Big Smile in Photo May Predict a Happy Marriage

Divorce Research Study Links Yearbook Photos to Long-term Marriage

Jul 31, 2009 Christina Gregoire

A big smile in an early photo can sometimes predict a happy marriage. A divorce research study links college yearbook photos to long-term marriage prospects.

Big smiles in old photographs may predict a long and happy marriage. One divorce research study has found a link between happy college yearbook photos and long term marriages. On the flip side, unsmiling photos may have a link to an increased probability of divorce.

A Recent Research Study

A look at a person’s college yearbook photo may predict if a person will get a divorce. So, take out the family album.

While it’s just a statistical probability and it is not always accurate, the type of facial expression of any person, captured in a yearbook or childhood photograph, may give clues about his or her likelihood to divorce.

This was recently demonstrated in a research study by psychologist Matt Hertenstein, entitled, “Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Divorce Later in Life” (2009).

In this DePauw University – Indiana study, Hertenstein measured smiles in alumni’s yearbook photos and found that those with bigger smiles (on a rating of one to ten) were more likely to have a successful marriage. Here are some of the numbers to ponder:

People with a big smile, those within the top ten percent as measured by a “smile intensity” rating, were still married.
People in the bottom ten percent, the non smilers, had a one in four divorce rate.
Twenty five percent of the non smiling, sad, stern, or moody looking people, were divorced.

The DePauw “Smile Intensity” study used a fairly broad sample, consisting of 349 alumni who completed questionnaires. The sample group included 225 females and 124 males who had graduated between 1948–2005 and still had their yearbook photos.

How to Measure Smile Intensity

How did Hertenstein measure smile intensity? The scoring was based on the stretch in two muscles of the face.

One of the muscles pulls the mouth.
The other muscle creates wrinkles around the eyes.
These two measurements were combined to become the total score.

A Second Divorce Study

Hertenstein wanted to confirm these remarkable results, so he did a follow up study. The second divorce study used people over the age of 65, who could provide a childhood photograph. Using the same methods, the results were close to identical. After measuring each smile, only 11 percent of the biggest smilers were divorced. However, 31 percent of the non smilers were divorced, and that is about 3 times more.

Overall, the results showed that people who frowned in their photos were about 5 times more likely to have their marriage end in divorce.

What Does This Research Mean?

Now, the big question is: What is the correlation between having a smiling photo and staying married? In other words, why are these pictures such a good predictor?

No one knows. Hertenstein says that people can’t conclude anything about causation. However, the numbers are quite intriguing, nonetheless.

Possible Reasons That Smilers Stay Married

Smiling may represent a positive attitude toward life.
Smiling people may attract other happy people, leading to a greater likelihood of maintaining a long lasting marriage.
Smiling people may attract more friends, giving them a larger support network to rely upon, when marriage becomes difficult.
People who smile, when the photographer asks, may be more obedient people, which could make married life easier.

All of the results from the smile study do sound intuitively correct. However, what is surprising is that the researcher could reasonably measure the intensity of a smile, and then he could come up with two studies, using different groups, to obtain similar results.

What does this mean for marriage and divorce? No one knows, yet. Though, it might be interesting for people who have been divorced to go through his or her ex’s childhood photos. It just may be that a divorcee really did not do anything wrong in his or her marriage.

And maybe sometimes, a divorce was just meant to be.

Please remember that one photo often does not mean anything. There are lots of good reasons why a person may not be smiling in a photograph. Maybe she had a headache. Maybe he had just knocked out a tooth in a friendly game of baseball.

So, please don't break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend just because of a photograph. And, do not break up with a fiance just because he or she doesn't like to smile in front of a camera.

On the other hand, people in a long term relationship leading toward marriage should take a good long look at the personality of the woman or man that they are about to marry. Is that person moody, difficult, or violent? If so, remember that most people never change, so please discuss this with a priest, other religious counselor, or a professional therapist, to get a second opinion.

Information from this article is not intended to be a substitute for advice from a lawyer, financial planner, therapist, or other professional. Please consult a lawyer or other professional for specific advice.

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Resources:

Hertenstein, Matthew J, Hansel, Carrie A, Butts, Alissa M, Hile, Sarah N. “Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Divorce Later in Life”. Motivation and Emotion, April 5 2009.

Moskowitz, Clara. “Smiles Predict Marriage Success”. LiveScience.com, April 14 2009.

The copyright of the article Big Smile in Photo May Predict a Happy Marriage in Divorce is owned by Christina Gregoire. Permission to republish Big Smile in Photo May Predict a Happy Marriage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.