Power of 150 Relationships

In my work over the years, I have been fascinated by the notion of social capital. This construct is all about relationships in a person’s life and research over the last 70 years or so suggest that most of the good things in life (health, happiness, success, even longevity) are tied to our connections.

In considering relationships, the obvious next step is to ponder the number of people in your life that comprises your social capital. Now most of us, in thinking about our social capital, would initially think that the numbers of people in our social capital network would be relatively small, but research suggests otherwise.

The British Anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, who has researched social capital and relationships for many years, has an interesting perspective on this. In his writings and research he suggests that the typical person has 5 deep (intimate) friendships, 15 good friends, 50 friends, 150 meaningful contacts with social obligation, 500 acquaintances, and 1500 people you can recognize. This is a lot of people in your consciousness!

Now to be fair, Dunbar also suggests that due to limbic system constraints, we can only maintain about 150 relationships, and given social media in today’s world, some suggest the number is much higher.

Still, the notion of the number of people in our social capital network is an interesting thesis to ponder. Especially today, when we find loneliness and social isolation on the rise. In fact, the Surgeon General of the United States has identified loneliness as one of the most impactful (and toxic) variables affecting health and recommends formal approaches to consider. In fact, we are a bit late to the party as the UK, and Japan have added formal governmental offices to address loneliness and isolation.

So how about you; how vibrant is your social capital? Are there 150 folks in your life that you have some social obligation with? More important, what can you do about enhancing your friendship pool?