Smiles Predict Success?

Do you smile in pictures? According to recent studies conducted by the University of California, Berkeley and DePauw University, kids with big grins in their school pictures are more likely to have a happy and successful marriage.

It’s an interesting phenomenon, and the pattern holds well into the early 20s. Those with weak smiles have a one-in-four rate of divorce. Whereas those with large smiles only experience a divorce rate of one-in-twenty.

The UC Berkeley study followed young women from college life through middle age. It found that women who had the widest smiles in their senior yearbook photos were more likely to be married by their late 20s. These women also scored highest for overall well-being, which included factors like relationships with other, general self-satisfaction, and physical or psychological difficulties.

So, the next time you’re in front of the camera, break out a smile and make it genuine. It may be one of the best predictors of your future success.