Can a Smile Predict Happily Ever After?

We all know a great smile can attract attention, but did you know the crooked little smiles of your childhood may reveal more than just happiness? A study done by DePauw University suggests that the intensity of a person’s smile in childhood photographs, indicated by the existence of crow’s feet around the eyes, can predict how successful their marriage will be as an adult.

According to the study, those people whose smiles are weaker in childhood and young adult photographs were more likely to report being divorced by the time they reached middle to old age. In college photographs, 25 percent of those people with the weakest smiles ended up divorcing, as compared with only 5 percent of those with the largest smiles.

You might not believe that your smile is enough to tell you whether or not you’ll get divorced, however, some people will look to anything to tell them about the success of their marriage. No one wants to get divorced, and when people get married, they aren’t spending their time that day thinking that they will divorce. But alas, divorces do happen and it’s something which you should be prepared for (only if you want to be prepared though).

People change over time, so the person you married in your early 20s, may not be the same by the time they hit 40. People need to understand this, and they need to learn to accept it, no matter how difficult it might be. Luckily people can make their divorce go about a lot more easier since they can hire the help of legal firms like Petersmay (which you can check out here at https://www.petersmay.com/about-us).

But let’s not worry about what you need to do if you get divorced, you might find the love of your life and never have to worry about a thing. But just for a bit of fun, why not take a look at your childhood photos to see how strong your smile was? It might only be an old wives’ tale, but there’s no harm in checking.

A similar study done in 2001 by psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley found a correlation between the well-being and marital satisfaction of women and how intensely they smiled in senior yearbook photographs. More specifically, scientists tracked women’s smiles from college through their early 50s and found that those with the widest smiles in their senior yearbook photos were more likely to be married by their late 20s, less likely to remain single into middle age, and had the happiest marriages.

In accordance with these studies, scientists speculate that a person’s tendency to grin or smile will reflect his or her emotional character. A positive disposition then influences other’s responses to that person which could make them more likely to pursue situations favorable for a happy and lasting marriage.

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Amanda Jones
Amanda Jones serves as the graphics guru for Delta Dental of Arizona. Since moving to Arizona in 2010, she has been advocating for greater access to oral health care through her work with the Maricopa County oral health coalition (MOLAR). She's passionate about improving lives through health promotion and disease prevention. Amanda loves her spin brush because a smiley face appears after two minutes and if she keeps brushing, it will wink! In her spare time, she enjoys karaoke, live music and exploring new restaurants. [Editor's Note: Amanda is no longer a current DDAZ employee.]