Explaining the FoMO-phenomenon - Presentation at GOR 2017

Prof. Dr. C. Bosau, RFH Köln
Nina Bito, RFH Köln
Yvonne Götze, RFH Köln
Explaining the FoMO-Phenomenon – What are the
correlates and predictors of this fear-of-missing-out?
Contact: christian.bosau@rfh-koeln.de
General Online Research Conference
GOR 17
15-17 March 2017, HTW-Berlin University of Applied
Sciences, Berlin, Germany
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Suggested citation: Bosau, C., Bito, N. & Götze, Y. 2017. “Explaining the FoMO-Phenomenon – What are the correlates and
predictors of this fear-of-missing-out?” General Online Research (GOR) Conference, Berlin.

Explaining the FoMO-Phenomenon
What are the correlates and predictors
of this fear-of-missing-out?
C. Bosau, N. Bito & Y. Götze

3
Quelle: http://healthmeup.com/photogallery-healthy-living/could-you-be-suffering-from-fear-of-missing-out-fomo/32443/3
Nowadays ....

4
Quelle: http://prevenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/bigstock-Teen-Girls-Text-Messaging-37136302.jpg
Recently ....

5
Quelle: http://www.ithinkonpaper.com/fomo/
What is it about ....?

GOR 2017Bosau, Bito & Götze: Explaining the FoMO phenomenon 6
Quelle: http://www.jwtintelligence.com Quelle: http://www.jwtintelligence.com
FoMO: a new phenomenon?

Quelle: http://www.jwtintelligence.com
Only recently, the discussion about
this new phenomenon started
(JWT, 2011 & 2012;; Przybylski,
Murayama, DeHaan & Gladwell,
2013):
Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)
„the uneasy and sometimes all-
consuming feeling that you’re
missing out — that your peers are
doing, in the know about or in
possession of more or something
better than you.” (JWT, 2011, S. 4)
FoMO: a new phenomenon?

GOR 2017Bosau, Bito & Götze: Explaining the FoMO phenomenon
Former results
8
What we already know:
• Mobile phones are potential addiction sources (Carbonell, Oberst & Beranuy, 2013)
• FoMO correlates highly with social media engagement in general (Przybylski, Murayama,
DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013) and Facebook usage in particular (Bosau, Aelker & Amaadachou, 2014,
Bosau & Müller, 2015)
• FoMO correlates with problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) and habitual
checking behaviour (Collins, 2013;; Bosau & Ludwig, 2017)
• FoMO leads to lower satisfaction as well as lower quality in private relationships
(Bosau & Ruvinsky, 2016)
• FoMO increases the success of marketing campaigns (JWT 2011, 2012)
Main questions:
What leads to FoMO? What are the correlates and causes of this new
phenomenon?

Marketing examples (see JWT, 2012)
9

The new two studies
10
Former studies:
§ looked at the outcomes and
the effects of FoMO
These two studies:
§ analyzed the correlates and predictors of
FoMO
§ gives further insight into the nomological
network of FoMO
Method Study 2:
• Online questionnaire (posted via Facebook, mailing-lists and personal emails,
partly snowball sampling) in 2016;; N = 174
• age: < 24y = 44%, 25-34y = 28%, 35-44y = 12%, 45-54y = 12%, > 54y = 5%
• male = 29%, female = 71%
Method Study 1:
• Online questionnaire (posted via Facebook, mailing-lists and personal emails,
partly snowball sampling) in 2016;; N = 94
• age: < 24y = 37%, 25-34y = 50%, 35-44y = 8%, > 44y = 5%
• male = 45%, female = 55%

The scales
11
social curiosity
(Renner, 2006)
The independent variable in study 1:
The dependent variable: Fear of Missing Out - FoMO
(Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013)
need to belong
(Leary, Kelly, Cottrell & Schreindorfer, 2013)
attachment styles
(Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991)
psychological need satisfaction
(Sheldon, Elliot, Kim & Kasser, 2001)
The independent variable in study 2:
life satisfaction
(Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan & Gladwell, 2013)
general mood
(Diener & Emmons, 1984)

1,70
1,80
2,10
2,20
2,30
2,40
2,90
3,10
3,10
3,30
1 2 3 4 5
Ich$werde$nervös,$wenn$ich$nicht$weiß,$was$meine$Freunde$gerade$tun
Wenn$ich$eine$tolle$Zeit$habe,$ist$es$mir$wichtig,$die$Details$online$zu$teilen$(z.B.$
Statusupdates)
Auch$im$Urlaub$behalte$ich$im$Auge,$was$meine$Freunde$machen
Manchmal$frage$ich$mich,$ob$ich$zu$viel$Zeit$damit$verbringe$zu$verfolgen,$was$
gerade$überall$passiert
Ich$habe$Angst,$die$Erfahrungen$anderer$Menschen$seien$reichhaltiger$und$
intensiver$als$meine
Ich$habe$Angst,$die$Erfahrungen$meiner$Freunde$seien$reichhaltiger$und$intensiver$
als$meine
Wenn$ich$eine$Gelegenheit$verpasse,$mich$mit$meinen$Freunden$zu$treffen,$stört$
mich$das
Wenn$ich$bemerke,$dass$meine$Freunde$ohne$mich$Spaß$haben,$betrübt$mich$das
Es$ärgert$mich,$wenn$ich$an$einem$geplanten$Treffen$mit$Freunden$nicht$
teilnehmen$kann
Es$ist$mir$wichtig,$die$Witze$meiner$Freunde$zu$verstehen,$für$die$man$eingeweiht$
sein$muss
FoMO – Fear of Missing Out
12
Dependent variable
• scale of Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell (2013)
• scale: 1 = „trifft gar nicht zu“ vs. 5 = „trifft voll zu“
• Cronbach’s α = .84 (study 1) and α = .79 (study 2)
Item
wording and des-‐
criptive results study 2:

Study 1: the results
13
Fear
of
Missing
Out
psychological
need
satisfaction
life satisfaction
general mood
-.47***
-.26***
-.28***
bivariate results
autonomy
competence
relatedness

standardized
Beta
-‐.17*
-‐.02
-‐.43***
.00
-‐.11
.21
standardized
Beta
-‐.15*
-‐.02
-‐.47***
-‐.03
.21
standardized
Beta
-‐.15*
-‐.02
-‐.48***
.22
14
standardized
Beta
Age -‐.11
Gender
(female=0;
male=1) .00
psychological
need
satisfaction
life satisfaction
general
mood
corr.
R2 -‐.01
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
• dependent variable: Fear-of-missing-out (FoMO)
• stepwise regression analysis
“psychological
need
satisfaction“

is
clearly
the
strongest
predictor

15
Fear
of
Missing
Out
social curiosity
need to belong
attachment
style
.36***
.69***
+++ preoccupied style
+ fearful style
bivariate results

16
standardized
Beta
Age -‐.33***
Gender
(female=1;
male=2) -‐.06
social
curiosity
need
to
belong
dummy
-‐ preoccupied style
dummy
-‐ fearful
style
dummy
-‐ dismissing
style
corr.
R2 .11
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
standardized
Beta
-‐.29***
.01
.30***
.19
standardized
Beta
-‐.18***
.05
.12**
.61***
.51
standardized
Beta
-‐.18***
.07
.13**
.56***
.18***
.09
.07
.53
• stepwise regression analysis
“need
to
belong“
is
clearly

the
strongest
predictor

17
standardized
Beta
social
curiosity .10
need
to
belong .59***
dummy
-‐ preoccupied style .22***
dummy
-‐ fearful
style .05
dummy
-‐ dismissing
style .06
corr.
R2 .52
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
standardized
Beta
.24**
.56***
.01
.19
.08
.37
• regression analysis – comparison male vs. female
♀ ♂
“social

curiosity“
is

only
a
predictor

for
males
preoccupied

attachment

correlates
only

for
females

§ The studies can show what important correlates and predictors of fear of missing out are
and how “fomotics” (people suffering from FoMO) can be characterized:
§ “Fomotics“ are people that do not feel their basic psychological needs (autonomy,
competence, relatedness) being fulfilled.
§ Likewise, they tend to have lower life satisfaction and a lower general mood.
§ One main driver for this fear of missing out on social contact is – plausibly – an
important basic psychological need: the need to belong.
§ However, “fomotics” also have – to some extend, namely the males – social
curiosity and can be charaterized by a preoccupied attachment style (especially
the women).
Conclusion
For marketeers:
If you try to use the concept of FoMO in a marketing
campaign, be aware of the problem, what kind of people
eventually would be attracted by your campaign.

• Bartholomew, K. & Horowitz, L.M. (1991). Attachment Styles Among Young Adults: A Test of a Four-Category Model. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 61 (2), pp. 226-244.
• Bosau C., Aelker, L. & Amaadachou, H. (2014). Ich darf nichts verpassen! – Kann “Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)” Suchtverhalten in
Facebook erklären? 49. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie in Bochum.
• Bosau, C. & Ludwig, T. (2017). FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) und die exzessive Smartphone-Nutzung - Tatsächlich ein Risikofaktor für
Studienleistungen? 21. Konferenz der Gesellschaft für angewandte Wirtschaftspsychologie (GWPs) in Darmstadt.
• Bosau, C. & Müller, P. (2015). FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) beeinträchtigt Studienerfolg – Warum man in einer Lehrveranstaltung sein
Smartphone lieber ausschalten sollte. 19. Konferenz der Gesellschaft für angewandte Wirtschaftspsychologie (GWPs) in Heide.
• Bosau, C. & Ruvinsky, M. (2016). Die Nutzung von Smartphones in Partnerschaften – Negative Effekte von Phubbing und FoMO auf
die Beziehungsqualität. 50. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie in Leipzig.
• Carbonell, X., Oberst, U. & Beranuy, M. (2013). The Cell Phone in the Twenty-First Century: A Risk for Addiction or a Necessary Tool?
Principles of Addiction. Vol. 1, pp. 901-909.
• Collins. L. (2013). FoMO and Mobile Phones: A Survey Study. Unveröffentlichte Masterarbeit. Tilburg University, Tilburg.
• Diener, E., & Emmons, R.A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
Vol. 47, pp. 1005–1117.
• JWT (2011). Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), May 2011. Retrieved from:
http://www.jwtintelligence.com/production/FOMO_JWT_TrendReport_May2011.pdf [01.09.2012].
• JWT (2012). Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), March 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.jwtintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/F
_JWT_FOMO- update_3.21.12.pdf [01.09.2012].
• Leary, M.R., Kelly, K.M., Cottrell, A. & Schreindorfer, L.S. (2013). Construct Validity of the Need to Belong Scale: Mapping the
Nomological Network. Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 95 (6), pp. 610–624.
• Przybylski, A.K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C.R. & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioural correlates of fear of
missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 29, pp. 1841-1848.
• Renner, B. (2006). Curiosity About People: The Development of a Social Curiosity Measure in Adults. Journal of Personality
Assessment, Vol. 87 (3), pp. 305-316.
• Sheldon, K.M, Elliot, A.J., Kim, Y. & Kasser, T. (2001). What is Satisfying About Satisfying Events? Testing 10 Candidate
Psychological Needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 80 (2), pp. 325–339.
Literature

Thank you very much for your
attention!
Contact details:
Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln
Prof. Dr. Christian Bosau, Dipl.-Psych. & Master of HRM & IR
Schaevenstraße 1a/b
50676 Köln
Tel.: +49 221 20302-0
e-mail: christian.bosau@rfh-koeln.de
Slideshare: cbosau
Twitter: cribocologne

Explaining the FoMO-phenomenon - Presentation at GOR 2017

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Explaining the FoMO-phenomenon - Presentation at GOR 2017