Attachment anxiety mediates the relationship of need to belong and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)

Abstract

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), the concern one is presently absent from a rewarding experience, is an emerging topic in the empirical literature. Though it has been demonstrated that numerous factors including anxiety and depression predict the extent an individual experiences FoMO, more research is needed to understand the inner mechanisms that work between these variables to result in FoMO. One such factor which may mediate the relations of anxiety and depression on FoMO is the need to belong (NTB). The goal of the current research aims to evaluate if NTB mediates the relationship of anxiety and depression with FoMO. In addition, we aimed to detect if attachment anxiety mediates the relationship of anxiety and FoMO. Lastly, the current study evaluated if attachment anxiety mediates the relationship between NTB and FoMO. An effective sample of 397 adults from the United States were recruited to complete multiple questionnaires. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test a theoretical model depicting anxiety and depression as predictors of NTB, NTB predicting both attachment anxiety and FoMO, attachment anxiety predicting FoMO, and anxiety predicting attachment anxiety. Our results indicated that NTB was a strong predictor of FoMO, and this effect was mediated by attachment anxiety. Moreover, NTB mediated the influence of depression on FoMO, while attachment anxiety mediated the impact of anxiety on FoMO. The current research outlines that NTB is a key individual difference for why everyone does not uniformly experience FoMO. Limitations and suggestions for future research are outlined.