Archives of Sexual Behavior

, Volume 42, Issue 2, pp 203–211 | Cite as

Age Preferences in Dating Advertisements by Homosexuals and Heterosexuals: From Sociobiological to Sociological Explanations

Original Paper
First Online:
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Abstract

Current sociobiological thought suggests that significant components of mate selection are based on indicators that correlate with the ability to produce and support offspring. Theorists have suggested that men tend to be attracted to and marry younger women, while women tend to be attracted to and marry older men. This behavior is referred to as age hypergamy. I complicate this picture by using gay men as a population in which to explore alternative components of mate selection as reflected in our behavior. Analyses of 120 dating advertisements from gay men and heterosexual men and women indicated that there exists a good measure of hypergamic age preference that is comparable to the heterosexual population and that relates to subjects’ gender presentation. Data suggest that the biological-reproductive theory of age hypergamy is incomplete and support a cultural reproduction model of gender role behavior and preference in both heterosexuals and homosexuals.

Keywords

Mating preferences Homosexuals Meme theory Dating ads Hypergamy 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the close readings and helpful conceptual conversations with Sharon Methvin, Lori Holder-Webb, Richard Williams, and Sarah Rosenfield. Additionally, she gratefully acknowledges the statistical support from Deborah Carr.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of SociologyRutgers UniversityNew BrunswickUSA

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