Everyone wants the love of a lifetime, but practice shows that this type of scenario is a rare exception to a harsh reality. In Europe, over the last 50 years, people have started to divorce 2.5 times more often and marry 2 times less often. The good news is that divorce can be predicted and that this is backed up by scientific research.

At "RelationShip", we hope there will be more happy and strong families in the world. That's why we've studied a lot of research and chosen the 9 most distinct warning signs of divorce that scientists have identified.
 
1. The number of smiles on their childhood photos
 Psychologists have conducted a series of tests to try to understand whether it is possible to predict a divorce from childhood and youth photos. In one of the studies, scientists examined photos from a college yearbook and rated the intensity of smiles on a scale of 1 to 10. The rating was based on the stretching of two muscles: one tightened the mouth and the other created wrinkles around the eyes.

None of the people whose smiles were rated at "10" got divorced. At the same time, one in four people divorced among those who frowned. In general, the results show that people who look glum in photos get divorced 5 times more often than those who smile.
 
 
2. The emotional tone of their voice 
 A computer algorithm can predict the success of a marriage, with an accuracy of 79%, using only the tone of voice of the spouses when they communicate with each other. Scientists analyzed the conversations of more than 100 couples who were seeing a psychologist and then observed their marital status for 5 years.

It turns out that intensity, pitch, "jitter" and "shimmer" can indicate strong emotions. "What you say is not the only thing that matters; how you say it is also very important. Our study confirms that this also applies to the couple relationship," the scientists say.

 
3. Colleagues of the opposite sex
According to Danish researchers, people who work more often surrounded by members of the opposite sex divorce 15% more often. The study of this issue came to a larger scale when they studied all couples who married between 1981 and 2002 in Denmark. They found that 100,000 of them had already divorced.
 
 
4. The education of the mother 
Women are the most likely to seek a divorce. In addition, studies have shown that most couples copy the behavior of their parents, especially their mothers. Sociologists studied the behavior of 7,000 people and found that if a mother entered into a new relationship, quite often (whether it was marriage or just cohabitation), her adult children behaved the same way.

 
5. Ignoring conflict
John Gottman named 4 warning signs of impending divorce: contempt, victimhood, criticism and ignoring conflict. The "four horsemen of the apocalypse" seem innocent at first glance, but they are actually a very dangerous behavioral strategy in practice. Imagine that you feel ready for a heated debate on a topic that has been annoying you for some time and your partner suddenly stops supporting the conversation.

You might think that spouses are able to keep the peace by doing this, but this is not true. Although debates and arguments are not the best part of communication in general, they still help to dot the "i "s. They are necessary to resolve unresolved issues. If these situations continue to be ignored, more and more frustrations will go unresolved.

 
6. A husband's negative attitude toward his wife's friends
Scientists analyzed the relationship of 373 couples over 16 years of marriage. It was found that 46% of the couples had divorced by the sixteenth year of their marriage and that often the husband's criticism of his wife's friends in the first year of their marriage predicted this breakup in the future.

According to the scientists, this is due to the fact that relationships between women and their friends, which are characterized by emotional closeness and support, last longer, while male friendship more often depends on joint activities. As a result, it is easier for men to change the circle of their communication and more difficult to accommodate their wife's friends, whom they find unpleasant.

 
7. Excessive affection of newlyweds for each other.
Psychologist Ted Huston studied 168 couples in the 13 years following their marriage. The results were published in the journal Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes in 2001, which stated, "When they were newlyweds, couples who divorced 7 or more years later showed nearly one-third more affection toward each other than spouses in more successful marriages."

This is because couples who started a relationship with strong romantic feelings were more likely to separate because it was very difficult for them to maintain the intensity of those feelings. "Believe it or not, marriages that start with less "Hollywood romance" generally have a brighter future," says expert Aviva Patz.
 
 
8. Poverty and unemployment
It is obvious that it is not easy to live in difficult conditions. Relationships break down more often in these families than in financially stable families. Bob Birrell, co-author of a study on parents' financial outcomes after separation, confirms this.

"People think the system acts in a draconian way to take money out of men's pockets. The reality is that most separated and divorced men have such low incomes that they contribute very little to the well-being of the mother and children.''
 
 
9. Narrow bed 
Spouses should sleep separately or on a very wide bed for their mental and physical health, for good sleep and for a healthy family environment. Scientists who study sleep problems have found that 30 to 40 percent of couples sleep in different beds. And that's actually a good thing, because poor quality sleep can lead to divorce. Therefore, if you want to keep your relationship strong, make sure you get plenty of sleep.

What other things do you think can predict an upcoming divorce or help avoid one?