evolutionary psychologist robin dunbar has studied social relationships since the seventies. According to dunbar, our apple basket of relationships has an average of 150 people in it. This includes family, best friends, acquaintances, workmates and even the bartender you know by name. The figure popped up in surprising places, offices, communes, militaries, even christmas card lists. Dunbar: "Friend tis a big, big, huge blanket to cover so much"
Time with friends just isn’t the same with a screen in between you. That’s a struggle many have faced recently, with half of Americans saying they’ve lost touch with at least one friend during the pandemic. It can be sad, but is falling out of touch with friends normal? How many relationships should we maintain, and what are the different kinds of friendships we need anyways? Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar has been studying social relationships for 50 years, and he has answers. Data journalist Mona Chalabi maps out her own relationships against the averages, and invites us to do the same. This is an episode of Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. You can find and follow it wherever you're listening to this. To learn more about "How to Be a Better Human," host Chris Duffy, or find footnotes and additional resources, please visit: go.ted.com/betterhuman