They say age is just a number, but how true can that be? With society’s tendency to look down on couples with a large age difference, one has to wonder if there are some more serious consequences behind being too free with your chosen numbers.
But do differences in age truly have any effect on relationships and their longevity? The results may surprise you. Here’s how scientists explain the best age difference to make a relationship last.
Scientists Explain What Age Difference Can Make A Relationship Last
1. Research methods: how to determine lasting relationships
This study was conducted by researchers from Emory University, which is located in Atlanta. The study was run by Hugo Mialon and Andrew Francis, with assistance from Michigan State University’s Randal Olsen to process received raw data.
This research involved 3,000 participants and evaluated their demographics, certain select factors, and the lasting nature or lack thereof of their relationships. In the past, information regarding age gaps in relationships was not widely available, and this study helped to shine a light on this little-studied area.
Interestingly, the main point behind this research paper was not to study age gaps at all. Instead, the study set out to investigate engagement and wedding expenditures on married couples and see if these factors affected a relationship’s longevity. The study’s conclusion found that this factor does not relate to longevity at all, a find that could potentially change the way the world views the commercial wedding industries.
In the process of studying factors such as expenditure on engagement and wedding plans, this study also made it a point to collect other potentially relevant data. This included:
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Religion and religious attendance
- Education level
- Employment status
- Income
- Size of family
As such, there was plenty of data that allowed for other conclusions about the best factors for relationships to be drawn. This allowed people to be able to clearly see and interpret the best age difference to make a relationship last.
With that being said, it’s worth noting that this study did not set out to make a set-in-stone conclusion about age gaps in relationships. Instead, they aimed to better understand trends in romantic relationships and the factors linked to them.
2. Research findings: what’s the best age difference?
There were a number of interesting age-related findings from this study. Let’s break them down one by one.
- One-year gaps. Let’s start with couples born within 12 months of each other. Relationships involving spouses with a year or less in age difference were found to have lasted the longest, only having a 3% chance of breaking up.
- Five-year gaps. Married couples with an age gap of approximately five years have a divorce rate of 18%.
- Ten-year gaps. Couples with a 10-year age gap between them have a divorce rate of 39%.
- Twenty-year gaps. Relationships with age gaps of twenty years have the highest chance of divorce by far, with their rates set at a whopping 95%.
This means that the relationships that last the longest and, presumably, are the most positive, involve minimal age gaps. The higher the age gap, the more likely the chances of divorce.
Just for fun, here are some other findings from this research, as well as relationship statistics from other studies that have been proven to be credible and hold significant accuracy.
- Children out of wedlock. Families who have their first child outside of wedlock have a 59% higher chance of getting divorced than those who do not have children.
- Children within wedlock. Having children during a relationship drops divorce chances by 76%, but increases the chances of the couple splitting up due to child-related stressors when their children are older.
- Couples who have been together for two years drop their chances of getting divorced by 43%. Meanwhile, those who hit 10 years together are even less likely to divorce by 94%.
- A wide difference in education levels between spouses has divorce probabilities of 43%.
3. Reasons behind age difference results
There are plenty of reasons that relationships end in divorce. But why is it that wide age gaps tend to lead to bad endings to relationships? Here are a few speculations.
a) Social convention
It is no secret that couples with large age gaps tend to be looked down upon. Research has shown that those with age differences of 10 years or more don’t particularly receive a lot of positive feedback.
Many times, this social disapproval can lead to decreased relationship commitment. Essentially, if couples do not receive favorable approval from friends, family, and their community because of their age difference, they’re much more likely to break up.
b) Life stage
Someone who is 30 years old will be facing significantly different issues, goals, priorities, and values than someone who is 20 years old. While couples can work things out despite different views and opinions, differences like these can certainly put a rift in relationships.
This is especially true due to the huge difference in priorities those of different ages experience. To make a relationship last, a couple would have to reconcile these differences – something not everyone is able to do.
c) Intimacy
As crude, as it sounds, the bedroom is an important place for couples. While intimacy isn’t everything and doesn’t play a role in some relationships, allosexual relationships typically require some degree of bedroom chemistry to last.
The issue is that older individuals tend to have lowered intimacy drive. Women, in particular, will have difficulty having children at older ages, and men will not be as interested in being intimate as they once were. Coupled with someone much younger, this discrepancy in intimacy could lead to a break-up.
