Fear of missing out: Testing relationships with negative affectivity, online social engagement, and problematic smartphone use

By Jon D. Elhai, Jason C. Levine, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Ali A. Alafnan, A. Aldraiweesh, Brian J. Hall. Computers in Human Behavior, 2018

300 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In the present study, we empirically examined the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) construct and its association with psychopathology-related and technology use measures. We carried out an internet-based survey with 296 undergraduate participants and administered self-report questionnaires of FOMO, frequency and type of smartphone use, problematic smartphone use (PSU), and scales of negative affectivity including depression, anxiety, stress, proneness to boredom, and rumination. The results demonstrated that FOMO was related to demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and relationship status) but with small effect sizes. FOMO was related to all measures of negative affectivity, social use of a smartphone, as well as the severity of PSU. Tests of mediation indicated that each negative affectivity construct mediated the relationship between FOMO and PSU severity, and only rumination mediated relations between FOMO and smartphone use frequency. When reversing the predictor and mediating variables, FOMO mediated relations between negative affectivity and PSU severity. Finally, results demonstrated some support for a single-factor latent construct for FOMO, but male and female participants had a different pattern of factor loadings. Negative affectivity may be a key mechanism by which FOMO may drive PSU, but future research should clarify the directionality among these variables. Gender-related social connectedness differences characterize FOMO.

Subfields: Education, Literature and Literary Theory, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7b4f4215193f5e9702181bf3fc268d8c495c960c

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Education

1. Haibo Yang
2. Jon D. Elhai
3. C. Montag
4. Marion K. Underwood
5. Justin William Vollet
6. Thomas K. F. Chiu

In Literature and Literary Theory

1. Megan Wong
2. Jon D. Elhai
3. Christopher T. Barry

In Sociology and Political Science

1. C. Montag
2. Haibo Yang
3. Jon D. Elhai
4. Megan Wong
5. Christopher T. Barry

Citations in the corpus

• Fear of missing out (FoMO): A generational phenomenon or an individual difference? (2020, result): “Consistent with previous research (e.g., Elhai et al., 2018), FoMO was connected to social media activity across age cohorts.”
• Passive social networking site use and well-being: The mediating roles of social comparison and the fear of missing out (2019, background): “…including lower life satisfaction and mood (Przybylski et al., 2013), depressive symptoms (Baker et al., 2016; Elhai, Levine, Dvorak, & Hall, 2016; Elhai et al., 2018), anxiety symptoms (Elhai et al., 2016; Elhai et al., 2018), and stress, rumination, and proneness to boredom (Elhai et al., 2018).”
• Conformity Consumption Behavior and FoMO (2019, background): “Studies of FoMO suggest that it is a social phenomenon that leaves people feeling alienated from their current experiences, especially the young [31].”
• Social media induced fear of missing out (FoMO) and phubbing: Behavioural, relational and psychological outcomes (2022, unknown): “We interpret FoMO as a socially-driven, covert trigger that can induce problematic social media (Whelan et al., 2020) and smartphone use (Elhai et al., 2018).”
• Fear of missing out (FOMO): overview, theoretical underpinnings, and literature review on relations with severity of negative affectivity and problematic technology use (2020, background): “Alguns trabalhos testaram e encontraram sustentação para uma única dimensão latente [26, 27, 28].”