It’s already a difficult task to find the right life partner to get married at the right age. But science has even suggested the right age of it.
According to journalist Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths, coauthors of Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions, “If you are in your early 20’s and thinking about your romantic future, consider the 37% Rule.”
The 37% Rule is basically the theory that you need to screen a range of options in a limited time frame. That could be jobs, new flats, prospective housemates, or romantic partners. At the 37% mark, you’re in a good place to pick the best of the bunch.
If you’re looking for love between the ages of 18 and 40, you should not plan to find true love before age 26. The ideal age to start seriously considering your future husband or wife is just past your 26th birthday. Heretofore, you’ll probably miss out on higher-quality partners that could still come around. But after that, good options could start to become unavailable, decreasing your chances of finding a good match.
According to a study carried out by Nicholas H. Wolfinger, a professor at the University of Utah, the people who tie the knot between the ages of 28 to 32 have the least chances of getting divorced.
Wolfinger noted, “Past the age of 32 or so, the odds of divorce increase by 5 percent per year of age at marriage. The kinds of people who wait till their thirties to get married may be the kinds of people who aren’t predisposed toward doing well in their marriages.”
Although, the 37% Rule is borrowed from the cold logic of math. It assumes that people have a reasonable understanding of what they want in a partner by 26. But that doesn’t mean what we look for in our partners may change dramatically between 18 and 40.
The rule simply tells us that 26 is the age when our dating decisions are most trustworthy.