I'm 5th Now...or 9th

The internet/cell phone age has done one thing at least: it has given researchers new avenues in which to conduct research. However, I suspect they are finding the same old results, albeit with new technology as a basis. Take Oxford University professor Robin Dunbar who wanted to "prove" the hypothesis that women drive romantic relationships. I might be naive, but I thought this was so obvious as to be considered common knowledge...unworthy of a citation from research. Well, maybe so, but here's the wrinkle: Professor Dunbar did his research by studying more than 3 million cell phone calls and text messages between women and men, and he arrived at some not-so-surprising results as well as a few interesting tidbits for women over the age of 30. First of all, Dunbar found that women made more phone calls to their husbands/mates than to anybody else...until they couple had children. At this point, the husband began moving down the pecking order in terms of frequency of cell phone calls. On the other hand, men tended to call their wives/mates somewhat frequently during the first seven years of the relationship but the moved to calling friends more often. Are we surprised? I'm not. Dunbar then concluded in a recent article in Scientific Reports that women were more interested in "pair-bonding" than men. Again, I am hardly shocked. Now, for the interesting part: women's choice of best friends changed as they aged, according to Dunbar. Into their 30s, the best friends stayed relatively constant, but by 45, a subtle change happened; at this point, women began having best friends who were part of a younger generation! really? What's up with that, I wonder. For those of you curious to find out the rest of what Dunbar found, visit the link at the bottom. No word on whether grandchildren also supersede the husband in calling frequency, but I suspect they do. sigh. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17729478