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Social Relationships Our brain affects the maximum number of our friends
What does it matter how many good friends we have in our circle of acquaintances? Researchers have now discovered that we all carry a certain hormone in us that determines how many friends we have in our close social environment. In general, people have only a narrow social circle of five to 15 people and a more superficial wider circle of friends of up to 150 people.
Scientists from the internationally acclaimed Oxford University found in an investigation that so-called chemical make-up in the brain of humans and monkeys limits how many friends we can have at some point in life. The doctors published a press release on the results of their current study. The topic was also presented at this year's American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Boston.
Many people are proud of their huge circle of friends on Facebook. Researchers found that hormones prevent people from having more than 15 really close friends. (Image: Kalim / fotolia.com) The extensive circle of friends consists of a maximum of 150 people
Have you ever been jealous of people who seem to have hundreds of friends? Then you should not worry. For current research has shown that the real circle of friends and the social network in reality are much smaller. A hormone limits the number of our friends. The physicians explained that our closest social circle consists of a maximum of five to 15 friends. The wider circle of friends consists of a maximum of 150 people, say the experts.
Size of the brain and existing time limit the circle of friends
The size of our brains and the time we spend making friends limit the maximum number of friends and acquaintances, explains author Robin Dunbar of Oxford University. Someone with 5,000 Facebook friends would rather have 4,850 superficial acquaintances than real friends.
People are developing new ways to expand their circle of friends
As soon as your close circle of friends goes beyond five to fifteen people, it becomes increasingly difficult to use the psychic contact to trigger the so-called endorphin system, says Professor Dunbar. One reason is simply that we do not have enough time. In today's society, however, people have found new ways and opportunities to deal with many acquaintances and friends at the same time. This increases the size of the extended circle of friends to up to 150 people.
What is the dual-process bonding mechanism?
Primates have developed a so-called dual-process bonding mechanism. This is partly dependent on advanced cognitive skills, say the scientists. Through the so-called social brain hypothesis we make conscious, calculated decisions. These also affect how much we can trust an individual. In addition, this effect also affects the activation of the endorphin system through social care, add the physicians.
People today can form large and structurally complex social groups
Humans seem to have expanded this mechanism so that they can form unusually large and structurally complex social groups, the medical profession speculates. The current investigation shows how in our brain the conscious and subconscious parts work together when it comes to finding friends. The mechanism can generally be used in determining the optimal numbers for the size of different groups of people. This concerns, for example, the number of employees in companies or just the decision on how many children you want to have in the end. The results could even be used to assess the effectiveness of large-scale societies, such as the EU or the United States of America, say the experts. (As)