This is a preview of a story which will be published in an upcoming edition of the Times-Delphic.
A recent study shows it can be possible to create intimacy with a stranger by condensing months of getting to know someone into 36 questions followed by four minutes of staring into each other’s eyes.
According to the study by psychologist Arthur Aron and his wife, Elaine Aron, it was not created to intentionally make people fall in love, but rather start friendships and relationships and get people to open up in a new way.
A blog post by Elaine in the Huffington Post states that for 36-question study to make its participants fall in love, they must go into it truly wanting love.
Drake students tested the theory themselves. With the questions ranging from basic to very personal, from “Who would you want as a dinner guest,” to “Of all the people in your family, whose death would be the most disturbing,” participating in the study was different than students had expected.
Sophomores Jeremy Price and Annie Snyder enjoyed their experience. However, they anticipated more surface-level questions before participating in the experiment.
“The questions were a lot different than I thought they were going to be,” Snyder said. “They were really deep at some points and wanted you to look very deep.
Price agreed that some of the questions were surprising.
“It was like, ‘what was the worst memory of your life,’ like what?” Price laughed. “You don’t just ask that to people you don’t really know.”
This story will be published in its entirety in the March 11 edition of the Times-Delphic.
