Here’s another reason to age gracefully and beautifully. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK, individuals who decide to have children are more likely to choose partners who are older and more mature in appearance.
The findings challenge the stereotype that those planning for parenthood tend to gravitate towards younger partners.
“Our research calls into question the common assumption in evolutionary psychology. We found that both men and women who expressed a strong desire to have children did not show a preference for younger individuals,” the team reported.
Interestingly, the attraction to older individuals is not linked to their wealth. Researchers suggest that it may be because older people appear to be more psychologically stable or more prepared for parenthood.
How Did the Researchers Reach This Conclusion?
The researchers involved 149 men and 151 women, with average ages of 30 and 31, respectively.
Participants, who were childless Britons, were asked to evaluate 50 portrait photographs of individuals of the opposite sex.
The ages of the participants posing for the portraits ranged from 19 to 55 years. They were also asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their plans for having children.
Overall, people rated younger faces in the images as more attractive than older ones. However, participants who reported a strong desire to have children found older individuals more appealing. This applied to both men and women.
“The desire to have correlates with preferences for maturity and readiness for this step,” explained lead researcher Zinheng Li in an interview with Daily Mail.
To understand the reasons behind this phenomenon, further research is needed, the scientists say. The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS One.
