Since little is known about the effect of age on partner preferences in nonheterosexual women, our analyses investigating these effects in lesbian and bisexual women were exploratory. Our results for lesbian and bisexual women confirmed that large sample sizes are needed to determine whether potentially small effects of age on partner preferences are substantial or negligible. Overall, just as in heterosexual women, there was no empirical evidence that age plays an important role in shaping preferences for specific attributes. We did not find the substantial positive effect of age on the preference for confidence-assertiveness in lesbian or bisexual women. Stereotypically male characteristics such as confidence and assertiveness appear to be overall less important for nonheterosexual women in general (see Table S3), and their importance does not increase with age for lesbian or bisexual women.

We found no evidence for linear or quadratic effects of age on preferences for parenting intention in lesbian individuals, potentially indicating that reproductive goals are less salient for these women (see Table S3). For bisexual women, the pattern for age effects on preference for parenting intention resembled the pattern observed in heterosexual women, even though only the linear age effects were significant.

For all three groups, the age range deemed acceptable increased substantially with age because women accepted younger partners with increasing age while their acceptance for older partners stayed relatively consistent. Читать далее →