Robin Ian MacDonald Dunbar (born 28 June 1947) is a British

biological anthropologist Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a natural science discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from ...

evolutionary psychologist Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regard to the ancestral problems they evolved ...

, and specialist in

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

behaviour. Dunbar is professor emeritus of evolutionary psychology of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group in the Department of

Experimental Psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. They are best known for formulating

Dunbar's number Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships—relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. This ...

, a measurement of the "cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships".

Education

The child of an engineer, Dunbar was privately educated at

Magdalen College School, Brackley Magdalen College School, Brackley, in Northamptonshire, is one of three ancient "Magdalen College Schools", the others being Magdalen College School in Oxford, and Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire, all associated with Magdalen College, Ox ...

. They went on to study at the

as an undergraduate student at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, where their teachers included

Niko Tinbergen Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen ( , ; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning th ...

; they completed their

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and Philosophy in 1969. Dunbar then went on to the Department of Psychology of the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and completed their

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1974 on the

social organisation In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, structu ...

of the

gelada The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', , ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above sea level. It is the only living me ...

, ''Theropithecus gelada'', a monkey that is a close relative to baboons.

Career and Research

Dunbar spent two years as a freelance science writer. Dunbar told BBC Radio interviewer

Jim Al-Khalili Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili (; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist and science populariser. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. He is a ...

in ''

The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featur ...

'' in 2019 that he "got their first real job" only at the age of 40. Dunbar's career includes appointments at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1977 until 1982, and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

from 1987 until 1994. In 1994, Dunbar became Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, but left Liverpool in 2007, to take up the post of Director of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the

. In 2012, Dunbar migrated over to the Department of Experimental Psychology at the

, after receiving a competitive research grant from the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

. Their former

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

students include Anna Machin. Dunbar was formerly co-director of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Centenary Research Project (BACRP) "From Lucy to Language: The Archaeology of the Social Brain" and was involved in the BACRP "Identifying the Universal Religious Repertoire". Digital versions of selected published articles authored or co-authored by him are available from the

Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioural Ecology Research Group. In 2015, Dunbar was awarded the Huxley Memorial Medal—established in 1900 in memory of

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

—for services to anthropology by the council of the

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

, the highest honour at the disposal of the RAI. Dunbar is also a

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

Distinguished Supporter of Humanism.

Awards and honours

* 2015, Huxley Memorial Medal,

* 1998, Elected Fellow of the

(FBA) * 1994, ''ad hominem'' Chair, Psychology, University of Liverpool

In popular culture

Dunbar's work is mentioned in ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'', Season 4, Episode 20 ("The Herb Garden Germination"), when

Amy Farrah Fowler Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D. is a fictional character in the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by Mayim Bialik. Amy is a neuroscientist who is the love interest of Sheldon Cooper ( Jim Parsons) and subsequent wife in the se ...

is talking with

Sheldon Cooper Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in the 2007–2019 CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'' and its 2017–2024 spinoff series ''Young Sheldon'', portrayed by act ...

while listening to a lecture by

Brian Greene Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, director of its center for theoretical physics, and the cha ...

(2011). Dunbar is a featured character in the adaptation of

Yuval Noah Harari Yuval Noah Harari ( ; born 1976) is an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual, and popular science writer. He currently serves as professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first bestse ...

's book '' Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'' into

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

(2020). Dunbar's work is described in the epilogue of

Blake Crouch William Blake Crouch (born October 15, 1978) is an American author known for books such as ''Dark Matter'', ''Recursion'', ''Upgrade'', and his '' Wayward Pines Trilogy'', which was adapted into a television series in 2015. ''Dark Matter'' was ...

's novel ''

Upgrade Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics, an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to ...

'' (2022).

Published books

* Dunbar. 1984. ''Reproductive Decisions: An Economic Analysis of Gelada Baboon Social Strategies''. Princeton University Press * Dunbar. 1987. ''Demography and Reproduction''. In ''Primate Societies''. Smuts, B.B., Cheney, D.L., Seyfarth, R.M., Wrangham, R.W., Struhsaker, T.T. (eds). Chicago & London:University of Chicago Press. pp. 240–249 * Dunbar. 1988. ''Primate Social Systems''. Chapman Hall and Yale University Press * Foley, Robert & Dunbar, Robin (14 October 1989). "Beyond the bones of contention". ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' Vol.124 (No.1686) pp. 21–25. * Dunbar. 1996
''The Trouble with Science''

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. * Dunbar (ed.). 1995. ''Human Reproductive Decisions''. Macmillan * Dunbar. 1997. '' Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language''.

. * Runciman, Maynard Smith, & Dunbar (eds.). 1997. ''Evolution of Culture and Language in Primates and Humans''. Oxford University Press. * Dunbar, Knight, & Power (eds.). 1999. ''The Evolution of Culture''. Edinburgh University Press * Dunbar & Barrett. 2000. ''Cousins''. BBC Worldwide: London * Cowlishaw & Dunbar. 2000. ''Primate Conservation Biology''. University of Chicago Press * Barrett, Dunbar & Lycett. 2002. ''Human Evolutionary Psychology''. London: Palgrave * Dunbar, Barrett & Lycett. 2005. ''Evolutionary Psychology, a Beginner's Guide''. Oxford: One World Books * Dunbar. 2004. ''The Human Story''. London: Faber and Faber * Dunbar. 2010. ''How Many Friends Does One Person Need?: Dunbar's Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks''. London: Faber & Faber (paper) * Dunbar. 2014. ''Human Evolution''.

Pelican Books Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books founded by Allen Lane and V. K. Krishna Menon. It publishes inexpensive paperbacks of academic topics intended to reach a broader audience. The imprint originally operated from 1937 to 198 ...

* Dunbar. 2016. ''Human Evolution: Our Brains and Behavior'' (Illustrated) * Dunbar. 2021. ''Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships''.

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

* Dunbar. 2022. ''How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures''. Pelican Books * Camilleri, Rockey & Dunbar. 2023. ''The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups'' London: Penguin

Papers

* Dunbar (2020): ''Structure and function in human and primate social networks: Implications for diffusion, network stability and health.'' Proceedings of the Royal Society A 476.2240 (2020): 20200446. * Dunbar & Susanne Shultz (2023): ''Four errors and a fallacy: pitfalls for the unwary in comparative brain analyses.'' Biological Reviews 98.4 (2023): 1278-1309. * Dunbar (2024): ''The social brain hypothesis–thirty years on.'' Annals of Human Biology 51.1 (2024): 2359920.

References

External links

The Human Behaviour and Evolution Society

What Makes us Human
Pulse Project Podcast: What Makes us Human? (22 October 2008, Oxford)
University of Oxford Department of Experimental Psychology profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Robin British evolutionary biologists Evolutionary psychologists Primatologists Human evolution theorists 1947 births Living people Linguists from the United Kingdom British anthropologists Anthropology writers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford