friendship Archives

Size matters:The link between social groups and human evolution

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Robin Dunbar discusses his eponymous 'Dunbar's Number', primates to people, and why size matters with social groups and evolution.

Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar’s ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. The bigger the group, the bigger the brain. In this interview with Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar developed his theory as well […]

Science and Oslerian friendship support therapeutic caring of the neglected in India and China

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Professor Terence Ryan, dermatologist and Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College in Oxford, UK, is currently mentoring two studies that explore how friendship can impact on health and wellbeing. Both programmes centre on the principles of William Osler, who maintained that science (a care technology) and humanity (a care attitude) must work together holistically, and they demonstrate that friendliness can […]

The effect of diversity beliefs on friendship formation

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For most of us, friendships are an essential part of our lives, and forming them usually comes naturally; we don’t even think about it. In fact, research shows that complex social constructs are at play and influence the choices we make about who we form friendships with. Diverse friendships, for example where people differ in race or religious background, have […]