The right size for any party - MSU Extension

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2024-12-29 13:30:07

Ben Chamberlain, SNAP-Ed/EFNEP State Coordinator - February 14, 2012

Make your parties feel more alive by having the right number of guests. Research suggests the best group size is from five to nine.

How many times have you had friends over for dinner but either the party was just too quiet or too hectic? Did you know that you can make your parties feel more alive by having the right number of guests? Well, you can! And that number of guests is related to Dunbar’s Number. Researchers have long studied the influence of group size on how people get along. Studies have included work with business groups, athletic teams and even armies. These findings can actually be applied to dinner parties!

It is well known that man has always been a social animal and has adapted very well to working within groups. But there are limits to group size. The Anthropologist Robin Dunbar actually determined that the maximum size of a group that one person could keep up with is 150. Maybe you can relate to this problem by looking at how many “friends” you have on Facebook.