- After questioning students on classmate friendships, MIT researchers found that only 53% of feelings were reciprocated. Students were asked to rank how close they were with each classmate.
- The conclusions were consistent with friendship studies involving 92,000 people since 2006 (reciprocity rates 34%-53%).
- This “perception gap” has been exacerbated by the social media-driven need for acceptance.
- Research shows that we’re able to effectively maintain 5 close friendships at a time.
