Does age difference in relationships really matter? I think that as an adult, generally no it doesn’t, maturity is the bigger issue. But I know a lot of girls my age (16, 17) are in relationships with older men from ages 21 upwards. Even if the girl is quite mature, do you think in general the older man must be a little immature to want to date a teenager? I couldn’t imagine why an adult would prefer to spend time with a teenager than with somebody their own age, but I don’t frown upon these relationships. What is everybody elses opinions?
At certain key points difference in age DOES matter. There is an intense period of maturation that goes on early in life that slows down as time goes on. People continue to mature through their lives, but it is not as intense as when they are younger.
I think older men date younger women for the influence it gives them. A 21 year old dating a 16 year old has a lot of potential influence over her. I am just going to see the male as the older and the female as the younger because a woman 21 years old or older dating a 16-17 year old seems quite unlikely.
The maturity gap between a 17 year old and a 21 year old can be quite large.
We can only know from our own experiences of course, but it strikes me as pretty unusual for a lasting relationship to come out of a fling between two people of different ages. It does happen, but not often.
When I was 17 I was dating a 26 year old. I thought he was really mature (that is funny now, as I see 26 as young). He got a kick out of having a teenager on his arm. He loved my innocence, and saw it as an opportunity to ‘educate’ me (in many things, not just the smutty ones), so xanderman is quite right.
However, when I was about 24 I developed a crush on a 15 year old boy. We became friends (and still are) but I don’t really know what motivated my affection. I think it was a combination of his naivety and his potential. I didn’t do anything about it, but he would have been perfectly happy for me to. I believe it’s a lot more difficult to exploit a 15 year old boy than a 15 year old girl.
Age has no bearing on maturity but experience does. I know some grown men who have the emotional intelligence of a teenager. Their relationships always fail.
My husband is 5 years older than I, but there’s practically no difference in our respective levels of maturity. Hence, the perfect match.