36 Questions Make You Fall In Love With ANYONE

Well, if you listen to any of our show on 103.5 KISS FM you know that I seem to find frogs no matter what city or state I'm in.  I credit it to the fact that I have a less than ideal "type."  Maybe I just need to go through these 36 questions with a complete stranger and I'll find happily ever after!

An old study by psychologist Arthur Aron resurfaced after a New York Times author tried out the experiment on herself and a college acquaintance.  Aron conducted the study to see if you could actually make two people fall in love in his lab eighteen years.  During it he invited men and women who were complete strangers to come take a 36 question quiz together.  The questions got more intimate as they progressed through the sets and the experiment ended with the couples staring into each other's eyes for four minutes.  Did it work? In Aron's study, one couple got married six months after the experiment and invited everyone in the lab.  In the New York Times article, the female author and the college acquaintance did end up in a relationship afterward.

Want to give it a try?  Here's some of the sample questions from each set of Aron's questions!

Set 1

• Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
• When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?
• Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.
• Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.
• If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Set 2

• If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?
• If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?
• Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.
• How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?
• Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

Set 3

• Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share … “
• When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?
• If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?
• Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?
• Share a personal problem and ask your partner’s advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

I think probably the hardest thing about answering these questions is probably being vulnerable and honest with someone you don't know.  We're so wrapped up in the societal norms of what's considered "crazy" when getting to know people of the opposite sex that we play by the "rules" to try to appear "normal."  I'm a creature of habit.  I know my "type" and that's what I'm attracted to.  CLEARLY, it's not working so maybe it's time to get a little comfortable being uncomfortable with a complete stranger that may just be my knight in shining armor!