If you’re feeling like your social circle has shrunk over the years, it might not be such a bad thing. As it turns out, there might be a health advantage to having a tight-knit friend group, especially as you age.
A recent study on rhesus monkeys, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, found that aging monkeys who socialize less have lower rates of infectious disease. In other words, keeping a smaller circle might not just be about personal preference but could actually be a survival strategy.
This study, led by researchers from the universities of Exeter and Edinburgh, is one of the first to explore how avoiding illness might influence social behaviors across lifespans.
For older macaques, hanging out with fewer peers meant less exposure to pathogens — a major benefit as immune systems weaken with age. Interestingly, even after factoring in age-related vulnerabilities, older macaques had lower infection rates than their younger counterparts.
“This cost-benefit ratio can change across individuals’ lifespans, which may drive changes in social behavior,” explained study co-author Erin Siracusa. “Older individuals may be more susceptible to diseases—but once we accounted for that in our data, we found that older macaques suffered lower infection costs than their younger counterparts.”
So, the next time you’re prioritizing quality over quantity in your friendships, remember: it might just be a natural, even beneficial, part of growing up.
