" for the winners; instead of dating and marrying the younger broke guy and then working with him to become successful together..

Remember most guys who are "winners"; it takes time and age to "win". A lot of these winners will be older.

The real looser in this new game will be the older women who did not pair up at all.. They will have no one.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[bat soup]

Oh dear. It's all over for the Oldcells that live in Finland.

 

[pipeman84]

There are hundreds of studies and datasets publicly available that show women across the board prefer their partner to be their age or older. There also several studies which say otherwise, but the massive amount of data suggesting that women like men their age or older is literally gigantic. We also have many studies suggesting that in casual relationships and flings that age more or less becomes irrelevant with both sexes.

How about we look at the CPS gathered from the US census which has a gargantuan sample size

View attachment 11703


View attachment 11705

The work cited on this page is a gold mine if you want to dig into it.

Age disparity in sexual relationships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That age difference survey shows the reality, but that doesn't actually tell us anything about the desires (of both men and women) or the quality of those relationships. To understand my point, one can look up a similar survey showing how most people are overweight/obese ... does that mean they desire that? That they are happy that way?
IMO, just as with obesity/overweight, the majority just go along, without thinking, with what society tells them to do ... those couples within +/- 5yrs difference (aprox 78%) reflect much more cultural conditioning than actual desire on both biological and intellectual level.

 

[holidayad_]

bought my first condominium apartment at 21, and not because it was easier to do then; trust me, my interest rate was 12.5%.

Oh, wow. How did you achieve that?

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

Oh, wow. How did you achieve that?

Veteran’s Mortgage Benefit.

 

[DreamAgain]

These don't count according to @DreamAgain

The original poster claimed exactly what you are saying, that women prefer men their age or slightly older.

So, we already know that slightly older has been confirmed. What you are trying to refute is exactly this point, that it is not in fact that they prefer slightly older, but significantly older.

Otherwise, what was the point of your post? To say, yeah well OP you are right, but I am dating a girl 20 years older, so therefor...what exactly? What does this do to either support or refute the OP's point?

Is your experience indicative of some consensus that is unknown, in fact that the bell curve's mean is shifted toward's that goalpost, or farther away?