I’ve observed the exact opposite of what you said. Older men do not like to be alone, and they tend to marry again if their spouse dies.
Older women deal better with being alone if their spouse has died. They don’t feel the need to remarry as much as men do.
There are exceptions, of course, but generally this is how it goes.
“I’ve observed the exact opposite of what you said. Older men do not like to be alone, and they tend to marry again if their spouse dies.”
I think there’s a difference between men who were married and those that never were. Men are creatures of habit. If they are accustomed to marriage they will seek it out even in older age if they lose a spouse. A man who was always single won’t because he’s accustomed to that. This is especially true of those who didn’t marry intentionally; seen it more than once.
With widowed older women, the drive to remarry is less most likely because they’ve had their children and have grandchildren. The imperative has been fulfilled in their case. This is quite different from the never married, childless woman, who is more likely to look at her life as a failure for not fulfilling that ever present biological imperative.
I have noticed the same. I’ve also never seen a man leave his wife unless he has another woman waiting in the wings. Women, on the other hand, will leave a marriage if they’re miserable, even if there is no other man in the picture.