Smiling for the yearbook might just pay off later March 10, 2011
March 10, 2011 / News

Smiling for the yearbook might just pay off later

Written by Evan Blackwell, CJE

According to this recent article from the Orange County Register, researchers at UC-Berkeley studied more than 100 yearbook photos of women from Mills College in the 1950s.

They coded the images based on how animated their smiles were in the photos, then followed up with the women and interviewed them.

The findings showed that the women who showed the most genuine smiles were most likely to have had a happy life – a long-term marriage and a better sense of well being.

Seems easy enough. Test this theory out the next time you pose for a yearbook photo!

Evan Blackwell, CJE

Evan Blackwell, CJE, is a Web Content Specialist for walsworthyearbooks.com and yearbookhelp.com, as well as a regular contributor to Idea File magazine. He's been a writer and editor for Walsworth Yearbooks for the past 13 years, and is the author of the Yearbook Suite's "The Art of the Interview" unit. Prior to joining Walsworth, Blackwell spent five years as an award-winning newspaper and magazine journalist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.