Older women dating younger men in chicago

Though the double standard persists, acceptance has come a long way. That study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, which analyzed data from 2 million Danish couples, was published in 2010 in the journal Demography. Stigma, and the social sanctions that can follow, also has been blamed for data showing that marrying a man seven to nine years younger increases a woman's mortality risk by 20 percent.

Given that social marginalization hurts a relationship's success, as Lehmiller's research also has found, large age gap relationships may struggle more than same-age relationships, he said. Women bear the brunt of the criticism regardless of whether they're on the younger or older side of the spectrum, with the cougar or gold digger labels reflecting a deeply rooted sexism that judges women's sexual activities far more often than men's are judged, said Lehmiller, who teaches at Harvard University. People in age gap couples perceive more prejudice against their relationship than same-sex or interracial couples, Lehmiller's research has found.