Cougars, Hot in Hollywood, Endangered in Real Life

Darin Riggio has a thing for older women — he dated his first "Cougar" when he was a 19-year-old college student. She was 43.

FILE-In this publicity photo released by ABC, Courteney Cox, left, and Busy Philipps are shown in a...

FILE-In this publicity photo released by ABC, Courteney Cox, left, and Busy Philipps are shown in a scene from, "Cougar Town". "I don't think we're going to see a wholesale change in our society with younger men all the sudden wanting to marry older women," said Debbie Then, a social psychologist in California. "But I think they may date some Cougars who are still sort of looking young, hip and hot. "I think the younger men, it's more of an adventure for them," she added. "It's like traveling to an exotic land for a while." (AP Photo/ABC, Michael Desmond)

(AP)

Since then, the 24-year-old who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., has dated women old enough to be his mother.

"Women my age don't know what they want," said Riggio, ticking off his list of why older women are better. "Two, they are usually immature. Three, there's a lot of drama involved. Four, they don't have as much experience as older women."

But Riggio, who was briefly married to a woman his age, said he probably wouldn't marry an older woman. He likes to date them more for fun.

Cougar relationships may be hot in Hollywood — from ABC's "Cougar Town" to celebrity couplings like Ashton and Demi and even a reality show, "The Cougar" — but few women are married to men who are significantly younger.

Dating experts say they have seen a rise in older women seeking younger men, though not necessarily the other way around. And they say those matches don't tend to turn into long-term relationships.

In fact, only 1 percent of all marriages in 2008 were between a woman who was 10-14 years older than her husband; 2.6 percent 6 to 9 years older, according to Census figures. (About 5 percent and 11.6 percent the other way around, respectively.)

"I don't think we're going to see a wholesale change in our society with younger men all the sudden wanting to marry older women," said Debbie Then, a social psychologist in California. "But I think they may date some Cougars who are still sort of looking young, hip and hot.

"I think the younger men, it's more of an adventure for them," she added. "It's like traveling to an exotic land for a while."

Christie Nightingale of the matchmaking service Premier Match said she has seen an increase in the past six months of women requesting younger men. A 48-year-old woman used to want a man between the ages of 45 and 60, she said. Now she wants a man between the ages of 35 and 50.