The Dunbar Number as a Limit to Group Sizes

“Dunbar’s number” is a theoretical cognitive limit on the number of stable social relationships humans can maintain at one time. According to Robin Dunbar, a British anthropologist, humans have the cognitive capacity to keep track of somewhere around 150 close personal connections. Beyond this limited circle, we start treating people less like indi

Dunbar’s number plays a certain role in the ensemble-like interaction of the large number of participants on the web. Robin Dunbar, in his research into the brains of primates and the organisation of groups,[54] determined the number of constant social connections that human is capable of maintaining. This number is on average 150 contacts (100 to

Dunbar’s number—the suggested cognitive limit to the number of people someone can maintain a social relationship with—is a helpful framework for developing an internal communications strategy.28 At around 150 people, it becomes harder to remember everyone’s name, what team they’re on, and what they’re responsible for.