We probably all know from experience that falling in love can cause you to lose close friends. When we meet that “perfect” someone, we can feel as if no one else matters other than that person, causing us to forget about some of the close friends who have been there for us before we even met our significant other.
But now science is coming into the picture. Research studies are now showing that falling in love, on average, will cause us to lose two close friends.
Oxford University researchers asked individuals about their inner circle of friendships and how this number changed when romance entered the equation. They found the circle, which is about five people, dropped by two as a new love came to dominate daily life.
"If you don't see people, the emotional engagement starts to drop off, and quickly. What I suspect happens is that your attention is so wholly focused on your romantic partner that you just don't get to see the other folks you have a lot to do with, and therefore some of those relationships just start to deteriorate and drop down into the layer below." Says Professor Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Oxford.
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