It seems that there is a fairly widespread opinion that women who grow up fatherless or who have strained relationships with their fathers tend to be attracted to significantly older men once they become adults.
Are there any studies to support the notion that these women are more likely to be romantically involved with a “father figure?”
If there is truth to this, are these women only looking to develop an emotional connection with an older man, or are they actively looking to get shtupped by an old man?
To put it nicely, I had a VERY strained relationship with my dad growing up (we’ll leave out the details here, I don’t want to rehash it). When I was a young adult, I dated a few men older than me, and of those, most of them were within 5 years of me, age wise. I actually had trouble trusting men who were much older than me. I did date one man who was about 15 years older than me and I had a real hard time opening up to him and trusting he wouldn’t hurt me. That relationship self destructed very fast.
And now? I’m marrying a man 3 years younger than me. Hmm…
Yeah, I was thinking the opposite effect would be true…strained relationship with father = distrust of older men…or something. Perhaps women who had an absent or distant father, IMunprofessionalHO would be more likely to seek approval/relationships with older men.
I can’t answer the question, but: My dad wasn’t in the picture as I grew up (at least, not for long), and yeah, I like ‘em old. Guess I’m just a sick little monkey.
It seems to me the simple answer would be if a woman had no father involvment in her life, she’d be seeking to find or replace what she thinks she missed out on
My wife’s father died before she was born, and she was raised by her mother as a single mother (i.e., no step-father). I’m nearly 5 years older than her: does that confirm the hypothesis, or is it irrelevant?
P.S.: I don’t think I’m a father figure for her: that would be odd, to say the least.
Well, my relationship with my father wasn’t exactly strained, but he wasn’t the warmest or encouraging of dads, either. I tend to shy off of older men and go for men my own age or even younger.
I think human sexuality is way too complex for such a generalization. You’d probably find just as many people who fit your theory as not. I’m not saying a difficult relationship with one’s father is irrelevant, but there are also quite a few other issues at play.