Does the age difference matter?

When it comes to dating younger (or older) people, how much age difference is acceptable?

They met on the job. He was 45 and had more charisma than most. She was 19, beautiful and mature beyond her years. There's an age difference here of some 26 years. We can hear you hollering from all corners of cyberspace…"Oh! That's just too much!" But would it make a difference if we told you the "job" they met at was in fact a film set and the people we're talking about are none other than Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall? Yep, one of the greatest of all Hollywood couples were born more than two decades apart and who can doubt their love?

To take a more modern example, let's look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. He's 16 years younger than her, they said it would never last, and here there are, some six years later.

realsexedfact.com says: "The most crucial element to realize is that whilst our bodies will exhibit our age to a certain level, age is most important when it refers to maturity. Whether you discovery yourself to be the younger or the older individual in a relationship, take into account whether your maturity levels are comparable. You might discover in life that a fifty year old and a thirty year old may be quite alike with respect to their level of maturity. This all comes down to their life experiences, personal expectations and goals".

When it comes to love and sexual attraction, it's about the chemistry between two people, not their birthdates. The biggest challenge faced by couples that have a big gap in years between them is, you guessed it, social pressure. If you decide to date someone who's a lot older or younger than you, people will talk. And let them talk. It's your happiness on the line.

With online dating websites booming, and society becoming more open, people are meeting more and more potential partners in singles chat rooms , and sometimes, those people defy their age expectations.

Age, as is often said, is all in the mind. There are twenty-somethings that act like 50-year-olds, and 50-year-olds that are just teenagers at heart. It's all about shared interests and values. How well you get along. Not how old you are. If you've met some wonderful person but are uncomfortable about the age gap, ask yourself why? Is it just because you're scared of what your family ad friends will say? If so, then that's a little mental hurdle to overcome. But if your relationship looks like it's going to be serious, and you're concerned about things like having children or that you'll still be relatively young when they're retiring, these things are only obstacles when they're not talked about.

Communication is the other buzz word when it comes to relationships, so talk about your fears with your partner – and you may find that not only do they share your worries, but once your concerns are aired, they will vanish into the ether.