Madonna has long been a fan of the cougar lifestyle and says younger men’s zest for life makes them better companions.
“People who are older and more set in their ways probably aren’t as adventurous as someone younger,” the pop superstar told The Associated Press. New York Daily News in 2015.
But research suggests that owning a toyboy could send women to an earlier grave.
TO 2010 study found Danish women who were just a decade older than their partners were 20 percent more likely to die prematurely, from any cause, compared to women who were associated with people their own age.
This could be because women take on more stress in a relationship than men, which ages them more quickly, Stacey Litam, an assistant professor at Cleveland State University and a Forbes health advisor who studies well-being, told DailyMail.com. sexual.
Cher, pictured here with her boyfriend, rapper Alexander Edwards. There is a forty-year age difference between the couple.
The study found that the opposite was true for men: Danish men with the same difference between their female partners actually lived 11 percent longer than other men married to women of the same age.
But experts told DailyMail.com that would-be cougars shouldn’t be put off by a single study.
Kris Jenner, 68, is currently paired with 43-year-old actor Corey Gamble. That’s a 25-year age difference between the two.
The research, published by Stockholm University sociologist and demographer Professor Sven Drefahl, drew its conclusions by analyzing an older data set on the lifestyles of 1.8 million Danes over the age of 50 in heterosexual marriages.
Many times, having a large data set for a scientific study makes it more robust.
But when it comes to articles like this one, which analyze data sets to draw conclusions, a large number of variables can actually be harmful, Professor Richard S Balkin, a sexual health researcher at the University of Mississippi, told DailyMail.com.
He explained that when as many people as appear in this study are included, relationships can be found between variables that are not actually related.
“When you have a lot of data, you can come up with an important finding that really isn’t important,” he explained.
Therefore, the article did not convince her that all women who enter into relationships with younger women are doomed to die earlier than others their age.
Additionally, these relationships are actually relatively rare in the U.S., so it might not be accurate to translate the Swedish study to Americans, Stacey Litam, an assistant professor at Cleveland State University and a health advisor, told the Daily Mail. from Forbes who studies sexual well-being.
Just about eight percent heterosexual Couples in the United States have an age difference of ten years or more, compared to 25 percent of gay men and 15 percent of gay women in a relationship.
In about nine out of ten of those heterosexual couples, the man is older than the woman.
But if you’re heading to the land of the rich and famous, you might think that maintaining a cougar lifestyle is more common.
Take pop goddess Cher, who at 77 is dating someone 40 years her junior: 37-year-old rapper Alexander Edwards.
“The reason I date younger men is because men my age or older, well, they’re all dead now, but never before, they were always afraid to come near me,” Cher said as she spoke. The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Then there’s mom-manager and reality show goliath Kris Jenner, 68, who is currently partnered with 43-year-old actor Corey Gamble.
There’s also the public’s fascination with the 24-year age difference between Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, and director Sam Taylor-Johnson, 57. Although the couple has been married since 2012, the Internet lit up with renewed anger against the couple last year.
Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, has been married to his partner, Sam Taylor-Johnson, 57, since 2012. There is a 24-year age difference between them.
Sociologists have long believed that men who marry younger women have longer life expectancies.
This idea ranges from massively popular study published in 1984 that men aged 70 to 79 married to younger women lived longer than others in their age group.
In contrast, multiple studies have shown that throughout life, men tend to benefit more from long-term partnerships than women, according to the study. American Life Poll Center.
“Regardless of age, women bear disproportionately more stress and emotional burden compared to their male partners, this is due to social and family expectations based on gender roles,” said Professor Litam.
Many theories have emerged to explain why so many men seem to opt for younger women.
The predominant idea has to do with evolution and biology, said Professor Litam.
Older men like to be with younger women because they have more viability and reproductive energy, which would have been an evolutionary advantage, he said. And younger women tend to associate with older men because they typically have accumulated more resources.
Additionally, men tend to be less socially developed than women, Professor Balkin said. “If we understand that biologically women develop faster than men, that also includes brain development,” he said.
Therefore, a younger woman might be a better fit, in terms of maturity, with an older man than her contemporary, he explained.
But as for toyboys, the jury is still out, Professor Balkin said. ‘There is a social norm. “We know it’s there, we don’t know why, and this study doesn’t say why, it just acknowledges that it’s there.”
