Caron, grad student’s research cited in Ireland’s Sunday Business Post
Sandra Caron, a University of Maine professor of family relations and human sexuality, was interviewed by The Sunday Business Post in Ireland for an article about France’s youngest presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, who is married to a woman 25 years his senior. Caron is one of a small number of sociologists to have studied relationships between younger men and older women, according to the article. Her research, with former graduate student and current family therapist Nichole Proulx, identified positive attitudes among eight sample couples where the husband was at least 10 years younger. While stigma was common, the age gap was not an issue where both partners appeared to be similarly youthful, the study found. “These marriages are less traditional and therefore seem to experience more freedom to create a relationship that works for them, and a better balance in terms of power in their relationship,” Caron said. Women in such marriages liked that their partners made them feel younger, while the men were attracted to a sense of maturity and financial security, according to Caron. Caron also was quoted in an article about generational hookup trends in The Brown and White, Lehigh University’s student newspaper.