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How school photos reveal whether you'll divorce: Children who look unhappy in them are FIVE times more likely to split in later life
A U.S. psychologist said children who look unhappy in school photos are five times more likely to get divorced than those who smiled Researchers at DePauw University, Indiana, measured individuals emotional displays based on photographs in hundreds of school yearbooks They also examined photographs of participants at birthdays to conclude the photos predicted divorce as accurately as the yearbook photos did
By Sarah Griffiths PUBLISHED: 12:01 GMT, 12 November 2013 | UPDATED: 19:00 GMT, 12 November 2013

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Children who look unhappy in childhood school photographs are five times more likely to get divorced than those who smile most, a scientist claims. People who stayed married in later life tended to smile more widely and warmly in their school photographs, while future divorces were more likely to smile weakly, if at all in their photos. A U.S. psychologist came up with his conclusions when exploring whether school photos reveal who individuals are in a moment in time, or if they can predict their future.

It's all in the smile, according to one psychologist: People who stayed married in later life tended to smile more widely and warmly in their school photographs, while future divorces were more likely to smile weakly, if at all in their photos

Matthew Hertenstein, an associate professor of psychology at DePauw University, Indiana, measured individuals emotional displays based on photographs in hundreds of school yearbooks to see if he could predict who would get divorced. In an article for The Wall Street Journal, he said he found that people who smiled least genuinely were five times more likely to get divorced at some point in their lives than those with happy photographs.

To work out who was smiling strongly, he looked at whether the individual in the photo contracted the muscle that pulls up the lip corners as well as the orbicularis oculi, which is the muscle that makes someones eyes smile too. Professor Hertenstein said that future divorces tended not to smile, or if they did, did not contract their orbicularis oculi - indicating a smile that was not genuine. Together with his team, the psychologist, who is the author of a new book called THE TELL: THE LITTLE CLUES THAT REVEAL BIG TRUTHS ABOUT WHO WE ARE, examined the childhood and adolescent yearbook photos of people over the age of 55 in a small town in mid-west U.S. As part of their research in 2009, which was published the journal Motivation and Emotion, they also looked at photographs of participants at birthdays and graduations and concluded that the photos predicted divorce as accurately as the yearbook photos did.

Matthew Hertenstein, an associate professor of psychology at DePauw University, Indiana, measured individuals' emotional displays based on photographs in hundreds of school yearbooks to see if he could predict who would get divorced

According to a study by psychologists LeeAnne Harker and Dacher Keltner in 2001, college yearbook photographs can also predict whether someone will enjoy a life with less sadness, anxiety and despair 30 years after the graduate. The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found more stoic looking classmates were less well socially connected and had less fulfilling lives than their more smiley classmates. However, Professor Hertenstein concedes that smiling in photos cannot cause happy outcomes and is not the only valid predictor of them. He writes: Your smile, or lack thereof, is not the great determinant of your destiny. Individual cases will certainly vary.

The psychologists looked at photographs of participants at birthdays and graduations and concluded that the photos predicted divorce (illustrated) as accurately as the yearbook photos did

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Comments (89)
Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all armor, seattle, United States, 4 hours ago what a waste of tax money

14 Click to rate Elsie, England UK, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago I agree. But, fortunately, for a change, it's your tax money and not mine! 2 3 Click to rate Pace, USA, 4 hours ago Well, what if the picture picked for the yearbook was taken off-guard?

0 4 Click to rate

Dave, Wimbledon, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago In their photos the girls smile more broadly than the boys: does that mean divorce is more likely the men's fault?

0 4 Click to rate 2 of 3 repliesSee all replies Brian, London, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago Or more boys get divorced than girls? Think about it... 0 4 Click to rate Pace, USA, 4 hours ago Make sense. 0 1 Click to rate Saltire Sue, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago It makes sense and is very interesting. As an indicator, it's genuinely intriguing.

4 1 Click to rate C Nancy, St. Helens, United Kingdom, 8 hours ago It is getting to the point DM ,if you throw in a made up "research " story for a laugh one day,nobody will notice.

0 14 Click to rate

Just Dona, Metropolis, United Kingdom, 9 hours ago bo11ocks.

1 18 Click to rate Trudi, Worcester, United Kingdom, 9 hours ago It makes perfect sense that kids who have happy, stable childhoods have the most stable, happy adulthoods. But the PC people are never going to accept that, because personal frreedom to them is worth far, far more than their kids welfare.

7 17 Click to rate col, west yorkshire, 11 hours ago what a load of rubbish

3 34 Click to rate

Elizabethlj, Newcastle - United kingdom, 11 hours ago Where do you get this tosh DM

3 21 Click to rate userpete86, IrvineCA, United States, 11 hours ago I look happy, therefore I might be happier later. Yeah, that's not research.

1 20 Click to rate The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

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