The world is used to seeing May-December affairs (also known as age-gap relationships, or AGRs), though – it has to be stated – often when it’s the man who’s older, while he dates a (much, much) younger women. We can blame mainstream media (e.g. films) for normalizing this (even romanticizing this), as we see the likes of Vic Sotto playing hubby in film to the likes of Kristine Hermosa in “Okay Ka, Fairy Ko!” (with his now-older hubby in the same franchise, Alice Dixson, eventually playing his mother-in-law); Michael Douglas pairing with Catherine Zeta-Jones; Harrison Ford marrying Calista Flockhart; and so on.
And though we have the term “cougar” to refer to older women dating younger men, when women are the older in the relationships continue to not be normalized.
Now – Surprise! – a survey found that a big chunk of young men aged 22 to 25 years old are interested in older women.
OlderWomenDating.com, a personal and professional dating site for older women looking to date younger men, asked in early January 2022 nearly 1,000 men about their attraction to older women to determine reasons single people were likely to pursue partners older than them. It showed that 60% of younger men, of any age, will be attracted to mature and older women.
Some of the findings are:
- 34% of young men aged 22 to 25 years old with interest in older women prefer to date those 5 to 10 years older than them.
- 25% of men aged 25 to 30 years old with the same preference for older women prefer to date those just 3 to 5 years older.
- However, among slightly older men aged 30 to 45 years old, the age preference gap grew to include women 3 to 15 years older.
- 50% of men over 45 years old preferred women just 1 to 4 years older.
According to David Lufkin, CEO of OlderWomenDating.com. “it can often be said that age is just a number for younger men, and our survey reveals the top four reasons why younger men are found to be attracted to older women.”
Among these age groups of younger men attracted to older women, the same survey revealed four main reasons why younger men fall for older and more mature women every day. According to the survey, these reasons most strongly correlate to objective personal qualities and experiences shared by older women, including satisfaction with life and relationship experience, career success, independence, and confidence.
The survey revealed the following top reasons younger men prefer older women:
- Mature women have a lot of experience when it comes to everyday life. Older women have experience navigating personal and professional relationships, dating, and sex. They know who they are and what they want, and they are often willing to share that experience with a partner.
- Mature women are often achievers with advanced experience in their work field and career. To younger men, older women often appear to have a high level of smartness and strength, which makes them attractive.
- Mature women have often found their way in the world and know how to be self-sufficient and independent. They are typically more comfortable being alone and do not need a man by their side every moment to feel complete. This independence is empowering, and it often helps to build healthy and dynamic personal relationships that balance companionship with personal space.
- Mature women have refined their personalities and interpersonal skills, often leaving them to embody self-assurance, self-confidence, and sharp conversational skills. They know how to navigate stress or conflicts and communicate in supportive ways with a life partner.
