Cambridge - Does a scientific list of 36 questions hold the secret to finding love? Newly coupled-up writer Mandy Len Catron suspects so.
She came across a 1997 study by psychologist Arthur Aron that investigated whether emotional intimacy could be created in a laboratory setting.
He paired strangers, and sat them face-to-face to answer a specially designed list of ever-more revealing questions.
These move from the innocuous “When did you last sing to yourself?” and “Who’s your dream dinner party guest?” to the more searching “What do you value most in a friendship?” and “What is your greatest achievement?”
After the ominous “How do you feel about your mother?” it gets even more intense: “Of the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?” and: “What would you change about how you were raised?”
Six months after the experiment, one couple involved got married and invited the entire lab team to the ceremony. Coincidence? Perhaps. But Len Catron is reporting similar success after trying the list on a university acquaintance.
She promptly fell in love with him and began a relationship.
The thinking behind the questions is that this back-and-forth “self-disclosure” – two people opening up to each other – builds a strong emotional connection.
In other words, the path to love is having a “heart-to-heart”, even if it’s with a stranger!
Daily Mail