How many friends do I need?
Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi
A Hundred and 50
The size of personal social networks over the life span increases as you grow through childhoodi hits a peak somewhere in the lae teens, early twenties, at something approaching about 250. And then from about thirties, surprisingly coinciding with reproduction, it drops to about a hundred and 50 after which it remains very stable. You see, within that 100 to 250 friend range, there are layers, or concentric circles. The first layer is about one point five people. That often represents your parents or your romantic partner. Then the next layer out is 15, those you might think of as best friends. Layer a hundredandy just friends. A layer at 500, which we think of as
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