The Dunbar Number

The Dunbar Number refers to a suggested cognitive limit to the number of stable social relationships someone can maintain, typically around 150. This concept, proposed by anthropologist Robin Dunbar, is based on the idea that our brains can only comfortably handle a certain number of meaningful connections—people we know well enough to recognize and interact with regularly. Beyond this, relationships tend to become superficial or harder to maintain. The Dunbar Number helps explain social group sizes in communities, workplaces, and online networks, highlighting the natural boundary of our social capacity.