Age differences between spouses in a Brazilian marriage sample

Age differences between spouses were investigated in a Brazilian marriage s ample. A study was made of 3,000 announcements of forthcoming marriages sam pled from the newspaper Diario de Noticias de Sao Paulo, in September and O ctober 1996. These announcements published in newspapers are a legal requir ement for marriage. Men married women younger than themselves, and this ten dency became more pronounced over the lifespan. There was only one exceptio n: young men <20 years old married older partners. Young women married men older than themselves, but this tendency became less pronounced over the li fespan. Age differences between spouses violate the similarity-attraction r ule, one of the strongest general principles of mate selection, but fit wel l with an evolutionary model. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.