Put to the test: 36 questions that can make you fall in love with anyone

A 1997 study claimed that 36 specific questions could make anyone two people fall in love. Watch the video below to see this claim being put to the test.

In 1997, a group of pyschologists claimed to have found 36 questions which could make two strangers fall in love. Two decades later, this study has been put to the test - and filmed for all to see.

The key to creating closeness, according to the study, is “sustained, escalating, reciprocal, personalistic self-disclosure” – in other words, revealing a lot about yourself, gradually, over a period of time.

The questions are designed to make those involved reveal a lot of very personal things, starting slowly and building up to more serious topics.

In a video uploaded on YouTube yesterday by AsapScience, complete strangers Cam and Emily engage in what the study calls a “sharing game” in which the two of them work through the questions, taking turns to answer each one.

The starting questions are fairly trivial: “would you like to be famous”, or “when did you last sing to yourself” - and the conversation is light-hearted.

But the questions quickly get a lot more serious: Cam and Emily are made to ask each other "what is your most terrible memory?", and both find themselves recounting difficult and personal information to one another.

They soon start to learn what they had in common and connect with each other.

You can watch the full video below:

Since filming, Cam and Emily have been on two dates.

The full list of questions are as follows:

Set One

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Set Two

1. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

2. Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

3. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

4. What do you value most in a friendship?

5. What is your most treasured memory?

6. What is your most terrible memory?

7. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

8. What does friendship mean to you?

9. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

10. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

11. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?

12. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

Set Three

1. Make three true “we” statements each. For instance, “We are both in this room feeling …”

2. Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share …”

3. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

4. Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you’ve just met.

5. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

6. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

7. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

8. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

9. 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?

10. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

11. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

12. 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.