How Many Friends Do You Really Need? (Published 2022) (2024)

FAQs

How many friends does the average person have in 2022? ›

Number of close friends

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.

Though research and experts suggest having three to six close friends is the sweet spot for life satisfaction, it truly depends on the individual. Ask yourself honestly whether you feel you have enough friends — that's your answer. Focus on making these relationships positive, quality friendships to reap the benefits.

There's no “right” number of friends you should have, but research says most people have between 3 and 5 close friends. Friendship is necessary, but it can feel challenging to find people who really “get” you. What's more, what you need from your friends might change as your life circ*mstances change.

The bottom line. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how many friends you have. If you don't feel the need to make more friends, trust your instincts without letting the opinions of others sway you. That said, loneliness can contribute to mental health symptoms, including anxiety and depression.

In the United States, for example, the share of people saying they have no close friends at all went up from 3 per cent in 1990 to 12 per cent in 2021, according to surveys by Gallup and the Survey Center on American Life.

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. 9% of Introverts and 21% of Extraverts report having 7+ people in their primary friend group.

Is it normal to have no friends? Reports suggest that many adults report having few friends or none at all.

According to new research, we make just 29 real friends in our lifetime and only 6 of them last the distance.

By using the average human brain size and extrapolating from the results of primates, he proposed that humans can comfortably maintain 150 stable relationships. There is some evidence that brain structure predicts the number of friends one has, though causality remains to be seen.

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

How many friends does the average man have? ›

Men appear to have suffered a far steeper decline than women. Thirty years ago, a majority of men (55 percent) reported having at least six close friends. Today, that number has been cut in half. Slightly more than one in four (27 percent) men have six or more close friends today.

The Seven Pillars of Friendship are Language, shared upbringing, education, hobbies, worldview, humour, and musical tastes.

All you need is three (or four, or five)

Out of dozens of connections, the number of close friendships people have, Dunbar found, is five. Similarly, a 2020 study found that having three to five close friends is enough to feel fulfilled.

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.

According to a 2021 survey data, the average person in America has between 3 and 5 close friends. According to this survey: 49% report having 3 or fewer close friends. 36% report having between 4 and 9 close friends.

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?).

Some pre-teens and teenagers prefer having 1-2 close friends, rather than socialising in a big group. If your child is like this but seems generally happy and content, there's no need to do anything. Teenagers don't always feel more socially connected in a big group.

23). Additionally, pooling 65 estimates reported in 21 articles reflecting 19 datasets, youth nominated 5.75 friends on average (SE = . 39). Early adolescents (10 - 14 years) nominated significantly more best friends than adolescents (15 - 18 years).