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The behavior of a person selecting a set of friends from a larger set of acquaintances can be analyzed as a consumer choice problem. The person can be regarded as a consumer allocating his income among a set of goods which he must purchase in quantities which will maximize his utility. An increase in utility can come either from an increase in expenditure or from a better allocation of resources. Results of an unlimited-choice sociometric questionnaire administered to 1204 boys at eight junior high schools showed that well-liked boys received the same number of choices as others, but had a higher proportion of reciprocated responses. It appears that social success results from lower costs of obtaining information about potential friends and better allocation of effort, rather than from making contact with more people.
Richard C. Roistacher (Sat,) studied this question.