The Morning Rush

The Morning Rush

The Morning Rush wakes you up on 97.5 WCOS every weekday morning. Drive to work while you listen to Jonathon Rush and Kelly Nash.Full Bio

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How Many Friends Do You Need To Successful In Life

British anthropologist and ā€œmathematician of relationshipsā€ Robin Dunbar insists in his new book ā€œFriends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationshipsā€ that people can only maintain a certain number of friends at one time. Not only that, he believes that having too many friends can be just as bad as having none at all.Ā 

According to Dunbar’s research: 150 is the ā€œmagic numberā€ when it comes to quantity of friends a person needs for success. These 150 people are described as ā€œregularā€ friends, such as people you see at things like weddings or reunions, but don’t necessarily see all that often. But within that group there are other, more important friends. He says people need 50 ā€œgood" friends, described as those you’d invite to a birthday party but necessarily dinner at your house. Then there are the 12 to 15 ā€œsupportiveā€ friends people need; these are friends who’d be very upset if you died.

Finally, and probably most importantly, folks need five ā€intimateā€ friends, who are friends that are so close to you they’d give you a kidney if you needed it.

Dunbar’s theory suggests there’s only a certain amount of ā€œemotional capitalā€ people can invest in others, and having too many people in your social circle, would cause people to stretch themselves too thin and burnout.

Young friends taking selfie

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