In this media-popular study, Elizabeth Bruch and Mark Newman established the “desirability” of male and female online dating site users based on the messages they received. One of their findings is that the age of of the greatest desirability is different for men and women. In fact, they determined that while men’s sexual desirability peaks at age 50, women’s peaks at 18 and declines from there. Bruch says: “The age gradient for women definitely surprised us — both in terms of the fact that it steadily declined from the time women were 18 to the time they were 65, and also how steep it was.”

More about Bruch: Women’s dating site desirability peaks at 18, men’s at 50. >