If you’ve so much as opened a dating app, you’ll know how tough it can be trying to find The One (I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have another “I’m overly competitive about... everything!” in me).
At this point, anything that can help make the filtering process easier is welcome. So it’s a good thing licensed therapist Jeff Guenther, known on TikTok as Therapy Jeff, recently shared a video suggesting the five best questions to ask your potential beau on your first date.
They’ll “reveal important information” about their character, the therapist shared. So, here are five questions a pro recommends you ask out of the gate:
1) What are you most passionate about?
“This question helps you understand their priorities, interests, and what truly excites them,” Guenther says. “Or, it can trigger a mini existential crisis about how meaningless and empty their lives are.”
Sheesh, Jeff, leave me out of it!
2) Who is the most influential person in your life, and why?
“This question can reveal their values, as well as the type of people they admire and look up to,” the therapist explained.
For example, he asks, “Do they exclusively list cancelled male comedians? Great info to have!”
3) What book, movie, or TV show has had the biggest impact on your life?
“This can help you [to] understand their taste in entertainment, the types of stories that resonate with them, and most importantly, what TV show they fall asleep to every night,” Guenther says in the video.
I have to say, I wish I’d heard this advice before that three-month situationship I had with a diehard Big Bang Theory fan.
4) What’s your favourite childhood memory?
Guenther says “This can provide insights into their upbringing, family dynamics, the experiences that shaped them.” And it can also offer “fun teasers about the unresolved trauma that could manifest in a future relationship.”
5) Do you have any unusual or quirky habits?
The therapist says that this can show a lot about your date’s personality and the “unique traits that make them who they are... As well as the super fucking annoying shit they love to do that you’ll want to fully consider if you’re thinking about giving them a second date.”
And with that, we wish you a happy (or at least insightful) date. Here’s the full video: