"Half-your-age-plus-seven" rule An often-asserted rule of thumb to determine whether an age difference is socially acceptable holds that a person should never date someone whose age is less than half their own plus seven years.
Couples with an age gap of 1 to 3 years (with the man older than the woman) were the most common and had the greatest levels of satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction decreased slightly for couples with age gaps of 4 to 6 years and continued to decrease for couples with an age gap of 7 or more years.
Studies have found partners with more than a 10-year gap in age experience social disapproval. But when it comes to our own relationships, both men and women prefer someone their own age, but are open to someone 10-15 years their junior or senior.
Where does half your age plus seven come from? Half your age plus seven is an unofficial rule of romance often credited to French author Max O'Rell (Léon Paul Blouet) in his 1901 love manual with the incredibly romantic title of Her Royal Highness Woman and His Majesty Cupid.
The “creepiness rule” states that the youngest you should date is “half your age plus seven.” The less commonly used corollary is that the oldest you should date is “subtract seven from your age and double it.” According to this rule, society should accept a 50 year old man dating a 32 year old woman.
it appears that men prefer a woman who is 1.9 years younger than themselves and women prefer a man 3.5 years older than themselves. * Male preference for women younger more than two years younger than themselves drops off, but not as quickly as a woman's preference for younger men.
31 percent of couples have sex several times a week; 28 percent of couples have sex a couple of times a month; and 8 percent of couples have sex once a month. Sadly — or so we thought — 33 percent of respondents said they rarely or never have sex.
In a Nutshell: Sex between an 18 year-old and a 15 year-old is illegal in California, meaning any touching of “private parts” of either, even with consent of both parties (and perhaps even the parents of each teenager) is illegal in California because the age of consent is 18.
What Is the Age of Consent? Federal law makes it criminal to engage in a sexual act with another person who is between the age of 12 and 16 if they are at least four years younger than you. Each state takes a different approach as the age of consent has ranged from 10 to 18.
Called the "3-4 rule," Nobile's method requires that singles learn four key principles about their prospect by the end of the third date. Those tenets are chemistry, core values, emotional maturity, and readiness. According to Nobile, this method allows daters to assess chemistry and long-term compatibility.
Stereotypes aside, many women cite maturity, wisdom, and financial stability as good reasons to date men who are older. But is there too much of a good thing?
"Half-your-age-plus-seven" rule
An often-asserted rule of thumb to determine whether an age difference is socially acceptable holds that a person should never date someone whose age is less than half their own plus seven years.
The truth is, there is no ideal or appropriate age gap in a relationship. Whether it's a 20 year age gap relationship or a 5 year age gap relationship, there will be both challenges and benefits to your situation.
Five to seven years is generally an acceptable age difference. However, there's no single right answer here, as it depends on the situation. As long as both partners are consenting adults, there's nothing preventing you from dating someone significantly older or younger than you are.
Dating Age Rule. The dating age rule to determining a socially acceptable age difference in partners goes something like this: half your age plus seven (40 = 20 +7 = 27) to define the minimum age of a partner and your age minus seven times two (40 = 33 * 2 = 60) to define the maximum age of a partner.
A relationship age gap bigger than 10 years often comes with its own set of issues. “While there are always exceptions to rules, a good rule to remember is that dating someone more than 10 years older will present challenges now or later that add to the preexisting challenges any relationship has,” he says.
Dating and relationships
In general, there are no laws that say when a young person can start dating another person (but there are laws about doing sexual activity with another person, which we explain below!)
Generally speaking, an 18-year-old can date a 16-year-old provided that the relationship is not sexual. But if the relationship becomes sexual, then it could be illegal depending on the state.
No, it is generally not illegal to simply be in a non-sexual relationship with a minor. However, just because it is not illegal to date someone underage does not mean that everything in the relationship is permissible. Some non-sexual conduct that is common in dating relationships may still be illegal.
Adults who build stable and trusting relationships with a child under 18 for the purpose of sexually assaulting the minor are considered groomers. As such, you could face state and federal charges for child grooming if the alleged victim is under 15.
At 13 you can legally date anyone of any age. The same is true of any other age dating any other age. There is no law anywhere that prohibits dating between age-groups.
Close in age exceptions
A 14 or 15 year old can consent to sexual activity as long as the partner is less than five years older and there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or any other exploitation of the young person.
“Sure, some older men have a strong preference for clearly younger women, but most tend to also find older women attractive,” Antfolk said. “An interesting finding is that as men age, they become less picky about age,” he added. “They report an interest in both younger and older women.”
An incredible 56% of women state they prefer to date a guy older than them – and 45% of those women want their man to be between 5 and 15 years older than they are! Those are some pretty good odds. But to make a safe bet, you need to learn a bit of female psychology.
In short, research seems to indicate that in many cultures, an age gap of 1 to 3 years is considered ideal — but some researchers suggest even a relationship with an age gap of less than 10 years will bring more satisfaction.