4 ms·

Women prefer older men, generally. Older men are better at signaling success and stability which, if a woman is interested in breeding, is important. If a woman

by dcow 3y ago

Women prefer older men, generally. Older men are better at signaling success and stability which, if a woman is interested in breeding, is important. If a woman is interested in a career and has opted out of breeding, then the age difference doesn't come into play as much. You’re probably (subconsciously) putting more emphasis on women chasing careers over breeding, since that’s also been the western social mantra lately, but thats not really representative of reality once you actually dig in.

micromacrofoot 3y ago
I also think older men are less likely to say weird stuff like this, is this not pseudoscience at best?
- dcow 3y ago
  It’s not pseudoscience, it’s a very heavily studied phenomenon. It may be the first time you’re encountering it, though, so probably seems weird. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2019/03/Why-is-age-so-important-in-mating-2019-FINAL-PUBLISHED.pdf https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2019/03/Why-is-age-so-... > We review voluminous evidence for mate preferences for age and the substantial and varied behavioral sequelae of those preferences. These include (a) in actual marriage decisions, men choose younger wives, and women choose older husbands, on average in all of the dozens of cultures studied; … This piece states it as a known fact: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-55834-001 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-55834-001 > Women have evolved to seek an older mate, however, research has shown negative opinions toward these relationships if the age-gap is significant. …
  - micromacrofoot 3y ago
    but there's a lot of data to counter this as well (the age gap being quite small in the US for example), for much of human history older men have preferred younger women... and young women didn't typically have much say in the matter
mycologos 3y ago
The median age gap for a first marriage in the USA has been ~2 years since at least the 1950s (though the ages themselves have gone up) [1]. It was higher in 1890 than it is today. [1] https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-series/demo/families-and-households/ms-2.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizat...
- dcow 3y ago
  Globally, not just US. The US has been heavily feminized since the first half of the 20th century. It makes sense that the age gap would decrease about 1 generation after legal suffrage. Thats my point, in societies where breeding is valued, you have larger age gaps. In societies where breeding is not valued, or perhaps more accurately, where careers take a front seat, the age gap diminishes.
  - mycologos 3y ago
    Israel is, I think, the poster child for pro-natal developed countries. Their average age gap is only 0.4 years larger than that of South Korea or Japan [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_first_marriage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_fi...
GaryNumanVevo 3y ago
Can we all agree to not call it "breeding"?

by dcow 3y ago

micromacrofoot 3y ago

I also think older men are less likely to say weird stuff like this, is this not pseudoscience at best?

dcow 3y ago
It’s not pseudoscience, it’s a very heavily studied phenomenon. It may be the first time you’re encountering it, though, so probably seems weird. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2019/03/Why-is-age-so-important-in-mating-2019-FINAL-PUBLISHED.pdf https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2019/03/Why-is-age-so-... > We review voluminous evidence for mate preferences for age and the substantial and varied behavioral sequelae of those preferences. These include (a) in actual marriage decisions, men choose younger wives, and women choose older husbands, on average in all of the dozens of cultures studied; … This piece states it as a known fact: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-55834-001 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-55834-001 > Women have evolved to seek an older mate, however, research has shown negative opinions toward these relationships if the age-gap is significant. …
- micromacrofoot 3y ago
  but there's a lot of data to counter this as well (the age gap being quite small in the US for example), for much of human history older men have preferred younger women... and young women didn't typically have much say in the matter

mycologos 3y ago

The median age gap for a first marriage in the USA has been ~2 years since at least the 1950s (though the ages themselves have gone up) [1]. It was higher in 1890 than it is today. [1] https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-series/demo/families-and-households/ms-2.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizat...

dcow 3y ago
Globally, not just US. The US has been heavily feminized since the first half of the 20th century. It makes sense that the age gap would decrease about 1 generation after legal suffrage. Thats my point, in societies where breeding is valued, you have larger age gaps. In societies where breeding is not valued, or perhaps more accurately, where careers take a front seat, the age gap diminishes.
- mycologos 3y ago
  Israel is, I think, the poster child for pro-natal developed countries. Their average age gap is only 0.4 years larger than that of South Korea or Japan [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_first_marriage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_fi...

GaryNumanVevo 3y ago

Can we all agree to not call it "breeding"?