What about that college yearbook photo?

Remember you heard it from The Right Stuff first.

According to Matthew Hertenstein, a psychology professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind, the less people smiled in their college yearbook, the more likely they were to later divorce.  Or said in a postive way..  the more you smiled in your college yearbook photo, the less likely your were to get divorced.

How did he determine this?  In a research project involving 600 people, Matthew and a group of researchers coded muscle movements around the mouth and the eyes.

Actually the correlation was small but significant.  Where the researchers really struck it rich was comparing the top 10 percent of the brightest smiles with the bottom 10 percent of the weakest smiles.  The lowest 10% were five times more likely to divorce.

At The Right Stuff we found that the introduction of photos actually decreased the match rate slightly.  Perhaps our members were just looking at the wrong photos.

Before you rush out and demand the college yearbook photo on the first date, remember that plenty of non-smilers defied the odds.  That non-smiler that you are having coffee with for the first time could be perfect for you.

Saving the Random Act of Kindness

In case you missed it, author  Gretchen Rubin has published the results of her year of trying out every conceivable thing that is alleged to make one happy.

One of the victims of her research was the “random act of kindness”.   It turns out the random acts of kindness makes the giver happier but the recipient … well.. not so much.  The reason?  People who receive random acts of kindness feel suspicious!

But wait. Hasn’t it been documented that those who as volunteer for social help organizations get as much or more out of the activity than the intended beneficiary?  This is not new.

The Right Stuff likes random acts of kindness.  To save it from extinction, we suggest saying… “there are no strings attached”.  On a first date if you feel the urge to engage in a random act of kindness, you might have to explain yourself to avoid suspicion