In 1997, psychologist Dr Arthur Aron conducted a study at Stony Brook University, New York, to accelerate intimacy between two (preferably) total strangers.
An experiment that went viral in a Modern Love podcast episode.
The Premise: Verbally complete a set of 36 increasingly intimate questions, from “If you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, who would it be?” to “Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?“, before ending with the couple staring into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes straight.
The Results: Polarising, ranging from couples who did the 36 questions & ended up getting married to each other, to ones where it didn’t quite work out.
Thoughts: A very interesting experiment & not one that has to be strictly romantic (maybe minus the eye staring 😅)!
At the very least, it gives you a chance to learn about another person in a way that you might not necessarily have!
If you’re on an awkward outing, bust these questions out.