Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Smile intensity in photographs predicts divorce later in life

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Motivation and Emotion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Based on social–functional accounts of emotion, we conducted two studies examining whether the degree to which people smiled in photographs predicts the likelihood of divorce. Along with other theorists, we posited that smiling behavior in photographs is potentially indicative of underlying emotional dispositions that have direct and indirect life consequences. In the first study, we examined participants’ positive expressive behavior in college yearbook photos and in Study 2 we examined a variety of participants’ photos from childhood through early adulthood. In both studies, divorce was predicted by the degree to which subjects smiled in their photos.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. It should be noted that in a follow-up study, many of these findings were not replicated in a more diverse sample (Freese et al. 2006). However, these researchers employed a different system of coding for the smile intensity of their participants. More specifically, instead of coding the smiles along a continuum like Harker and Keltner (2001), they coded expressions trichotomously (no smile, Duchenne smile, or non-Duchenne smile) which yielded a more gross assessment of smiling behavior. These researchers attempted to adopt Harker and Keltner’s coding procedure, but were dissatisfied with the inter-rater agreement achieved. The discrepancy in coding procedure likely contributed to the lack of replication of Harker and Keltner’s results.

  2. The same is true for Freese et al.’s (2006) follow-up study.

  3. We also analyzed the data using logistic regression techniques entering the dichotomous variable (divorce) as the criterion variable and the average smiling score as the predictor variable. Overall, the analyses yielded the same pattern of results as those presented in Table 1.

  4. Like study 1, we also analyzed the data using logistic regression techniques entering the dichotomous variable (divorce) as the criterion variable and the average smiling score as the predictor variable. Overall, the analyses yielded the same pattern of results as those presented in Table 1.

References

  • Albright, L., Kenny, D. A., & Malloy, T. E. (1988). Consensus in personality judgments at zero acquaintance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 387–395. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.3.387.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 256–274. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.111.2.256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431–441. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.3.431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., Hallahan, M., & Conner, B. (1999). Accuracy of judgments of sexual orientation from thin slices of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 538–547. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.538.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., Bernieri, F., & Richeson, J. (2000). Toward a histology of social behavior: Judgmental accuracy from thin slices of the behavioral stream. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 32, pp. 201–271). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164–180. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (2008). An agentic perspective on positive psychology. In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Positive psychology: Exploring the best in people (Vol. 1, pp. 167–196). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, D. J., & Allen, A. (1974). On predicting some of the people some of the time: The search for cross-situational consistencies in behavior. Psychological Review, 81, 506–520. doi:10.1037/h0037130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2008). Gender and emotion in context. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotion (3rd ed., pp. 395–408). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, L. L., Charles, S. T., Isaacowitz, D., & Kennedy, Q. (2003). Life-span personality development and emotion. In R. J. Davidson, K. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 726–746). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimberg, U., Thunberg, M., & Elmehed, K. (2000). Unconscious facial reactions to emotional facial expressions. Psychological Science, 11, 86–89. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00221.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1976). Measuring facial movement. Environmental Psychology & Nonverbal Behavior, 1(1), 56–75. doi:10.1007/BF01115465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. (1978). Manual for the facial action coding system. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. The American Psychologist, 60, 678–686. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.60.7.678.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freese, J., Meland, S., & Irwin, W. (2006). Expressions of positive emotion in photographs, personality, and later-life marital and health outcomes. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 488–497. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.05.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fridlund, A. (1994). Human facial expression. An evolutionary view. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H. (2007). The laws of emotion. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottman, J., Levenson, R., & Woodin, E. (2001). Facial expressions during marital conflict. Journal of Family Communication, 1(1), 37–57. doi:10.1207/S15327698JFC0101_06.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. A. (1984). Nonverbal sex differences: Communication accuracy and expressive style. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. A., LeBeau, L. S., Reinoso, J. G., & Thayer, F. (2001). Status, gender, and nonverbal behavior in candid and posed photographs: A study of conversations between university employees. Sex Roles, 44, 677–692. doi:10.1023/A:1012298230455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harker, L., & Keltner, D. (2001). Expressions of positive emotion in women’s college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(1), 112–124. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.1.112.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, M. A., & LaFrance, M. (1998). License or obligation to smile: The effect of power and sex on amount and type of smiling. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1332–1342. doi:10.1177/01461672982412007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huston, T. L., & Houts, R. M. (1998). The psychological infrastructure of courtship and marriage: The role of personality and compatibility in romantic relationships. In T. N. Bradbury (Ed.), The developmental course of marital dysfunction (pp. 114–151). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izard, C. E., & Ackerman, B. P. (2000). Motivational, organizational, and regulatory functions of discrete emotions. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 253–264). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D. (2004). Ekman, emotional expression, and the art of empirical epiphany. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 37–44. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2003.09.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., & Gross, J. J. (1999). Functional accounts of emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 467–480. doi:10.1080/026999399379267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus, M. W., & Keltner, D. (2009). Signs of socioeconomic status: A thin-slicing approach. Psychological Science, 20(1), 99–106. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02251.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LaFrance, M., Hecht, M., & Paluck, E. (2003). The contingent smile: A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 305–334. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, R. W. (1999). The intrapersonal functions of emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 481–504. doi:10.1080/026999399379159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malatesta, C. Z. (1990). The role of emotions in the development and organization of personality. In R. A. Thompson (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: Vol. 36. Socioemotional development (pp. 1–56). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R., & Costa, P. (1991). The NEO personality inventory: Using the five-factor model in counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 69(4), 367–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regan, J. M. (1982). Gender displays in portrait photographs. Sex Roles, 8(1), 33–43. doi:10.1007/BF00287672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S. (1992). Developmental theories for the 1990s: Development and individual differences. Child Development, 63, 1–19. doi:10.2307/1130897.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S., & McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype environment effects. Child Development, 54, 424–435.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA

    Matthew J. Hertenstein, Carrie A. Hansel, Alissa M. Butts & Sarah N. Hile

Authors
  1. Matthew J. Hertenstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carrie A. Hansel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alissa M. Butts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarah N. Hile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew J. Hertenstein.

Additional information

This research was supported by DePauw University’s Faculty Development Program, as well as the Asher Fund.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hertenstein, M.J., Hansel, C.A., Butts, A.M. et al. Smile intensity in photographs predicts divorce later in life. Motiv Emot 33, 99–105 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-009-9124-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-009-9124-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation