What Is the 'Green Line Test,' Exactly? What To Know About the Relationship Analysis Method

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

SwiftTok is abuzz with the "green line test" in efforts to analyze Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship. However, the origins of this relationship analysis method are important to note, as well as the legitimacy of it—which experts have spoken out about.

Recently re-popularized by TikTok user @JackMac in his video and photo analysis of the Grammy winner and Kansas City Chiefs star, the Green Line Test has actually been around for years, coined mostly by a man with the Twitter handle "alpharivelino" who  has shared (sometimes X-rated) misogynistic messaging that has included "There is nothing red pill about hating women," "A shy girl will give you memories that last a lifetime. A party girl will give you STDs that last a lifetime" and "She wants to suffer for love."

And while relationship experts can understand the buzz around analyzing the body language of celebs and trying to unpack hidden meanings, they also have plenty to share about why the green line test (and similar assessments) cannot actually provide the type of revelations it promises.

Related: Taylor Swift's Dating History

What Is the Green Line Test on TikTok?

Essentially, the green line test states that a man who leans into and towards a woman in a photo feels insecure and "lower value" around her, indicating that a relationship is either doomed or unhappy.

Conversely, if a woman leans in, it can be a positive sign, and if both partners lean away from each other, that's also a positive sign for a relationship. Men have to stand up straight.

Is the Green Line Test Legit?

According to most experts, absolutely not, in large part because you cannot really garner much information at all about anyone's relationships simply from snapshots.

"Human beings are so multi-dimensional that analyzing their relationships or relationship potential from a one-dimensional off-hand photo is facile at best," relationship counselor Dr. Michael T. Mongno tells Parade. "We have become so enamored with quick fixes that it's become too easy to make pejorative judgments based on only one facet of something, rather than take the time to explore and understand the other contextual aspects of a person or situation."

Basically, unless you know these people personally, you can't really analyze anything about their romance—least of all from photos.

Related: 13 Things to Never Do After a Fight With Your Partner, According to a Therapist

Psychologist Rachel Cavallaro says that a lot of context is missing from most photos—especially of celebrity couples—which can lead to false assumptions about the people and relationships depicted within them.

"The green line test assumes a lot and doesn’t account for very human things like subconscious thought, triggers and other emotional data, survival instincts, the setting photos were taken in and any emotional processing of recent events," she explains. "For example, what if someone mentioned some disturbing news right before I had to walk into a room of reporters asking questions and snapping photos? If I don't hold my partner affectionately in those moments, does that mean my entire relationship is doomed? Human behavior has far too many variables to consider for a seemingly one-dimensional analysis."

This doesn't mean that you can't find out anything from body language, but it's important to bear in mind that it only really works with someone you know already and are with in the moment.

"I think body language assessment is an interesting tool to use as a line of inquiry when working directly with a person where you can point out what you're noticing and process it with them in real-time," sex and couples therapist Kaylee Rose Friedman tells Parade. "I do not think we can ever fully understand what is going on for someone internally just from outside observation alone."

Actual body language expert Linda Clemons says that the entire study of body language (also known as kinetics) hinges on learning the emotional expression of thoughts and feelings through posture, body angle, gestures, facial expressions and other nonverbal movements, whereas, "The green line test theory is based on someone's personal belief, perception and/or bias and personality."

"The green line theory does not take into account the norm or baseline of the individuals, the history of past behavior, the emotional state and most importantly, context," Clemons, author of Back in Touch: Using the Power of Body Language to Connect Through COVID, explains. "Imagine a couple who has been together for years and [in] every picture you've witnessed, in this case, the wife [is] leaning in or on the husband. Is it safe to say or assume that the wife is the submissive one? Then you notice the roles change—the husband is now leaning in or on the wife. He is now submissive?"

The lack of context is key to why the green line test fails every time, Clemons explains, saying: "Imagine that the story behind the shift of the husband of leaning in or on the wife is that he's being a pillar of support after receiving the news of a terminal illness of his life-long partner. The green line theory will bring out pre-judgment and biases without knowledge of the history story and context. My advice to the green line theorists: 'Turn right, keep straight and investigate the context.'"

Of course, there's also another big thing to consider in terms of analyzing body language in photos: Height differences. If you are 4'11" on your best day and your partner is 6'0", chances are they will have to lean in just to be within the same frame as you. (This diminutive writer speaks from experience.) 

Related: 11 Signs You're Parenting Your Partner, According to a Psychologist

Why Is the Green Line Test Popular?

Despite the green line test being debunked by actual experts, they get why you'd want this to work, especially if you're eager (and honestly, maybe even slightly desperate) to lock down a lover.

"While I do not believe there is credible evidence to support the green line test, I do believe it speaks to a relatively universal hope: to have some sort of measuring stick to determine whether a relationship will last or if it is doomed for failure and heartbreak," Cavallaro explains. "If your goal is to find your forever person, I can understand a very human need for this kind of assessment. However, need does not dictate credibility."

Dr. Mongno points to the ever-present, almighty algorithms for its popularity.

"As we all have experienced, social media's financial success is based on its ability to generate emotional reactions within us which then proliferate and spread," Dr. Mongno noted. "We run the real risk of getting caught up in then believing things that simply aren't true or are not evidenced-based."

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What Does the Green Line Test Say About Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce?

In one analysis of Swift and Kelce, Jack Mac warned the tight end of "early onset claw syndrome" based on the position of Swift's hand in a split-second in a candid photo for which the pair weren't posing.

View the original article to see embedded media.

In his first green line test video of them, Jack Mac admits that because it's a posed photo and there are other people with Kelce and Swift, he can't do a true analysis, but that he did his best.

"Obviously Travis is leaning, but he's leaning into a kiss. Kiss good," he said. "Kiss on the cheek? Good. She's leaning away, but it's a kiss." He said that Swift's hand on Kelce's chest indicates that "there's something there," adding, "If she puts her hand on your chest in a photo, you got it locked up. You got it in your back pocket."

View the original article to see embedded media.

That said, don't invest too much time into analyzing photos of these two right now, even if you think the green line test holds water—in part because they're likely still in the, ahem, "Lavender Haze" phase of their romance.

"Travis and Taylor are at the very beginning of a relationship, and what we know about beginnings is that both partners are flooded with neurochemicals, which makes them feel about as good as a person will ever feel," Dr. Darcy Sterling, relationship therapist and host of E!'s Famously Single, explains. "Consequently, any photos you see of them right now will have no prediction of what's to come. We'd need to see them one to two years into the future to be able to speculate with any chance of being accurate."

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