How Many Friends Does the Average Person Have? - GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog (2024)

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How many friends does an average person have? ›

A narrow majority of adults (53%) say they have between one and four close friends, while a significant share (38%) say they have five or more. Some 8% say they have no close friends. There's an age divide in the number of close friends people have.

Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent isolation and loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also: Increase your sense of belonging and purpose.

People who have an extensive group of friends may spread themselves too thin and lack depth in any one relationship. On the other hand, having a few devoted companions enables people to focus their attention, energy, and loyalty on creating an actual bond.

The theory of Dunbar's number holds that we can only really maintain about 150 connections at once.

28% of Introverts and 12% of Extraverts report having 1–2 people in their primary friend group. 43% of Introverts and 38% of Extraverts report having 3–4 people in their primary friend group. 20% of Introverts and 29% of Extraverts report having 5–6 people in their primary friend group.

Healthy friendships and relationships also mean learning to respect and trust each other. People respect each other for who they are. People may disagree with each other. But with respect and trust, they can talk about how they feel and work things out.

How many people say "I have no friends?" While you might feel alone in your solitude, it is actually more common than you think. One survey suggested that 27% of millennials reported having no close friends, while 22% reported having no friends at all.

Some research suggests that loneliness can increase stress. It's also associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems. For example, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and sleep problems. My anxiety and depression isolates me from people and stops me from being able to do the things I'd like to do.

Having few or no friends can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Having few friends can lead to feeling lonely and isolated, which have been linked to increased stress, depression, and anxiety.

Some people have higher social needs than others, which means they may want to have a greater number of friends. Those who value their alone time may need fewer friends, and that's OK too. In general, based on 2021 survey data, the average person in America has between 3 and 5 close friends.

How many close friends does the average American have? ›

A slim majority of adults surveyed (53%) said they have between one and four close friends. 38% said they had about five or more.

From concentrating on our careers, to making the most of travel opportunities, to getting some hours in at the gym, we're all guilty of letting the weeks go by with proper quality time scheduled in with our friends. According to researchers at The University of Oxford, though, we should be seeing friends twice a week.

Summary: An individual human can maintain stable social relationships with about 150 people, not more. This is the proposition known as 'Dunbar's number' - that the architecture of the human brain sets an upper limit on our social lives.

According to this rule, the age of the younger person should not be less than half the age of the older person plus seven years, so that (for example) no one older than 65 should be in a relationship with anyone younger than 39 and a half, no one older than 22 should be in a relationship with anyone younger than 18, ...

'Dunbar's number' is the notion that there exists a cognitive limit on human groups of about 150 individuals. [1,2] This because '[t]o maintain group cohesion, individuals must be able to meet their own requirements, as well as coordinate their behaviour with other individuals in the group.

His studies show that our brains can handle about 150 friendships (known as Dunbar's number) due to limitations in attention span and time. In reality, this number varies between 100 and 250 (hello, introverts?).

While she and other friendship researchers admit there aren't many studies that have specifically tackled the question of how many friends people should aim for, those that have been done offer a range — and somewhere between three and six close friends may be the sweet spot.

Less than half (43%) of Americans socialize with their friends in person on a daily or weekly basis. While many regularly see friends in person, it's still less likely for friends to see each other daily – only 14% say they're coming together to socialize every day.

It found that the average person will make 29 real friends over the years but will lose at least five of those along the way due to arguments.