<<

Fear of Missing Out as a Moderator Clinical implications of these findings are that of missing Results of the Link Between and Time Spent on Social Media out and traits such as neuroticism may be • We conducted a linear regression analysis using SPSS version 25. Victoria R. Profeta, Amy N. Yuhas, María M. • The predictor variables of FOMO and neuroticism were centered such factors for social media-related disorders. that the unstandardized beta coefficients represented the average for the Castellón, Megan B. Huey, & Mai-Ly N. Steers sample. Duquesne University Introduction • The overall regression model was significant at F (3,316) = 9.053, p<.001 Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mai-Ly N. Steers • As expected, the main effect for neuroticism was positively associated • The literature has found that personality characteristics are predictive of with time on social media (H1). social media usage. For instance, neuroticism was found to be positively related to Facebook addiction1. • The main effect for FOMO was also positively associated with time on social media (H2). • Moreover, numerous studies have found that the fear of missing out (FOMO), is a positive, robust predictor of social media usage.2,3 • Finally, we found that FOMO was a significant moderator of the association between neuroticism and time on social media (H3). • However, the literature has yet to explore FOMO as a moderator of the association between personality characteristics such as neuroticism and Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations Among Variables time spent on social media. 1 2 3 • Based on previous literature, we hypothesized the following: 1. Neuroticism - 1) First, we expected there would be a positive association between 2. FOMO .388*** - neuroticism and time spent on social media (H1) 3. Time on Social .197*** .223*** - 2) Second, we anticipated there would be a positive association Media between FOMO and time spent on social media (H2) . Mean 2.905 2.449 169.969 3) Third, we expected that FOMO will be a moderator of the association Standard Deviation 0.779 0.851 82.136 between neuroticism and time spent on social media, such that people who are higher in FOMO and higher neuroticism would spend the most N=320, p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001*** time on social media (H3). Methods b SE t Intercept 166.844*** 4.691 35.564 Participants and Procedure Neuroticism 15.760* 6.080 2.592 • Three-hundred and twenty students (40.6% Male, 58.8% Female, 0.3% Transgender, 0.3% Genderqueer; Mean age = 22.42 (SD = 5.31) from a FOMO 15.031** 5.622 2.674 large, southern public institution took part in a one-time, cross-sectional FOMO X NEUROTICISM 14.112* 6.806 2.074 study lasting approximately an hour.

• The study was approved by the institutional review board, and the participants received extra credit in their classes for participation. N=320, p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001*** Discussion Measures • As expected, we found that neuroticism was positively associated with • Neuroticism. Neuroticism was measured utilizing a subscale of the Big Five Inventory 44-item4. The scale determines an individual’s personality social media usage; the more neuroticism participants self-reported, the based on the Big Five Factors of personality (extraversion, , more time they spent on social media (H1). , neuroticism, and openness). Individuals who score with high neuroticism usually experience , , , • Furthermore, consistent with our expectations, FOMO was positively self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability. A sample item associated with social media usage; the greater participants’ self-reported included the extent to which participants endorsed: “Is depressed, blue” on FOMO, the more time they spent on social media (H2). a scale from 1 “Strongly Disagree” to 5 “Strongly Agree” (α= 0.815). • Overall, we found that FOMO was a significant moderator of the • Fear of Missing Out. The Fear of Missing Out scale5 is the sense or association between neuroticism and time spent on social media. We assumption that others are having a rewarding experience that one is determined that if participants were higher in both FOMO and neuroticism, absent from. The scale asked ten questions to measure participants’ self- then they were more likely to spend greater amounts of time on social reported FOMO. A sample item included the extent to which participants endorsed: “I get worried when I find out my friends are having fun without media. me,” on a scale from 1 “Not at all true of me” to 5 “Extremely true of me” (α= 0.879). • Although we did not explicitly test this, some possible clinical implications of these findings are that FOMO and neuroticism may be risk factors for • Time on Social Media. We assessed the outcome measure of time on social media disorders, such as social media addiction. social media use by asking, “On average, how much time per day do you typically spend on social media?” The original item assessed time on • Future studies should examine both neuroticism and FOMO in relation to social media in hours and minutes. The hours were then converted to social media addiction. represent total time spent on social media in terms of minutes.

References: 1. Jih-Hsin Tang, Ming-Chun Chen, Cheng-Ying Yang, Tsai-Yuan Chung, Yao-An Lee, Personality traits, interpersonal relationships, online , and Facebook addiction, Telematics and Informatics, Volume 33, Issue 1, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.06.003. 2. Alt, D. Students’ Wellbeing, Fear of Missing out, and Social Media Engagement for Leisure in Higher Education Environments. Curr Psychol 37, 128–138 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016- 9496-1 3. Baker, Z. G., Krieger, H., & LeRoy, A. S. (2016). Fear of missing out: Relationships with depression, mindfulness, and physical symptoms. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2(3), 275–282. https://doi- org.authenticate.library.duq.edu/10.1037/tps0000075. 4. John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big-Five trait taxonomy: RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION TEMPLATE © 2019 History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and www.PosterPresentations.com research (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press. 5. Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Behavior, 29, 1814-1848.