A recent study published in Human Nature has revealed intriguing insights into the relationship between women’s preferences for certain characteristics in a partner change and their age. The research found that while age is related to women’s preferences for a partner’s parenting intentions and confidence, it has little impact on other attributes.
While previous studies primarily focused on differences in partner preferences between men and women, this research aimed to understand how these preferences evolve with age, especially in women. The motivation stemmed from the recognition that as people age, their life goals and motivations, particularly in the realm of relationships, change significantly.
“Most of what we know about people’s dream partner is based on scientific studies with samples of psychology students; individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 with a high level of education, living in industrialized, westernized countries,” said study author Laura Botzet, a doctoral candidate at the University of Göttingen.
“In our current study, we were able to address the question of how single women in almost 150 countries, across a wide age range (18 to 67 years), including not only heterosexuals, but also bisexual and lesbian women as well, imagine their perfect partner. In this heterogeneous sample based on users from the femtech app Clue, we were really excited to find out how the picture of the perfect partner is linked to age.”
The researchers collected data from 68,085 participants. However, after applying specific exclusion criteria – focusing on single women – the number was narrowed down to 17,254 participants.
Participants, ranging from 18 to around 50 years of age, completed an online survey designed to gauge their preferences in various partner attributes. These attributes included kindness and supportiveness, attractiveness, financial security, education, intelligence, and confidence and assertiveness.
Additionally, the survey asked about the importance of a partner’s parenting intentions and their preferred number of children. The survey was conducted in ten different languages and spanned 147 countries, providing a broad, diverse data set.
One key result was that older women showed a higher preference for confidence and assertiveness in partners compared to younger women. This preference could reflect changing priorities or greater clarity in what is desired in a partner as women gain more life experience.
Additionally, the study found that as women grow older, they become more open to a broader age range in potential partners, particularly younger ones. This change could be due to a decrease in available partners of similar age or a shift in what is considered desirable or acceptable in a partner over time.
“Age does not seem to play a role in most attributes of an ideal partner,” Botzet told PsyPost. “Across all age groups, single women wanted their ideal romantic partner to be kind and supportive, attractive, financially secure and successful, as well as educated and intelligent.”
“The only exceptions were that higher age was linked to a greater preference for confident and assertive partners and to a greater acceptance of a partner being younger than oneself. At 18, women typically prefer partners who are their age or older, while 65-year-olds accept partners as young as 50.”
In terms of parenting intentions, there was a notable inverted U-shaped pattern. Women in their late twenties and early thirties placed more importance on a partner’s intention to become a parent. However, this preference began to decline after around the age of 30. This pattern might be linked to the biological fertility timeline or a shift in life focus as women age.
“We were really surprised by the results regarding the link between age and the preference for parenting intention,” Botzet said. “The importance of the ideal partner wanting to be or become a father remained equally high up to the age of 28, but then decreased.”
“We would have expected this decline to occur later, between the ages of 40 and 50. And while we observed this pattern among heterosexual women, it was different among bisexual and lesbian women, possibly indicating different attitudes toward having children at different ages among the groups.”
Looking ahead, the researchers suggest that future studies should consider a broader age range, possibly including women older than 67, to understand how partner preferences might change in later life stages. Longitudinal studies could provide more clarity on how individual preferences evolve over time and in response to life events like childbirth or retirement.
“The study was solely based on a cross-sectional sample, meaning that women were asked about their partner preferences only once,” Botzet explained. “Therefore, we do not know how the same woman would describe her dream partner at different ages throughout her life. This means that we cannot say whether the changes we observed are due to aging alone, or whether the time when these women were born also played a role.”
“In addition, we cannot say anything about women over the age of 67 years, at which point a number of very important life events occur (e.g., becoming a grandparent, retiring, declining health) that may influence the picture of the perfect partner.”
The study, “The Link Between Age and Partner Preferences in a Large, International Sample of Single Women“, was authored by Laura J. Botzet, Amanda Shea, Virginia J. Vitzthum, Anna Druet, Maddie Sheesley, and Tanja M. Gerlach.
