A Age Differences in Marriage Partners

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A
Age Differences in Marriage
Partners
Bruna S. Nascimento
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Definition
Age differences between spouses have been
observed across different cultures, such that men
are usually older than their marriage partners.
Such arrangements are more prevalent than both
same-age and women-older marriages.
Introduction
The age gap between partners has been a popular
topic of debate, filling tabloids with articles on
celebrity couples with “huge age differences,”
speculating whether they are truly happy and
whether it is really love that bonds them together.
Not surprisingly, age difference is one of the main
aspects that individuals consider when selecting a
romantic partner. In heterosexual relationships,
men are on average older than their partners, a
pattern observed across cultures, such that the age
gap between partners is 2–3 years in developed
countries (Kolk 2015). Such a pattern is observed
even in gender egalitarian societies, such as Nor-
way. These marriage arrangements are more com-
mon than same-age marriages and women-older
marriages. For older men, marrying a younger
woman can mean having a beautiful, adventurous,
and dynamic partner. In contrast, older men are
often perceived as more successful and confident,
given that they have had more time to acquire
resources and experience, a characteristic that is
often attractive to women. In this entry, I will
discuss consequences of dissimilarities between
spouses and why men consistently prefer younger
women than themselves, whereas women do the
opposite.
Consequences of Age Disparity Between
Spouses
The age differences between spouses may have
consequences in different domains. For example,
the age gap between parents has an inverted
U-shaped association with number of children in
a Polish sample (Kuna et al. 2018). Having a
younger partner is positively associated with
symptoms of depression in elderly people
(Pradeep and Sutin 2015). Australian men and
women reported to be more satisfied with a youn-
ger partner than with an older partner, suggesting
that age-different couples are less resilient to
problems in the relationship in comparison to
same-age couples (Lee and McKinnish 2018).
Age dissimilarity between spouses also affects
other aspects such as commitment to the relation-
ship (Lehmiller and Agnew 2008), infidelity, and
risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
T. K. Shackelford, V. A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_233-1

(Maughan-Brown, Kenyon, and Lurie, 2014). Why
then are such relationships prevalent across cultures,
if there are so many apparent disadvantages associ-
ated with engaging in age-dissimilar relationships?
Theoretical Explanations of Age
Differences Between Spouses
Sociocultural approaches argue that the prefer-
ences for men-older relationships are a result of
social norms and gender roles (Klinger-
Vartabedian and Wispe 1989). On the other
hand, Bergstrom and Bagnoli (1993) further
claim that the relative desirability of women as
marriage partners becomes more apparent at an
earlier age than do men, proposing an equilibrium
model to explain the preferences for men-older
marriages. In this model, educationally and pro-
fessionally ambitious men choose to wait until
they have achieved educational and economic
success to get married. On the other hand, those
men who do not believe they can enhance their
educational and professional opportunities will
offer to marry at a younger age. In equilibrium,
women are expected to marry at a younger age
than men; however, more desirable women will be
more likely to marry older men in comparison
with less desirable women.
An evolutionary perspective, a common
explanatory model, predicts that individuals will
generally pursue partners with attributes that can
increase their reproductive success. As such,
because women invest more heavily in reproduc-
tion (Trivers 1972), they will favor partners who
are able to invest in them and in their offspring,
can physically protect them, and are likely to be
good parents (Puts 2016). Consistent with this
view, Buss (2007) reviewed different studies
showing women across several cultures tend to
value attributes such as good financial prospects
more than do men and attributes that are related to
higher earning potential such as ambition, social
status, and older age. Men, on the other hand, tend
to value physical appearance, a cue of women’s
fertility and reproductive value, which are attri-
butes associated with younger age and vitality.
Such patterns help to explain the age gap between
spouses and the sex differences on preferences for
partner age. While women will prefer older part-
ners, since they are more likely to have finished
their education and built up a good career, men
will prefer younger women because attractiveness
and fertility are more apparent at an early age.
Conclusion
Men and women have different reasons for engag-
ing in men-older marriages as a result of sex-
specific partner preferences related to the repro-
ductive value of women and the earning ability of
men. While men prefer younger women because
at a younger age the reproductive value of women
is more apparent, women prefer older men
because they are more likely to have acquired
economic and other resources to provide for
their partners and for the offspring.
Cross-References
▶Long-term Mating
▶Mate Preferences
▶Sex Differences in Long-term Mating
Preferences
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