Age of becoming an adult for women/men
Overall, mean estimates of the age at which boys and girls become adults differ – the respondents (mixed sexes) think that girls become adults at an age of approximately 19.8, while the average opinion is that boys become adults at approximately 22. When taken together, men and women on average think that females become adults at a younger age compared to males. The difference is about 2 years.
More informative than the simple means is the distribution of the respondents’ assessment of the age at which men/boys and women/girls become adults is presented in Figure 1. Both men and women are most likely to claim that age at which girls become adults is 18.
The three most typical answers about that age for boys are 18, 20, and 25. Clearly, the overall perception is that girls become adults earlier than boys. In the case of girls, some 20% of male respondents think that they become adults even before the age of 18.
Women, on the other side, are more likely to cite a higher age when boys become adults. Nearly 10% of female respondents think that this age is 30, and nearly 20% think it is the age of 25.
The next question is whether the asymmetry in perceptions by male and female respondents as predicted by our Hypothesis 2 and noticed in the above figure, is also statistically significant. The average perceived age at which girls and boys become adults (by male and female respondents) is presented in Figure 2. The graph also shows the confidence intervals around the estimated means.
Compared to female respondents, men think that girls become adults at a younger age (19.6), while female respondents give a slightly higher age (20.05). The difference between males’ and female respondents’ estimates is larger concerning the age at which boys become adults. Male respondents, on average, proposed the age of 21.2, while women thought it should be more than a year higher (22.5). This confirms our Hypothesis 2 about the gender asymmetry in perceptions of appropriate age for boys and girls in this case.
The ideal age to start living with a partner not married to
The results indicate a relatively lower ideal age for women than for men. When asked about women, both sexes favor a somewhat younger age, 18 and 20, although the modal value is 25 years (except for men asked about women, where the modal value is 20). Sex differences are particularly noticeable at the extremes. Ages 18 and 20 are seen as ideal more often for women, while ages from 25 to 30 are more often seen as ideal for men. In accordance with H1, both genders think that the ideal age is lower for women than for men.
Concerning the sex-based asymmetry in the perceptions of the ideal age, women think that the appropriate age for men is somewhat higher than what men think is ideal for men. The highest peak at the age scale point 25 is the appropriate age for men perceived by women, similarly as for each year until 30.
The corresponding asymmetry can be observed in the young age categories. There, men are more often among those seeing that young age as ideal for girls. In brief, women think that the ideal age for men is higher than what men think is ideal for men. Symmetrically, men think that the ideal age for women is younger than what women themselves think.
The following graphs (Figure 4) shows that gender matters two-ways:
- Both genders think that the ideal age to start living with a partner not married to is lower for women than for men.
- While both genders show this tendency, women think that the ideal age for men is higher than what men think is ideal for men. Symmetrically, men think that the ideal age for women is younger than what women themselves think.
While these gender-based comparisons produce statistically significant differences in the entire ESS sample, one may rightly ask whether these differences are substantively large as well, or the statistical inferences just reflect the large N? Of course, for individual countries, confidence intervals are broader, and in some cases, some differences may be insignificant.
Figure 4 illustrates this point. The pattern of the group averages is the same as in the entire ESS sample, but in the Serbian sample, since the confidence intervals are broader some differences are not statistically significant. In this case, the difference between perceptions of the ideal age for girls by Serbian men and women is not statistically significant.
We conducted analyses for each country. While the pattern of the distribution of the means is pretty constant, some of the comparisons do produce overlapping confidence intervals. Differences between ideal ages for men and women ascribed jointly by both genders are virtually always large and significant. The interaction between genders of the perceivers and the targets is not always significant, but the pattern of relationships is pretty constant. There are two exceptions. In the Czech Republic, men opted for higher ideal age to women than female respondents did for women. Similar is the case in Latvia. In fact, in the Latvian sample, the only differing group is women’s perception of ideal age for girls – which was estimated as lower than for any other group, while at the same time there were no differences between the remaining three groups. This is the only case where women gave lower ideal age for girls than men. It remains for further research to verify if this is a feature of Latvians’ attitudes, or perhaps a methodological artifact.
From the evolutionary point of view, countries as units are not relevant – the evolution-based tendencies are supposed to show up regardless of political borders. Hence, the most relevant is the ‘European’ sample. Still, the country-level analyses may be interesting and useful for testing some of the implications, as will be shown in the subsequent sections.
The ideal age for a man/woman to get married and become a father/mother
For questions about the ideal age to get married and to become a mother/father, we present the results together. The group averages, with confidence intervals, are presented in Figure 5. The previously observed pattern is identified here as well. The respondents believe that the ideal age to get married or become a parent is higher for men than for women. The overall difference is about 2 years for both variables.
Additionally, the gender of the respondents also matters. Women attributed a higher ideal age for men compared to male respondents. On average, the ideal age for men to get married is 27.6 years, and to become a father 28.8 years. The average ideal age estimated by men is 26.9 and 28, which is about 7-8 months lower.
Ideal ages for women to get married and to become mothers, as perceived by men, is as low as 25.2 and 26.3, respectively. Women are somewhat less enthusiastic about getting married or becoming mothers at such a young age, so their average perception of the ideal ages is 25.9 and 26.8. The difference is about 5-7 months.
When we compare what the opposite sexes say about the ideal age of the opposite sex, we obtain a difference of averages of approximately 2.5 years. So, the average European man thinks the ideal age for a woman to get married is about 25.2 years, while the average European woman thinks the ideal age for men to get married is 27.6. In fact, ideal age norms are close to the reported behavior patterns. According to population statistics, the difference between men and women regarding their age at first marriage was, on average, around three years during 2015-2019 (Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 2020).
Testing the alternative (non-evolutionary) explanations
The results presented in the previous sections are in line with the predictions based on the evolutionary approach, such as the ‘parental investment theory’ (Trivers, 1972). However, the results may be explainable from other perspectives. The findings might reflect the macro-level socio-cultural, economic, or political differences among the compared countries. Accounting for these differences might change the pattern of associations hypothetically caused by evolutionary inclinations.
Macro-level socio-economic and cultural factors have a strong influence on gender relations in society. It is possible that different ‘gender regimes’ and different opportunities for women shape the perceptions of appropriate age in reproductive behavior and maturity.[9]
Micro-level socio-economic interests may have an impact, too. According to the exchange theory, mate selection is a transaction: men and women exchange valuable resources – youth and attractiveness for resources (Taylor& Glenn, 1976, McClintock, 2014). If this is the case, indicators of the relevant resources should matter – in particular age and education. Hence, we examined whether age and level of education affect the pattern of the obtained findings.
Finally, it could be argued that the observed gender differences and asymmetries reflect the influence of specific value orientations. In particular, the traditionalist value orientation may be responsible for differences in perceptions of the appropriate/ideal age for men and women. Non-traditionalists demonstrate age egalitarianism in their perceptions of the appropriate and ideal age for reproduction-related events. If that is the case, the evolutionary theory would lose its explanatory value.
Macro-level factors: Culture, economy
To capture the role of broad cultural and economic factors, we treat country of residence as a summary variable encompassing the general influence of macro-level factors. We compared a group of Balkan countries (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria) with a group of Western and Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Switzerland). The Balkan countries are based on traditionalism modified by ex-communist experience and socio-economic transition. The Western-Nordic countries are liberal, high-income countries with a high quality of life.[10] Also, there is a two-way interaction between cultural change and economic development (Inglehart, Norris, 2003). The comprehensive social modernization (higher income, public services, etc.) creates “a climate conducive to more liberal views of social roles, including those determined by sex, class, and ethnicity” (Inglehart, Norris, 2003: 36). Hence, and in line with the social role theory, one would expect smaller sex differences in gender-egalitarian cultures (Eagly and Wood 1999).
The results based on the question "Age at which girls/boys or women/men become adults" are presented in Figure 6 and Figure 7. The age of becoming an adult is generally perceived to be lower in the Western-Nordic group compared to the Balkan group. Although some comparisons did not produce statistically significant differences, the familiar pattern of diverging sex differences was identified. Macro-level factors do not affect the interaction between the perceiver-gender and the target-gender when evaluating the age of becoming an adult.
Education
Education could be relevant for reproduction-related preferences in multiple ways. Education may imply cultural differences - the less educated are likely inclined towards traditionalism and gender asymmetry in social relations. The level of education also implies different economic interests as the less educated are also less well-off economically. Also, extended education is associated with delayed parenthood, so it is likely to affect ideal age perceptions and reproduction-related norms (AUTHOR, 2018).
The analysis was conducted on the created variable with three education categories. Results presented in Figure 8 corroborate the argument that education is likely to affect the views on ideal age. The estimated ideal age to become a parent and ideal age to get married are strongly associated with education. The higher-educated respondents, on average, think that the ideal age for parenthood is nearly two years higher compared to the lower-educated respondents. The association between age and education is less straightforward for the remaining two variables (age of becoming adult, and ideal age to start living with a partner). This tendency may be explained by the influence of one’s personal experience and perspective – parenthood is postponed until after completing education.
The main question is whether education affects the way male and female respondents perceive the ideal age for men and women. The comparison of the four gender-based groups is presented in Figure 9. The same analysis is performed in each of the three subsamples based on the level of education. The less educated believe that younger age is ideal for becoming a parent compared to respondents with higher education. But the pattern persists within the education levels. In other words, gender differences and asymmetry are not affected by education.
Age
Age is related to many other factors: socioeconomic position, personal attitudes and preferences of social norms regulating reproduction, and value orientations. Perhaps the actual position along the age dimension is relevant. For instance, for the youngest generations, the acceptable age range of potential mates is limited. Both 19-year-old men and women are likely to have more similar age preferences than 30-year-old men and women – simply because a greater age range is acceptable.
In the analyzed dataset, the age of respondents is correlated with some of the examined attitudes: age is negatively correlated with the assessed ideal age to get married (r=-.13, p<.001), and the perceived ideal age to become a parent (r=-.10, p<.001). Thus, older respondents favor slightly younger age as ideal in these cases. But respondent’s age only partly explains the pattern of interaction with gender differences and asymmetries. In most age groups, the pattern of the associations is unaffected – gender matters both for targets and evaluators. The only deviation is observed in the youngest age category (15-24 years old), where the gender asymmetry is not identified. In this category, respondents still assign higher ideal age to become a parent to men, but male and female respondents do not differ in this regard – they provided equal assessments of the ideal ages.
This may reflect the specific life-cycle position of this group – at the stage before becoming a parent. In fact, this age category gave the highest estimates of the ideal age compared to respondents from the other age categories. This could also be a generational feature. Younger generations are more inclined towards egalitarian gender relations (Inglehart, Norris, 2003). However, this deviation does not characterize all the examined attitudes. In the case of estimates of the ideal age to start living with a partner not married to, the gender difference in the assignment of the ideal age for women is reproduced in the youngest age category as well (graph not shown). So, this deviation (the lack of evidence about the gender asymmetry at the youngest cohort) is not consistently obtained across different attitudes.
This finding is partly supported by other similar studies. Kenrick et al. (1996) observed a preference among teenage boys to date women older than themselves, unlike the expected behavior, confirmed as a universal male preference for younger women. This pattern is consistent with our research results: age is associated with the assessment of ideal age for parenthood across different age categories, except for the youngest cohort (15-24). The asymmetry of gender differences between male and female respondents (higher ideal age for men when assessed by women and younger age for women when assessed by men) was not identified among the youngest men and women. We suggest that this is mainly due to the objectively restricted range.
Values
The role of values was already mentioned in the section on macro-level factors - education and age. Traditionalism in particular may be relevant, as this value orientation is explicitly interested in gender and reproduction-related domains. In this analysis, we focus on two indicators on the individual level of traditionalism. One is a self-description question, where the respondent describes him/herself in terms of specific value orientation. The respective item, which comes from the Schwartz’ 'Human Values Scale', is formulated in the following manner:
Now I will briefly describe some people. Please listen to each description and tell me how much each person is or is not like you.
Tradition is important to her/him. She/he tries to follow the customs handed down by her/his religion or her/his family.
Responses from: 1. Very much like me to 6. Not like me at all.
This variable is generally correlated with the examined attitudes about the ideal and appropriate age, but gender differences and asymmetries are not affected by traditionalism. As Figure 10 shows, the pattern of associations is equivalent both within the subsamples of the traditionalist and non-traditionalist respondents. The average age levels differ – traditionalists believe that both boys and girls tend to become adults at a slightly older age. But the two-way gender differences are persistent – men ascribe younger age to women, while women ascribe older appropriate age for men. The same pattern of associations (all equally statistically significant) for the remaining attitudes about ideal age.
The second indicator of a traditionalist worldview is identified by the following question (freehms):
Using this card, please say to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements.
Gay men and lesbians should be free to live their own life as they wish
There is a strong negative correlation between this measure of traditionalism and attitudes about the ideal and appropriate age. Liberals perceive a relatively older age as ideal (close to 28) compared to those who strongly disagree with this statement (average ideal age is evaluated at slightly above 26). And yet, according to the results presented in Figure 11, the pattern of gender differences and asymmetries is unaffected. Among both traditionalists and non-traditionalists, when women are asked about the ideal age for men to start living with a partner, they opt for older age compared to men. Likewise, when men are asked about the ideal age for women, they provide a lower figure than women. However, in the traditionalist group, the differences in judgments made by men or women, are somewhat attenuated (below statistical significance in case of the ideal age for becoming a parent). Similar results obtain for several other ‘ideal age’ variables (perceived age when boys/girls become adults, the ideal age to get married or become a parent).
It is possible that strong value commitments may, to some extent, override the manifestation of evolution-based tendencies. But, among the more liberal segment of the population, these tendencies are free to manifest. Still, the asymmetry affected is one concerning the ideal or appropriate age for women, but not for men. This may be partly explained by the new ‘gender contract’ which is part of the liberal worldview. Egalitarian gender relations are based on women’s economic and political empowerment. However, unlike the ‘social’ role of men in evolutionary preferences, which is increasingly losing its evolutionary rationale (the role of a ‘male breadwinner’), female age is still more dependent on biology, even though new options are emerging for women (based on reproductive technologies). In general, secularization and self-expression values are associated with the decline of the traditional family and gender equality, respectively (Inglehart, Norris, 2003: 11). Yet, control for none of the variables that imply cultural differences, individual or societal level, erased the predicted sex differences. As Schmitt (2015) concluded, and contrary to the social role theory (Eagly and Wood 1999), evolutionary-predicted gender differences are not smaller, or disappearing, in gender-egalitarian societies or much affected by individual differences in traditionalist values.
It should also be noted that in the ESS sample, the proportion of traditionalists (in this way defined) is rather low. Namely, nearly 80% of the respondents agree or strongly agree with the statement “Gays and lesbians free to live life as they wish”. An additional 10% neither agrees nor disagrees. This means that confidence intervals for averages in the traditionalist group are quite larger. If we add ‘the undecided’ to the traditionalist group, the asymmetry turns out to be statistically significant (the differences in ideal age perception about women, as expressed by male and female respondents).
Footnotes
[9] The ’gender regime’ reflects the transformations of gender relations in society on the ’overall social system’ based on the following dimensions: a continuum from domestic to public, the degree of gender inequality, gender relations in different domains (economic, polity, civil society) and social practices (Walby, 2004). According to Walby, there is an ongoing transformation of the gender regime from domestic to public, through several trajectories: welfare state-led, market-led, regulatory polity-led. The four countries in our analysis are mostly welfare state-led countries (except for Switzerland).
[10] According to the UN classification, the four Western-Nordic countries are ‘developed economies’, including Bulgaria and Croatia as part of the EU. Serbia and Montenegro are ‘economies in transition’. However, ex-communist experience and cultural background are shared by these four countries in the second group (United Nations, 2020).