A new study from the University of California challenges long-standing assumptions about age preferences in dating. Analyzing 4,500 blind dates, researchers found that both men and women were slightly more attracted to younger partners – regardless of what they had previously believed about their own preferences.
The study, led by UC Davis psychology professor Paul Eastwick and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 27, examined people actively seeking long-term relationships. While it is commonly assumed that men prefer younger partners and women prefer older ones, the findings suggest that attraction in real-life dating scenarios does not always align with these stereotypes.
This preference for youth among women will be shocking to many people, because in mixed-gender couples, men tend to be older than women. Plus, women generally say they prefer older partners,” Eastwick explained. “But women’s preferences on the dates themselves revealed something else entirely.”
The study analyzed data from over 6,000 participants who used the matchmaking service Tawkify, representing a diverse range of ages from 22 to 85. Although many participants had stated an upper age limit for potential partners, their actual behavior during the blind dates showed a consistent attraction to younger matches.
While it’s not clear exactly how this might influence regular dates – as opposed to blind dates, where the participants don’t know much about each other beforehand – it definitely reveals some hints towards an equal preference for younger partners. Although the study did not track whether these initial attractions led to long-term relationships, it suggests that unconscious biases may shape dating choices more than people realize – something that could be true both in-person and online through an app.
