his is how many close friends most women need, survey suggests

Most women need just three close friends, new research suggests.

A survey of almost 5,000 women, carried out by social network Peanut, found that 76 per cent of participants have fewer close friends than a year ago.

More than half (52 per cent) said they consider three people “close friends”, while 53 per cent said this is the perfect number of friends

Of those who have lost friends in the past year, 65 per cent said their relationships became strained because of work commitments.

Around a third (33 per cent) said their friendships suffered because of physical distance, 27 per cent said it was due to childcare responsibilities, while 17 per cent said they had prioritised spending time with family over friends.

An overwhelming majority (94 per cent) expressed that they wished to see their friends more.

Worryingly, seven per cent of women said they did not have any one they would consider a close friend.

Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford and founder of Dunbar’s number – the number of social relationships a person can maintain – says the survey results correlate with his research on close friends.

Dunbar found that most people have an “inner circle” of five people, made up of two-to-three close friends and family members.

He said this limit exists due to the Maintenace that our relationships require. “These five people consume 40 per cent of your entire social capital, whether measured as available social time or emotional capital),” Dunbar told The Independent.

“We give these five an average of nearly 30 minutes a day of our focused