Remember your high school yearbook photo, an awkward portrait where you proudly donned your band uniform, enormous braces and a smattering of zits? It turns out the smile you sported in that photo can give major insight when it comes to your adult relationships. Research at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana finds that the way people smile in photos in early life can reveal whether their adult relationships are likely to last. The study required 661 people (ranging in age from their 20s through their 80s) to provide pictures of them taken between ages 5 and 22. Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein and his research team evaluated these, as well as college-yearbook photos, analyzing the eyes and mouth of each participant. A score was then given for "smile intensity."
The finding? Those who smiled the most in their yearbooks (the top 10 percent of the subjects) were five times less likely to divorce than those who smiled the least. And among the subjects who provided a range of photos, the top 10 percent of grinners were three times less likely to get divorced. Hertenstein notes that people highly expressive of positive emotion may be more open to relationships, and smiling facilitates social bonding. So that mean bully brooding and glowering in the background of all your high school yearbook photos? Sure, he gave you a massive wedgie in front of the entire cheerleading squad, but he's also on divorce number three.
还记得高中毕业年鉴相簿吗?上面的照片现在看来有点尴尬,你当时自豪地穿着学校的乐队制服,咧嘴露出显眼的牙套,脸上还有颗青春痘。然而你在那张照片上展露的笑容,却能窥见你日后的人际关系是否成功。位于印第安纳洲格林赛的迪堡大学研究发现,人们在早年时候照片上的笑容,能够显现他们在成人后恋爱关系是否持久。该研究邀请了661个人参加(年龄层从20多岁到80多岁),他们提供自己5到22岁之间的照片。心理学家马修·赫特斯汀和他的研究团队对这些照片进行评估,包括大学年鉴相簿。他们分析了每个参与者的眼部和嘴部,并给每张照片的”笑容强度“打分。结果呢?那些在年鉴相簿中笑的最开的人(排名前10%)比起那些笑得最少的人,离婚的几率要小五倍。并且在提供照片的参与者中,那些得分排名前10%露齿而笑的人离婚的几率要小3倍。赫特斯汀注意到,那些很善于表达正面情绪的人似乎在人际关系中更能敞开胸怀,并且笑容更加强了他们的社交关系。所以高中年鉴里,那些在你所有照片背景里摆着臭脸怒气冲冲的恶霸学生又会怎样呢?哼,是啊,他或许曾在整个拉拉队美眉面前拉出你的内裤让你丢尽了脸,但是,现在的他却在痛苦地经历第三次的离婚。