How Significant Is Age Difference Between Partners?

13.09.2012 | By: T. F.

Have you ever thought of the person’s age when you fell in love with them? Does a noticeable age difference between partners affect the relationship?

Love is something difficult to explain and has nothing to do with age. (PhotoXpress)

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Let's begin our discussion with a tell-tale story: A rich old man was more than enthusiastic about his young and beautiful wife. However, he sometimes had doubts whether she only married him for money. One day he asked her: “Would you still love me if I lost all my wealth?” “Of course I’d love you, you fool. But I’d miss it.”

Real-life people's emotions always outweigh, transcend and eliminate prejudice. An age difference of more than just a few years between you and your partner is something that you notice only when celebrating your partner’s birthday, or when you're reminded of it - for a moment - when people around you seem surprised that you're a couple.

According to research, there are fewer people who believe that age difference isn't important when it comes to love than those who think that the difference in age should be a significant factor when one is considering somebody as a serious candidate for one's partner.

On average, men are two years older than their partners, at least that's the case when we're talking about couples who decide for marriage. When the difference in age is about twenty years, it usually represents an insurmountable obstacle, and most people would rather turn their backs on their emotions than enter into such an intergeneration relationship.

Young people prefer to choose partners of similar age, while people who get married later or who marry for the second time pay much less attention to the person’s age. In such cases, we have greater age differences.

What are relationships like for those who decide not to adhere to statistical standards and to withstand the prejudices of society by living with a person who is ten, twenty or even thirty years older (or younger) than themselves?

Research suggests that the quality of marriage isn't affected at all by a considerable age difference between the partners. It's the same as with those couples where the partners are about the same age and sometimes it's even better.

There's no good reason for rejecting the possibility of having a love relationship with somebody considerably older or younger than you, if you feel affection for them, if there's great attraction between you and if you have similar interests and goals in life. Should you turn them down because of prejudice? Is there any assurance that a person of the same age as you will speak the same language as you?