DATING ADVICE
The Right Way to Do Age Gap Dating
As modern relationships continue to evolve, the world is also being compelled to reassess its opinion of many controversial issues surrounding love and romance.
One of these controversies is age gap dating.
It’s a simple enough concept to understand. When you date someone who is significantly older or younger than yourself, your relationship is an example of age gap dating.
But because the idea brings with it a whole host of heated debates and old taboos, it becomes so much more complicated than just two people coming together.
Age Gap Dating Psychology
In 2023, Forbes published an article that provided a psychological overview of age-gap relationships.
It featured a study from the Journal of Population Economics that evaluated marital satisfaction in relation to age difference. Apparently, couples tend to be happier when they’re closer in age.
Factors like similar developmental stages, fertility, and power dynamics also contribute to the preference for age-similar relationships.
But the same Forbes article cited another research that can support age gap dating. This time, a study published in the North American Journal of Psychology suggested that age-gap couples have more long-term success. If you choose a partner who is significantly older or younger, you apparently have more “trust and unselfish love”, leading to lower chances of jealousy and even divorce.
When Is Age Gap Dating Right?
To be clear, age gap dating is not inherently wrong.
It’s just another kind of relationship, and all the social as well as moral issues associated with it do not make the concept something anyone should automatically condemn.
But just like any relationship, there are ways to give yourself the best odds.
In order to ensure that you’re not at risk of common pitfalls when you do decide to to be in a pair with a notable age difference, and to help you succeed, you can use these five questions as your guide:
1. Did you willingly choose your partner?
Arguably the most important part of any relationship is that you and your partner are both consenting adults who genuinely care for each other.
As long as neither of you was forced or manipulated into it, most of the issues concerning age gap dating are of little merit.
2. Are you two compatible with each other?
Attraction isn’t limited to people of the same age group.
Being significantly older or younger than your partner doesn’t really matter if you two want to be together and are compatible with each other.
3. Will you be able to deal with your differences?
Since there’s an age gap, it’s expected for the two of you to not see eye to eye on many things.
For your relationship to succeed, you must be willing to meet each other halfway — to both teach and learn things you consider to be important to the life you’ll share together.
4. Can you handle the judgment of other people?
It will take a long time for age gap dating to stop being such a contentious topic.
You have to be ready for all the negative things others may say about your relationship, and you must not let their opinion control the choices you and your partner will make.
5. Are you planning to be in a long-term relationship?
With research supporting the benefits of age gap dating when it comes to long-term relationships, it’s also better if you and your partner are in it for the long haul.
Not only are you more likely to succeed, you can also serve as proof to critics that age-gap relationships can very much be built on true love.
