It is also worth adding to this the fact that if the friendship lasts longer than seven years, it will likely last forever. It is also worth noting that scientists say that the most people we can treat as really close to us are people we've been friends with for at least five to seven years. Others will be just people we know. 1)
Being friends with people helps to reduce the impact of stress on the body, protects against disease and speeds up the healing process. People with a group of friends are less prone to arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and heart disease, for example. 2)
International Friendship Day is celebrated on July 30. 3)
U.S. scientists have found that people who are friends but not related to each other share, on average, 0.1 percent more genes than with other people. 4)
A 1993 study from Oxford University found that each individual is only capable of maintaining a certain number of social relationships at any given time. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who conducted the analysis, estimated that in the case of humans, this group is about 150 people (a phenomenon known as “Dunbar's number”). 5)
According to a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, we are jealous of our friends. We keep a close eye on who else is on good terms with them. 6)