Our better half, our other half … are popular expressions when we talk about love and relationships, and although there is no lack of reasons to criticize these types of concepts, many people understand emotional relationships as a perfect fit between two people. From the moment we begin to feel attracted to someone, a doubt may arise. is this the ideal person for me?

Many times, moreover, this doubt is compounded by another: am I ready or prepared to start the definitive relationship? Is it too soon? In short, it is interesting to know, on average, how old most people are when they start dating the partner they are going to stay with for most of their lives.

Next we will see what scientific research says about a very interesting topic: at what age do we find our better half?

  • You may be interested in: “The high psychological cost of giving too much for a relationship”

Defining our “better half”

There is no exact conception or terminology to determine what the better half is, that ideal couple with whom we will share (or would like to share) our trips, housing, friends… in short, the rest of our lives.

On the other hand, in general terms and after a consensus among experts in social psychology and love relationships, our better half is that person who makes us feel in a special and unique way, who transmits to us love for the good and the mature ones or those who bring an added value to our daily life, and with whom we form an affective relationship based on certain commitments . That is, it is someone to whom, in our preferential life, we give privileged treatment simply because of who he is and for accepting to be part of the relationship.

What are the conditions that define it?

The experts point out that the conditions for the encounter of stable love are various and of different nature. The previous experiences, the expectations we create for ourselves (these are very influential) and the particular vital moment in which we find ourselves constitute some of the bases that will facilitate the encounter with the better half.

Other determining factors are usually socio-cultural or working conditions . That is, the environment in which we find ourselves may be more or less favourable for relating to people in whom we see romantic interest. Let us imagine an individual who works at work, on weekends and holidays, and who barely has money to support himself; this subject will find it a little more difficult to socialize with the rest of the people, among other things, due to lack of time.

At what age do we usually find our final partner?

As we have seen before, and taking into account how capricious love is and its destiny, it is difficult to decide with any degree of accuracy what the ultimate age is for finding our better half. In some cases it comes at a very early age, where the first couple is the one who ends up sharing our life. In others it is usually at an advanced age and after having lost hope even. However, it is possible to detect general statistical patterns , beyond the extraordinary cases.

Recently, an important sample was made among a group of people of both sexes in the dating portal Match , from where a study was promoted in which data on the love life of approximately 6,000 people was collected.

The experiment concluded that the average age for finding our better half is about 27 years old. It seems that and this is the best time to find the love of our life .

However, the same study found differences between men and women . Taking into account the former, they tend to stabilize their love life at the age of 28, as opposed to women who do so at the surprisingly young age of 25.

The Importance of Loving Disappointments

Thus, there are some indications to think that, statistically, we find the better half at an adult age , having acquired mental and physical maturity. Specifically, between the ages of 27 or 28 and, above all, after having failed in several previous relationships.

These past failures make us “filter” better in love and not spend much time and effort to be with people who in a short time prove not to be compatible with us because of their personality or their habits.

Infidelity as a precedent

Another expert in the field, Dating , assures that women will have had at least 3 serious relationships before finding their definitive love . Men, on the other hand, will have consummated no less than 6 serious relationships in order to be able to mate forever.

Furthermore, and here comes the interesting part, in both groups they will have suffered or lived a bad experience caused mostly by a case of infidelity . Neither of the sexes presents differences in the face of such a peculiarity. This explains the number of relationships they will have with each other before lasting love.

Love is not sought, it is found

Although there are patterns, profiles and other characteristics that define our better half, we should not fall into the error of relying on statistical and purely scientific data, since love is not an exact equation .

For this reason, and taking as a reference another study carried out by the Discovery Channel, it has been determined that couples who have committed to marrying or sharing the rest of their lives with their true love, have done so when they least expected it .

Three out of five men say that their current partner does not have the prototype woman they dreamed of in their adolescence or puberty. In the case of women, the same thing happens: they have bonded at the least expected time and with the person they would have least set themselves according to their physical standards .