Abd Ellatif Elsayed Hala
Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 6;16:1582572. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1582572. eCollection 2025.
The increasing prevalence of social media has given rise to the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) phenomenon, characterized by an acute awareness of the rewarding experiences others might be enjoying. FoMO is hypothesized to affect various aspects of individuals' lives, including their psychological well-being and academic performance. This study explores these relationships among university students, a demographic particularly vulnerable to social media influences.
To examine the relationships between FoMO, social media use, psychological well-being (as measured by life satisfaction), and academic performance (as measured by GPA) among university students and determine the mediating roles of FoMO and social media use.
A quantitative, correlational design was employed, collecting data from 521 university students through a cross-sectional survey. Participants completed the Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMO), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and self-reported GPA. Social media use was assessed via a customized questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS, employing correlation analysis, multiple regression, and mediation analysis.
Findings indicated a strong positive association between FoMO and social media use ( = 0.633, < 0.001), suggesting that higher levels of FoMO lead to increased social media engagement ( = 0.834, < 0.001). Contrary to expectations, FoMO was positively rather than negatively correlated with life satisfaction ( = 0.064, < 0.001, = 0.158). Additionally, a strong positive correlation was observed between social media use and academic performance (Spearman's rho = 0.765, < 0.001). Mediation analyses revealed that FoMO does not significantly mediate the relationship between social media use and life satisfaction, as the indirect effect was not statistically significant ( = 0.0785, 95% CI: -0.0164 to 0.1467). Similarly, the non-significant indirect effect indicated that social media use did not mediate the relationship between FoMO and academic performance ( = 0.005, 95% CI: -0.0045 to 0.0146). Moderation analyses showed that FoMO moderates the relationship between social media use and life satisfaction, where social media use hurt life satisfaction at low levels of FoMO ( = -0.1713, = 0.0001) but had a positive effect at high levels of FoMO ( = 0.2848, < 0.0001). This suggests that individuals with high FoMO may derive psychological benefits from social media use. Additionally, results indicated that social media use moderates the relationship between FoMO and academic performance, where FoMO had a significant adverse effect on GPA at low social media use ( = -0.030, < 0.0001). Still, this effect became non-significant at high levels of social media use ( = 0.0097, = 0.1028). Finally, life satisfaction moderates the relationship between FoMO and social media use, with higher life satisfaction strengthening the positive association between FoMO and social media use ( = 0.9277, < 0.0001).
These findings highlight the complex interplay between FoMO, social media use, life satisfaction, and academic performance. While FoMO increases social media engagement, its positive association with life satisfaction contradicts theoretical expectations. These results underscore the importance of considering psychological and social factors when evaluating the impact of social media use among university students.
社交媒体普及率的不断提高引发了错失恐惧症（FoMO）现象，其特征是敏锐地意识到他人可能正在享受的有益经历。据推测，错失恐惧症会影响个人生活的各个方面，包括心理健康和学业成绩。本研究探讨了大学生（这一特别容易受到社交媒体影响的人群）中的这些关系。
研究大学生中错失恐惧症、社交媒体使用、心理健康（以生活满意度衡量）和学业成绩（以平均绩点衡量）之间的关系，并确定错失恐惧症和社交媒体使用的中介作用。
采用定量相关设计，通过横断面调查从521名大学生中收集数据。参与者完成了错失恐惧症量表（FoMO）、生活满意度量表（SWLS）并自我报告了平均绩点。通过定制问卷评估社交媒体使用情况。使用SPSS对数据进行分析，采用相关分析、多元回归和中介分析。
研究结果表明，错失恐惧症与社交媒体使用之间存在强烈的正相关（r = 0.633，p < 0.001），这表明较高水平的错失恐惧症会导致社交媒体参与度增加（r = 0.834，p < 0.001）。与预期相反，错失恐惧症与生活满意度呈正相关而非负相关（r = 0.064，p < 0.001，r² = 0.158）。此外，观察到社交媒体使用与学业成绩之间存在强烈的正相关（斯皮尔曼等级相关系数rho = 0.765，p < 0.001）。中介分析表明，错失恐惧症并未显著中介社交媒体使用与生活满意度之间的关系，因为间接效应不具有统计学意义（β = 0.0785，95%置信区间：-0.0164至0.1467）。同样，不显著的间接效应表明社交媒体使用并未中介错失恐惧症与学业成绩之间的关系（β = 0.005，95%置信区间：-0.0045至0.0146）。调节分析表明，错失恐惧症调节了社交媒体使用与生活满意度之间的关系，即社交媒体使用在低水平的错失恐惧症时会损害生活满意度（β = -0.1713，p = 0.0001），但在高水平的错失恐惧症时具有积极影响（β = 0.2848，p < 0.0001）。这表明高错失恐惧症的个体可能从社交媒体使用中获得心理益处。此外，结果表明社交媒体使用调节了错失恐惧症与学业成绩之间的关系，即错失恐惧症在低水平的社交媒体使用时对平均绩点有显著的负面影响（β = -0.030，p < 0.0001）。然而，在高水平的社交媒体使用时，这种影响变得不显著（β = 0.0097，p = 0.1028）。最后，生活满意度调节了错失恐惧症与社交媒体使用之间的关系，较高的生活满意度加强了错失恐惧症与社交媒体使用之间的正相关（β = 0.9277，p < 0.0001）。
这些发现凸显了错失恐惧症、社交媒体使用、生活满意度和学业成绩之间复杂的相互作用。虽然错失恐惧症会增加社交媒体参与度，但其与生活满意度的正相关与理论预期相矛盾。这些结果强调了在评估社交媒体使用对大学生的影响时考虑心理和社会因素的重要性。
