For years, heterosexual relationships have followed an all too familiar order. The man in the dynamic was always older, had more money and, sometimes, played the role of the protector and provider in a relationship. The woman was often younger and had fewer resources to her name. For this reason, she was often dependent on the man and played the role of the 'accommodating nurturer.'

While we’re yet to completely throw out this outdated version of the script, an emergent script is slowly but surely creating ripples. Women are choosing partners who are younger than themselves, bringing in the “reverse-age-gap” trend. What was once considered unconventional, and was dismissed as taboo, is now gaining cultural legitimacy, reflecting a massive shift in how we understand love, gender and power.

It’s a reflection of deeper psychological and social transformations. Here are four of the reasons that underlie this change.

Traditionally, relationships were built on survival and security, with women often having to tether themselves to men who would provide that stability to them. But the landscape has shifted significantly today. Now, women are financially independent, socially mobile and psychologically more self-aware. With self-supplied stability, what they seek from love has evolved from safety to self-expansion.

Psychologists Arthur and Elaine Aron’s self-expansion model helps explain this change. The model suggests that humans are inherently driven to broaden their perspectives, skills and sense of efficacy, and close relationships are the primary sandbox in which to do this. They call this process the “inclusion of the other in the self,” where partners gradually integrate each other’s experiences and strengths into their own identity.

When economic dependence defined relationships, love served as a means for stability. Now, it serves as a........

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