It is shown that the proton formation probability, extracted from experimental data corresponding to one-proton radioactivity, is divided into two regions when plotted as a function of an universal parameter. This parameter is derived from a microscopic description of the decay process. In this way we explain the systematics of proton emission half-lives. At the same time the formation probability is shown to be a useful quantity to determine the deformation property of the mother nucleus. ; Comment: 5 pages, 5 figues, 2 tables, printer-friendly version, submitted to Phys. Rev. C