Each relationship is different, but researchers have found there could be one unlikely sign capable of predicting divorce – and it affects the couples that are overly-affectionate in their first few years of marriage.

The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, followed 168 couples for 13 years to discover what signals predict divorce and what signs indicate a healthy long-lasting marriage. The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, followed 168 couples for 13 years to discover what signals predict divorce and what signs indicate a healthy long-lasting marriage.

According to the study, evidence shows that couples who are overly-affectionate from the beginning, meaning they display more than understandable levels of affection towards each other, are more likely to divorce. “As newlyweds, the couples who divorced after seven or more years were almost giddily affectionate, displaying about one-third more affection than did spouses who were later happily married,” the authors wrote.

It’s quite well understood that being overly affectionate can be a sign of overcompensating for kind of a lack of communication or trust, or having a relationship that’s high quality. This type of thing is not usually sustainable. If you think about it, having a relationship that’s incredibly intense affection-wise, it’s really hard to maintain that.

Rather, it’s normal for passion to die down after a while of being together, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you are overcompensating from the beginning, it’s a sign the relationship isn’t going to last — mostly because it’s going to be more obvious when the passion fizzles out.

Most people are okay with there being a honeymoon period and it ending, it’s usually not a dramatic end, its a gradual thing. But if you’re overly one way to begin with, that honeymoon period can feel like it’s dramatically ended when it starts to decline — you’re going from one extreme to another.

Long-term, you don’t need that level of affection to keep it working, it’s the other factors that come into play more like honesty, communication, cooperation and trust. A good relationship I think is a slow burner. It’s not necessarily one that’s going to be super intense at the beginning. It’s one that’s going to gradually build as you get to know each other.

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