Sexual partner age preferences of homosexual and heterosexual men and women

The sexual age preferences of 192 adults (equal groups of heterosexual men, heterosexual women, homosexual men, and homosexual women) were examined. P articipants rated the sexual attractiveness of pictures of 15 male and 15 f emale faces arranged into five apparent average age categories ranging from 18 to 60 years. It was predicted that homosexual and heterosexual men woul d prefer younger partners of their preferred sex than would homosexual and heterosexual women and that age preference would not vary with participant age. Both predictions were supported, although homosexual women preferred o lder partners than expected. Results suggest that age and sex preferences d evelop independently.