Yearbook Photos Determine Marriage Survival

Posted on July 13, 2009 in Consumer Goods, Technology

If you can look past the bad perm and braces, that old yearbook photo can be a clue to whether you divorce later in life. A recent study conducted at DePauw University analyzed hundreds of yearbook photos in order to determine the link to relationship status.

Lead investigator Matthew Hertenstein and his colleagues created a “smile intensity score” for each photograph, based on two muscle action groups that determine whether a person is truly smiling. The study consisted of two experiments: the first involving yearbook photos of university graduates aged 21-87, and the second analyzing a group of Midwesterners and older photographs of themselves.

In both experiments, the top 10 percent of smilers had a divorce rate of about one in 20. According to Hertenstein, if you were a bottom 10 percent smiler, the chance of divorce was five times more likely. Although the reasons for a link between divorce and smiling are unclear, the researchers suggest that the photos indicate how an individual interacts with others. A smiling photo may mean that a person is anxious to fit into their social environment.

However, Hertenstein emphasized that the findings may not be significant in cultures where smiling practices vary. He also admitted a “significant amount of variability in the data” existed. However, he maintains the theory that people with positive emotionality may be more likely to attract happier, more positive partners.