Age-Gap Relationships Can Signal Totally Different Things

"Why are some relationships a flex but not others? May-December romances are as old as time but once every couple of months, a celebrity couple will go official in the public eye and remind us all that sometimes love is less about fuzzy feelings and more about the cold-hard indictments it hands out to all the parties participating. Not all age-gap relationships are created equal"

"When NFL football coach BIll Belichick, 73, ends up with 24-year old cheerleader-turned-publicist Jordan Hudson, it's a flex (regardless of how you feel about either one of them or their joint venture). But when Cher (79) or Madonna (67) ends up with a guy half their age (39 and 29, respectively), it means something totally different. And here's how you know it's different: Kathy Griffin recently confessed that she dated a 23-year old when she was 65."

"Age-gap relationships are always asymmetrical across the sexes because men's mate value tends to go up with age, usually because with age comes money, status, and other goodies. Women's tolerance-some would argue, preference-for older men remains remarkably stable throughout the lifespan. Studies confirm this phenomenon, although it is higher among young women; the older they get, they do also tend to be more open-minded towards younger guys."

Age-gap relationships produce different social signals depending on which partner is older. Older men paired with younger women are often perceived as flaunting wealth, power, and status, creating a visible social 'flex.' Older women who date younger men tend to evoke different social meanings and are less likely to publicly parade those relationships, often keeping them private. Celebrity pairings illustrate these contrasts through disparate public behavior and attention. Evolutionary explanations emphasize that men's mate value typically increases with age because of accumulated resources and status, while women's mate value is more closely linked to youth, producing asymmetrical societal reactions.

Read at Psychology Today