Where the "36 questions to fall in love" came from

In 1997, psychologist Arthur Aron and his colleagues tested whether two strangers could be brought closer quickly. Participants were paired up and spent 45 minutes taking turns answering 36 questions that got more and more personal. Pairs who went through the whole list felt noticeably closer than pairs who just made small talk.

The wider public heard about it in 2015, when writer Mandy Len Catron described in a New York Times column how she tried the questions with an acquaintance and fell in love. The column went viral, and the "36 questions" turned into something like a magic spell.

What the experiment didn't prove

Aron measured closeness, not love. After 45 minutes people felt trust and warmth, but nobody promised a relationship would grow out of it. Catron's story is one person's experience, and the two of them were already a little interested in each other.