6533b855fe1ef96bd12aff6a

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks

subject

description

Significance The way we organize our social relationships is key to understanding the structure of our society. We propose a quantitative theory to tackle this issue, assuming that our capacity to maintain relationships is limited and that different types of relationships require different investments. The theory accounts for well-documented empirical evidence on personal networks, such that connections are typically arranged in layers of increasing size and decreasing emotional content. More interestingly, it predicts that when the number of available relationships is small, this structure is inverted, having more close relationships than acquaintances. We provide evidence of the existence of both regimes in real communities and analyze the consequences of these findings in our understanding of social groups.