How many friends do you think are enough to keep us from feeling lonely without making us too tired of communication? Some people have only one friend over their lifetime, while the others make new acquaintances nearly every week and are able to get along swimmingly with everybody. But how many people do we really need? Ask the scientists.
The researchers from Nottingham University conducted a poll among 1 700 people and revealed the following. People who feel comfortable and happy are good mixers and have many friends. Only 40% of those who have five or less friends said they were happy. In other words, this group rather includes people who feel unhappy. If you have five or more friends, your chances to be happy are increased up to 50%. The highest percentage of comfortable people was among those having more than 10 friends.
That many friends make us feel comfortable, according to the scientists.
It’s interesting that hanging out with childhood mates pleases us more than relations we made in adulthood. Although women need less friends and acquaintances than men, the relationship between women – contrary to controversial wisdom about impossibility of female friendship – is stronger.
