If you smiled big in your yearbook photos and grinned wide in childhood pictures, it might have been a prediction of your marital success. And if you constantly kept a straight face, it might have predicted marital failure

According to a study published in April by the journal Motivation and Emotion, the intensity of an individual’s smile in photos taken decades ago correlates with that same person’s likelihood to be married or divorced. The study found that people who smiled with the most enthusiasm had the highest rate of marital success. Those with weak smiles were more than three times as likely to have been divorced during their lifetimes.

Perhaps the photo (left) of Mel Gibson’s forced smile is an indication of the actor’s current divorce proceedings with Robyn, his wife of nearly 30 years. She filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. This picture was snapped at the 1990 premier of AirAmerica, when Gibson was just 34.

To find the connection between smiles and marital status, researchers at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana conducted two studies of nearly 650 people between the ages of 21 and 87.

The first study rated smiles in college yearbook photos on a scale between one and ten. All of the top-ranked 10% of grinners remained married, whereas almost one quarter of the bottom 10% had experienced divorce.

The second study rated childhood and young-adulthood photos of individuals now 65 or older. The results found that just 11% of the subjects with big smiles were divorced, but 31% of those with somber faces reported marital failures.

Though the study’s findings do not imply that smiling causes successful marriages, the researchers posited that smiling in photographs is indicative of positive lifelong dispositions. Frowning, on the other hand, indicates negative attitude and demeanor, and possibly depression.

Psychology researchers E. Mark Cummings and Patrick T. Davies (not affiliated with the DePauw study) reported in the book Children and Martial Conflict: the Impact of Family Dispute and Resolution that in 30% of couples in tumultuous marriages, one parent is clinically depressed.

If you’re feeling blue or if your spouse is down and out, visit the Healia Depression Online Health Community and Support Group to share experiences and advice with other community members.

_{Photos: Yearbook, Alan Light, Flickr, Creative Commons
             Mel Gibson, MilesGehm, Flickr, Creative Commons}