With some quick math, the rule provides a minimum and maximum partner age based on your actual age that, if you choose to follow it, you can use to guide your dating decisions.
The utility of this equation is that it lets you chart acceptable age discrepancies that adjust over the years. Let's examine it: How well does the rule reflect scientific evidence for age preferences?
This rules states that by dividing your own age by two and then adding seven you can find the age boundary: Take your age, subtract 7, and double it.

But let’s not pretend that we, as a culture, don’t worship at the altar of youth. He’s got the job and the home and the car, and been divorced with a kid already.
If you’re over the age of 40 and have ever said, “But I’m told I look five years younger than my age”, then you’re not immune to it yourself. And nobody has more choices than a 28-year-old woman. So if a woman finds it more appealing to just step into that world – to jump from the prolonged adolescence of the late 20’s into full-fledged settled-down womanhood – that could make sense.
For years, her parents said they later found out, the older man had been flattering the teen.
He told her how awesome it was that she was still a virgin, how stupid the boys her age were for not trying to get in her pants, how he would be trying to all the time if he were in high school. He wanted her to meet him at his office and at his house when his wife wasn't home. By the time they had sex, the law couldn't protect her.
But see, for men who covet younger women, it’s not whether you look good for your age – it’s what age you really are. If she wants to date a guy who is 6’2”, makes $400,000 , likes skiing, is within ten miles of her house and five years of her age, you know what? All she has to do is go on Match.com, and wade through a few thousand applicants. There are many other things that are attractive about older men. They can afford nicer restaurants and vacations and have cultivated greater tastes in the arts.
They’re more experienced, more chivalrous, and more likely to want to settle down than a twentysomething party boy.According to the rule, for example, a 30-year-old should be with a partner who is at least 22, while a 50-year-old’s dating partner must be at least 32 to not attract (presumed) social sanction. Does it match our scientific understanding of age-related preferences for dating? Researchers Buunk and colleagues (2000) asked men and women to identify the ages they would consider when evaluating someone for relationships of different levels of involvement.People reported distinct age preferences for marriage; a serious relationship; falling in love; casual sex; and sexual fantasies. Based on the figures Buunk and colleagues (2000) provided (and thus the numbers are only informed approximations), I replotted their data superimposing the max and min age ranges defined by the half-your-age-plus-7 rule.Two, to add some kind of provision that would make it illegal for much older adults to have sexual relationships with teens.With a petition in the works, Fields also hopes to rally legislative support.Backstage: Blog Gossip This was the first to report that the pair were dating and claims R.