Falling in love costs you two close friends...study reveals

EVERY time you fall in love, it costs you two close friends. While adults boast an average of six people in their inner circle of intimates, when they form a romantic attachment this drops to five, one of whom is their new partner, a study led by Professor Robin Dunbar, of the University of Oxford, has suggested.

This means that two people who were once counted as best friends are demoted to the second rank, he said.

..... adelaidenow

"If you don't see someone, your emotional engagement with them drops off with time. What I suspect happens is your attention is so wholly focused on your romantic partner that you just don't get to see friends you had a lot to do with before."

Previous research has shown that most people have about five or six very close friends - those they see daily, or to whom they would turn in a crisis - though women generally have slightly more than men.

People generally have another 12 to 15 very good friends, who they see at least once a month or whose death would cause them great distress.

There is then a wider friendship circle of about 50 people, and a more extended social group of about 150 people who a person knows well.

The figure of 150 is sometimes known as "Dunbar's number" - the maximum number of people with whom one can sustain meaningful social relationships - which matches the typical size of hunter-gatherer communities.