We tend to think that older men somehow seem to prefer younger women. We see it on TV, movies, and even in real life. Billionaires marrying women who are at least half their age paint a picture that hot-young-things are what most men prefer. These two charts however, reveal something else.

We tend to think that all men are attracted to this:

age8.gif

And we make generalizations that the women who go for older men are just, gold diggers.

age3.gif

Of course, relationships are more simple than all of that.

age2.gif

People just want to be taken care of. According to Datacylsm, a new book by Christian Rudder, an Ok Cupid analysis shows that men tend to go for younger women, but not too much younger.

age1.gif

Iron Man and Pepper Pots seem age appropriate.

age5.gif

Computer science research assistant Randal Olson looked at the data and wanted to see how it related to the half-your-age-plus-seven-rule.

Basically, the rule dictates how creepy things get when you date someone who's much younger. If a man is 38, the rule dictates he can date as young as 26, but nothing lower than that.

age6.png

He then compared Rudder's data of the men of Ok Cupid and whether they fell into the creepiness zone.

age7.png

It looks like men, generally aren't dating women much younger than them. 

age11.gif

So while physical attraction does play an important role, sometimes, too young is just too much.

age10.gif