There Fear of Missing Out It is a common experience, usually occasional, in which the person experiences negative emotions at the thought not to participate in pleasant and rewarding experiences that involve known people.
In recent years, however, within the scientific literature it has been detected how this experience has increased in frequency and intensity, especially among teenagers (Przybylski et al., 2013) by binding itself with the spread of smartphones and social networks.
A definition of the fomo
On a scientific level, the Fomo is made up of two elements (Elhai et al., 2021):
- the anxiety relating to the possibility that others can have pleasant and rewarding experiences from which one is absent;
- The persistent desire to be in contact with others through social networks.
These two components can be seen as consequent to each other. In fact, thoughts relating to exclusion can generate anxiety (the first component) which translates into a behavior (control social networks) aimed at reducing the state of anxiety itself.
In this sense, the behavioral manifestations of the FOMO take on a compulsive and repetitive nature. An example are the control of the presence of internet connection, the repeated update of the web pages, the prolonged use of the smartphone, the social avoidance.
Recent studies (Elhai et al., 2021) indicate how the behavioral component does not concern only voluntary and deliberated behaviors how to control the smartphone when it has the opportunity, but include the inability to stay from reading any notifications that appear on the screen. In fact, it seems that this impulsive aspect is reinforced by the reduction of the tension caused by the idea of being able to lose information relating to one’s knowledge.
On the cognitive level, Fomo’s experience is characterized by thoughts of the type: “He is not replying to the message, maybe he replied and I didn’t see him?”. “I have the unstable connection, I will lose the stories of my friends.” “I left my cell phone at home, I don’t know what my friends do.” “I would like to close the conversation, but I could hurt my friend’s feelings.” “I would like to sleep, but I could lose something important.”
It is evident that these thoughts facilitate the emergence of the state of anxiety. However, rarely the person who suffers from Fomo is aware of it, perceiving exclusively a state of agitation and restlessness that relieves only with the control of the smartphone.
Causes of the fomo
Andrew Przybylski, one of Fomo’s major scholars, believes that the causes of the Fomo are to be found in an attempt to satisfy some basic needs of human beings.
Taking inspiration from the well -known self -determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985), he believes that psychological health is achieved when the human being feels capable of influencing his environment, perceives to be autonomous and feels in relation to others. According to Przybylski, the frustration of the latter need, in particular, would be what the fomo generates most.
Effects of the fomo and protective behaviors
Unfortunately, literature indicates that the FOMO and the related control behaviors can induce negative effects on personal well -being.
The continuous interruptions not only involve an increase in distraction and less performance during daily activities such as work, study or social relationships, but show an impact on psycho-physical well-being. Repeated experiences of Fomo are associated with negative emotional states, greater sense of tiredness, alterations of sleep and stress (Milyavskaya et al., 2018).
As mentioned, Fomo falls within the family of anxiety problems. It has been noted that the FOME is associated with greater levels of anxiety, depression and social anxiety, less satisfaction of life and problematic use of smartphones. In addition, some research has related to the figs at times of personality such as neuroticism (Elhai et al., 2021) and vulnerable narcissism.
Reduce Fomo’s experience
In recent years, research has focused on the development of effective protocols for the management of the FOME.
What emerges is a good effectiveness of the interventions inspired by cognitive-behavioral therapy (Alutaybi et al., 2020). These interventions aim to increase awareness of thoughts that generate anxiety and management skills of emotional experience. Some key points of these protocols are indicated below:
- Bring attention to emotions. Developing the awareness (Mindfulness) of the moments of Fomo helps to regulate the emotional state and increases the probability of not implementing repetitive behaviors.
- Develop an internal dialogue that contrasts thoughts relating to social exclusion and fear of not being connected. It is better to be realistic: it is not possible to be everywhere at any time.
- Managing expectations: it is not realistic to expect that every post on social media will receive comments or appreciation so it is not equally plausible to think that every comment will receive answers.
- Adjust the state of anxiety through offline activities, for example, physical activity, exits with friends or house cleaning.
- Place the rules trying to decrease the time spent on social networks. To this end, it may be useful to decide a recurring moment in which the smartphone is left in another room or is turned off. This will facilitate the management of repetitive behaviors.
In conclusion, the recent change of the channels through which they develop and maintain relationships in western society seems to facilitate the emergence of the Fear of Missing Out (Fomo).
While remaining a normal experience inherent in human sociality, it has increased and generating emotional and relational difficulties. Therefore, it is important to have awareness not only of its existence, but also of the possibilities offered by scientific research for its reduction.
Bibliography
- Alutaybi, A., Al-Stani, D., Mcalaney, J., & Ali, R. (2020). Combating fear of missing out (fomo) on social media: The Fomo-R Method. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6128. Doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176128
- Deci, E., & Ryan, RM (1985). Intrinmic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum Press
- Elhai, J., Levine, J., Dvorak, R., & Hall, B. (2021). Fear of Missing Out, Need for Touch, Anxiety and Depression are related to problematic smartphone use. Retrieved 27 May 2021, from
- Elhai, J., Yang, H., & Montag, C. (2021). Fear of Missing Out (FOME): OVERSEW, Theoretical Underpinnings, and Literatures Review On Relations With Severity of Negative Affectivity and Problematic Technology Use. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 43(2), 203-209. DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0870
- Przybylski, A., Murayama, K., Dehaan, C., & Gladwell, V. (2021). Motivational, Emotional, and Behavoral Related of Fear of Missing Out.
