Friend-group norms may not reflect most people's friendships.

The article reports that tightly knit friend groups are not the common pattern; many adults maintain close one-on-one friendships and many respondents report roughly five close friends.

Many people expect to belong to a close friend group, but research and reporting in this article suggest that is not the typical pattern. The writer describes a schedule of one-on-one hangouts and the feeling of missing out after seeing groups on TV and social media. Surveys and experts cited in the piece indicate that many adults report several close friends and that group membership often depends on luck, personality, and circumstance. Researchers also emphasize that feeling lonely is distinct from being socially isolated. Key details: - The American Friendship Project reported that a majority of survey respondents said they had five or more friends, a level similar to historical measures. - The UCLA Loneliness Scale includes an item about feeling part of a group of friends; a 2018 survey by Cigna using the scale found fewer than a third of respondents "always" felt part of a group. - Scholars cited say friend-group membership is linked to factors such as extroversion, openness, and geographic proximity, and many people live in different cities from their friends. - Research and interviews indicate gendered patterns: men more often form looser groups while women more often have deeper one-on-one relationships. - Experts note group ties can provide structural benefits, like broader social support, but people without a single friend group can still have meaningful close ties. Summary: The article concludes that organized friend groups are not the standard and that many adults have meaningful one-on-one friendships instead. It says feelings of loneliness can come from comparing oneself to curated images of group life rather than from an absence of close ties. Undetermined at this time.