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 Norway. These marriage arrangements are more common than same-age marriages and women-older marriages. For older...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Bergstrom, T. C., & Bagnoli, M. (1993). Courtship as a waiting game. Journal of Political Economy, 101, 185–202. https://doi.org/10.1086/261871.
Buss, D. M. (2007). The evolution of human mating. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 39(3), 502–512. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-06914-013
Klinger-Vartabedian, L., & Wispe, L. (1989). Age differences in marriage and female longevity. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 195–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/352380.
Kolk, M. (2015). Age differences in unions: Continuity and divergence among Swedish couples between 1932 and 2007. European Journal of Population, 31(4), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-015-9339-z.
Kuna, B., Galbarczyk, A., Klimek, M., Nenko, I., & Jasienska, G. (2018). Age difference between parents influences parity and number of sons. American Journal of Human Biology, 30(3), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23095.
Lee, W. S., & McKinnish, T. (2018). The marital satisfaction of differently aged couples. Journal of Population Economics, 31(2), 337–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-017-0658-8
Lehmiller, J. J., & Christopher, R. A. (2008). Commitment in age-gap heterosexual romantic relationships: A test of evolutionary and socio-cultural predictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32(1), 74–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00408.x
Maughan-Brown, B., Kenyon, C., & Lurie, M. N. (2014). Partner age differences and concurrency in South Africa: implications for HIV-infection risk among young women. AIDS and Behavior, 18(12), 2469–2476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0828-6
Pradeep, N., & Sutin, A. R. (2015). Spouses and depressive symptoms in older adulthood. Scientific Reports, 5, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08594
Puts, D. (2016). Human sexual selection. Current Opinion in Psychology, 7, 28–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.07.011.
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Nascimento, B.S. (2019). Age Differences in Marriage Partners. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_233-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_233-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences