College Smiles Linked to Future Marital Success

Take a look at your senior photograph from your college yearbook. Scientific American reports it is possible to predict whose marriages will fail by looking at photographs taken decades earlier.

Among the weakest smilers in college photographs, one in four ended up divorcing, compared with one in 20 of the widest smilers. Although correlation does not equal causation, scientists speculate that one’s tendency to grin—an example of what psychologists call “thin slices” of behavior that can belie personal traits—reflects his or her underlying emotional disposition. "Maybe smiling represents a positive disposition towards life," says Dr. Matthew J. Hertenstein. "Or maybe smiling people attract other happier people, and the combination may lead to a greater likelihood of a long-lasting marriage."

Another more cynical explanation may be that people who look happier in photos show a social face to others says Matthew Hertenstein. “Those may be the same people who are likely to put up with partners because they don’t want to appear unhappy.”

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Photo: SMiLE! by Toni Blay Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic