Oz men 'don't like to date women much younger than them'

Sydney, Aug 19 (ANI): Australian men do not like to date women who are much younger than them, an international study has revealed.

The survey of 22,400 heterosexual people using dating websites in 14 countries found that Australian lovers would rather date a woman of their own age.

The research also established the notion that 'cougar,'- a predatory older woman who dates younger men, was a fiction.

Women were universally looking for men that are around their own age or older while men were happy to date someone significantly younger.

As they got older, men in most countries sought women increasingly younger than themselves, according to the study, which surveyed people in countries including Canada, Britain, Japan, Kenya and Indonesia.

At 30, men were looking for a partner no more than 9.5 years younger on average; at 50 they wanted to date women 20 to 30 years their junior.

But some 50-year-old Australian men said they would not want to date anyone much more than 12 years younger.

The Australians were also the only 50-year-old men who wanted to date older women, with an average maximum age of just over 51.

Frances Quirk, associate professor in health psychology and behavioural medicine at James Cook University in Queensland, said it was well known that older men became more deluded about their dating market value and more demanding of potential partners.

"This study might show Australian men are a bit more down-to-earth about their own market value but also about what they want in a partner," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Quirk as saying. (ANI)