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When men date women who are significantly younger than them, people often are not surprised. In a new study, however, a dating website revealed that dating younger in general might be everyone's preference. Are You Interested (AYI) is one of the largest dating websites that exists today. Using statistics from this database, the researchers discovered that women preferred dating younger men as well.

The study's head author, Dr. Justin Lehmiller looked at the 68 million registered users on AYI. There were 20 million specific Facebook profiles available since this dating website connects people via Facebook. The researchers evaluated the one million pairings that composed of 35,943 users from the ages of 30 to 49. They found that women were five times more likely to date men that were younger by five years. The researchers found that men, unsurprisingly, in this age group also wanted to date younger women. However, of the 26,434 men in this group, 42 percent of them stated that they would not date older women. Despite admitting this, only 22 percent of them actually said they would be less likely to respond to an older woman if she were to contact them.

Although the researchers did not find why women preferred younger men, they theorized that it could be that older men were more intimidating. In a 2008 study that was published by the Psychology of Women Quarterly, the researchers found that older women who married younger reported being more satisfied with their relationship and stated that they felt more commitment in their relationship.

The website works by pairing people based on their Facebook profiles and interests. Not only does the service compare hobbies, it will also inform users whether or not they have mutual friends. When a pairing is made, the user can either "fave" the selection or "pass" it.