-by Mike Finkelstein
Ever realize that over recent years, most of the Best Actress winners at the Oscars have followed their win with a divorce? Well apparently, it isn’t just an isolated event…
According to a study conducted at the Rotman School at the University of Toronto and Carnegie Mellon University, winners of the Best Actress trophy are statistically at a higher risk of divorce than their fellow nominees who do not win.
The study, which is printed at ScienceDaily.com, examined each and every one of the 751 nominees between 1936 and 2010 and the results showed that Best Actress winners have a 63 percent chance of their marriage ending sooner than the marriage of a non-winner. Also, the women who lost had an average marriage duration of 9.51 years, whereas winners only had a 4.30 year average.
Colleen Stuart, a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon who co-authored the study with Rotman school professor Tiziana Casciaro and  Rotman student Sue Moon, commented:
“It appears that even the marriages of Hollywood actresses at the top of their careers are not immune to the consequences of violating social norms that affect the wider population…Our results suggest that the sudden success reduces the longevity of their marriages.”
Casciaro added:
“Studies have demonstrated that breaching (social norms) within a marriage — for example, when a wife earns more than her husband — can strain the relationship”
Recent winners who went through divorce soon after getting their trophy: Hilary Swank, Halle Berry, Kate Winslet and Sandra Bullock.
Cue the Twilight Zone music…