Say Cheese! Happy Marriage Ahead
by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 04/29/2009 at 9:00 AM
Want to choose a good marriage partner? Check out their childhood photos. According to LiveScience, psychologists have discovered that how much people smile in old photographs can predict their later success in marriage. Bottom line results: People who frown in photos are five times more likely to get a divorce than people who smile.
In one test, the researchers looked at people's college yearbook photos, and rated their smile intensity from 1 to 10. None of the people who fell within the top 10 percent of smile strength had divorced, while within the bottom 10 percent of smilers, almost one in four had had a marriage that ended, the researchers say. (Scoring was based on the stretch in two muscles: one that pulls up on the mouth, and one that creates wrinkles around the eyes.)
Researchers stress that they can't determine the correlation. One kind of obvious theory: smilers have a more positive disposition. Another thought is that those who smile when asked to have more obedient personalities that make marriage easier. Or maybe smilers attract more friends, which provides them with a better support system for marriage.
We know a joyful heart is good medicine, so perhaps the predictive smile is simply an outward manifestation of that kind of joy that infuses life into a marriage.
The findings are also notable because they found a connection between photos taken when people were young and marriage outcomes that sometimes occurred much later.
"It feeds into this idea that what's occurring earlier in our lives in terms of our present situation and our mental state can predict things that occur decades later. Showing the continuity in who we are is really important."
On the surface, this study is just good fun, but it points out how today's choices and behaviors lay a foundation for the future. Say cheese!
1. Some Dude said the following at 9:42 AM on Apr 29:
Consider the following:
http://xkcd.com/552
2. JuliaH said the following at 9:57 AM on Apr 29:
Another interesting smiling fact... getting Botox done (which removes the ability to frown) has been shown to cure depression in some patients.
Smile on.
3. VV said the following at 10:22 AM on Apr 29:
I read this last week. It was interesting. Of course, it doesn't account for those who avoid smiling because of an insecurity about their teeth, which would have nothing to do with their happiness. But, shoot, even before 2 1/2 years worth of braces as a teenager, I still showed off those pearly [albeit overbitten]whites! And this fall, I'll be all smiles in my wedding photos!!!
Of course, what do we make of those uber-serious photographs of couples in the early 1900s, or even my own grandparents' generation. There were barely smiles in the wedding photos....but they all seemed to make it! Fun post.
4. brx said the following at 10:31 AM on Apr 29:
Thank God for His redemptive power! - because some people have a naturally frowny face when they're relaxed. Yet, the Spirit of God has made them some of the most pleasant people in the world! And when they smile, it's much more noticeable!
Grace, peace & God's transformation of all things!
5. obewan said the following at 10:38 AM on Apr 29:
Makes sense to me. Who wants to be married to a grouch. But, what if they just took the picture on a bad day? I have both good and bad photos in my collection of mine. My senior year photo was a smilie, but that was because the photographer coached me. He also made a funny comment about girls. My other photos look like I am ready for the morgue in some cases.
6. Jessena said the following at 11:49 AM on Apr 29:
Um...but what about the scores of little boys who think that is cool not to smile in photos ;-)
7. Dan Real-Name said the following at 12:22 PM on Apr 29:
You're killing me Boundless!!!! Too bad there is no such thing as redemption...
8. Keith said the following at 1:08 PM on Apr 29:
But people can be miserable until they find thier love. For me, I grew up in a mostly unhappy child, and a lot of my photos in my younger days were miserable. But when I met my Mahal (mahal is the Filipino word for love, my girlfriend is Filipina) all my unhappiness melted away.
9. BDB said the following at 2:15 PM on Apr 29:
So, what I hear you saying is that it's best to give kids cheese before taking their picture, because it will make them smile... :P
10. kit kat said the following at 6:17 PM on Apr 29:
i can see the validity of this article. it's sad to me when people can't smile and never smile in pictures.
it's also interesting to look into what a smile means in different cultures-- like in korean and japanese culture. smiling can be pretty serious business, lol.
http://www.videojug.com/interview/manners-and-body-language-across-cultures-2
"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." ~Phyllis Diller
11. Kelly said the following at 6:51 PM on Apr 29:
I would strongly recommend looking at someone's old photos when you are in the initial stages of dating.
One ex-bf's old photos were sad. He always looked angry/depressed/alone in the pictures. And once the initial glow of attraction wore off, guess what type of person he was?
"Falling in love" hides so many deep character flaws that are only revealed over time. Photos are one way of noticing them earlier on.
12. ALM said the following at 8:37 PM on Apr 29:
Isn't it more likely that a stable and happy childhood (reflected in smiles in photos) sets the stage for a stable and happy adulthood? Much of what leads to major problems in marriage is the long-term effects of childhood trauma or neglect of one kind or another.
13. BDB said the following at 12:31 PM on Apr 30:
Kelly (#11) wrote:
>>I would strongly recommend looking at someone's old photos when you are in the initial stages of dating.<<
Is this why moms like to pull out scrapbooks of baby pictures as soon as their kid brings home someone new?
14. Sarah said the following at 3:02 PM on Apr 30:
Interesting...so what if your kindergarten school picture is of you with a tear stained face and clutching your teddy bear because you were scared of the photographer?
I was such an irrational child. But eh, photos are photos. I don't think we should put too much stock in them. Get to know the person for who they are now, not some photo that was influenced by a bazillion circumstances that you may never fully know or understand.
15. Dan Real-Name said the following at 5:00 PM on Apr 30:
...and yet somehow people with less than stellar childhoods still end up in happy and stable marriages...
16. amerrychase said the following at 7:13 PM on Apr 30:
Kelly (#11) wrote:
//I would strongly recommend looking at someone's old photos when you are in the initial stages of dating.//
it wouldn't work for me- i avoid pictures at pretty much any cost! i get scowl-y whenever there's a camera around because a) i know i'm not photogenic and b) people still try to take pictures even though they know i have 20 years of rotten pictures behind me.
but i do love to smile and laugh when there are no recording devices around. i'd hope anyone i date could look past the 'kill the cameraman' face that's in all my pictures since third grade.
17. Rachael said the following at 10:16 AM on May 1:
12 wrote: "Much of what leads to major problems in marriage is the long-term effects of childhood trauma or neglect of one kind or another."
The negative impacts of true trauma may indeed linger into an adult's present realities. People who don't experience truly traumatic situations as a child, though, I hope wouldn't go digging too deep into their childhood, though, when things go wrong.
Just in case the comment in #12 could be interpreted as 'Many of the problems are due to childhood things', rather than 'Genuine childhood trauma can often negatively impact the marriage'. I disagree with the first interpretation, but wouldn't be surprised if the latter were true.
18. Rachael said the following at 10:18 AM on May 1:
re: 10 --> Though some smiles are uncurvily straight...