# Arthur Aron

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arthur_Aron
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arthur_Aron.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Aron
> Source revision: 1343739975
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American psychologist (born 1945)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Arthur Aron
| native_name       = 
| native_name_lang  = 
| image             = <!--(filename only, i.e. without "File:" prefix)-->
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1945|07|02}}
| birth_place       = 
| death_date        = <!--{{death date and age |YYYY|MM|DD |YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date)-->
| death_place       = 
| resting_place     = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
| other_names       = 
| fields            = Psychology of [interpersonal relationships](/source/interpersonal_relationships)<br />[social psychology](/source/social_psychology)
| workplaces        = [State University of New York at Stony Brook](/source/Stony_Brook_University)
| patrons           = 
| alma_mater        = [University of California at Berkeley](/source/University_of_California_at_Berkeley), <br /> [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto)
| thesis_title      = <!--(or  | thesis1_title =  and  | thesis2_title = )-->
| thesis_url        = <!--(or  | thesis1_url  =   and  | thesis2_url  =  )-->
| thesis_year       = <!--(or  | thesis1_year =   and  | thesis2_year =  )-->
| doctoral_advisor  = A. J. Arrowood
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = [Self-expansion model](/source/Self-expansion_model) of motivation in [interpersonal relationship](/source/interpersonal_relationship)s
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = 
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
| website           = {{URL|www.psychology.stonybrook.edu/aronlab-/}}
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = [Elaine Aron](/source/Elaine_Aron)
| children          = 
| death_cause       = 
| education         = BA, MA ([University of California at Berkeley](/source/University_of_California_at_Berkeley)), <br /> PhD ([University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto))
| partner           = <!--(or | partners = )-->
}}

'''Arthur Aron''' (born July 2, 1945) is a professor of [psychology](/source/psychology) at the [State University of New York at Stony Brook](/source/Stony_Brook_University). He is best known for his work on [intimacy](/source/intimacy) in [interpersonal relationship](/source/interpersonal_relationship)s, and development of the [self-expansion model](/source/self-expansion_model) of motivation in close relationships.

In 2018, Aron featured in the Australian narrative film ''36 Questions''.<ref>{{Citation |title=36 Questions: The Movie (Featuring Dr. Arthur Aron) | date=14 February 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KhGWVMQAzY |language=en |access-date=2022-10-22}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Arthur Aron received a [bachelor's degree](/source/bachelor's_degree) in psychology and [philosophy](/source/philosophy) in 1967 and a [master's degree](/source/master's_degree) in [social psychology](/source/social_psychology) in 1968, both from the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley). He earned a [PhD](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) in [social psychology](/source/social_psychology) from the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto) in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art|url=http://psychology.psy.sunysb.edu/aronlab-/people/art.htm?ref=binfind.com/web|access-date=2020-07-05|website=psychology.psy.sunysb.edu}}</ref>

==Career==
Aron's work focuses on the role, creation, and maintenance of friendship and intimacy in interpersonal relationships. He developed the [self-expansion model](/source/self-expansion_model) of close relationships; it posits that one of the motivations humans have for forming close relationships is self-expansion, i.e., "expansion of the [self](/source/self)", or [personal growth](/source/personal_growth) and development.

=== 36 questions ===
In 1997, Aron and his wife published an academic paper called ''The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings'', in which the appendix featured a set of 36 questions of increasing intimacy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/14/love-is-getting-answers-right-to-36-questions | title=Love is … getting the answers to all these 36 questions right | work=The Guardian | date=14 January 2015 }}</ref> Participants who were strangers to each other were grouped in pairs to ask each other the questions, and found afterwards to develop a stronger friendship and in some cases even a relationship.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/style/36-questions-love-wedding-mandy-len-catron.html | title=She Wrote About 'The 36 Questions That Lead to Love'— and Now, She's Married | work=The New York Times | last1=Lee | first1=Anna Grace }}</ref> In January 2015, ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)'' columnist Mandy Len Catron posted the article "To Fall In Love With Anyone, Do This", which listed them as the "36 questions that lead to love".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/style/36-questions-love-wedding-mandy-len-catron.html | title=She Wrote About 'The 36 Questions That Lead to Love'— and Now, She's Married | work=The New York Times | last1=Lee | first1=Anna Grace }}</ref> The list has been used in hundreds of studies, to create closeness in a lab setting, to break down barriers between strangers, and improve understanding between police officers and community members.<ref name=BerkeleyNews_20150212>{{cite news |last1=Anwar |first1=Yasmin |title=Creating love in the lab: The 36 questions that spark intimacy |url=https://news.berkeley.edu/2015/02/12/love-in-the-lab/ |work=Berkeley News |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |date=February 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114080809/https://news.berkeley.edu/2015/02/12/love-in-the-lab/ |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Aron married [Elaine Aron](/source/Elaine_Aron) on February 13, 1975.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanchez |first1=Sofia |title=Married for 50 years, these psychologists who study love share what they've learned to do — and not to do — to stay happy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/08/health/questions-lead-to-love-research-wellness/index.html |access-date=February 9, 2025 |publisher=CNN.com |date=February 8, 2025}}</ref>

His son is [Elijah Aron](/source/Elijah_Aron), a television writer known for his work on ''[BoJack Horseman](/source/BoJack_Horseman)''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Listen: Inside the Writers Room with BoJack Horseman |url=https://www.wgfoundation.org/blog/2020/1/15/listen-inside-the-writers-room-with-bojack-horseman |website=Writers Guild Foundation |access-date=15 March 2026}}</ref>. He has two grandsons.

== Publications ==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Aron |first1=A. |last2=Melinat |first2=E. |last3=Aron |first3=E. N. |last4=Vallone |first4=R. D. |last5=Bator |first5=R. J. |date=April 1997 |title=The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167297234003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517002204/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167297234003 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |journal=[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin](/source/Personality_and_Social_Psychology_Bulletin) |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=363–377 |doi=10.1177/0146167297234003 |access-date=21 July 2024|url-access=subscription }}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

* {{Cite web |title=Arthur Aron's CV |url=http://www.psychology.stonybrook.edu/aronlab-/ |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 31, 2011 |publisher=[State University of New York at Stony Brook](/source/Stony_Brook_University) |accessdate=January 11, 2015}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Sprecher |first=Susan |date=March 1988 |title=Love and the Expansion of Self: Understanding Attraction and Satisfaction by Arthur Aron; Elaine Aron |journal=[Contemporary Sociology](/source/Contemporary_Sociology) |publisher=[American Sociological Association](/source/American_Sociological_Association) |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=268–269 |doi=10.2307/2070652|jstor=2070652}}
* {{Cite news |last=Catron |first=Mandy Len |date=January 9, 2015 |title=To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |access-date=January 11, 2015}}
* {{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Daniel |date=January 9, 2015 |title=No. 37: Big Wedding or Small? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |access-date=January 11, 2015}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aron, Arthur}}
Category:20th-century American psychologists
Category:21st-century American psychologists
Category:1945 births
Category:Living people
Category:Stony Brook University faculty
Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Love researchers

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arthur Aron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Aron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Aron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.