"I need to be updated": Fear of missing out and its antecedents as predictors of adolescents' and emerging adults' aspects of social media addiction

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), is a phenomenon where people aiming not to miss any information what is going on in others' lives, as well as social interactions and meetings. The few studies that have investigated FoMO have shown that it relates to internet and social media use, life satisfaction and also some psychological symptoms such as anxiety. However, less is known about FoMO in non-Western cultural settings, and even less about the factors that might predict FoMO. The aim of the current study was to investigate to what extent FoMO is predicted by personality characteristics (such as conscientiousness and emotional stability) and social anxiety, personal goals (namely, aspiration for being attractive) and the social context (specifically, parental psychological control). Also, it was tested whether FoMO in turn predicts aspects of social media addiction. Two different samples from Turkey were recruited who were 315 high school student adolescents (Mage = 15.94; 49.8% females) and 344 emerging adults (Mage = 19.09; 52.6% females). The results of multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that emotional stability negatively and pursuit for attractiveness goal positively predicted FoMO in both groups. Also, FoMO was positively predicted by social anxiety among adolescents and perceived psychological parental among emerging adults. In addition, FoMO was in turn associated with both indices of social media addiction. Moreover, a series of tests of indirect effects showed that the antecedents of FoMO were indirectly related to social media addiction by means of FoMO. These findings underscore the need to study better the nature of FoMO. Limitations and future directions are also discussed. Keywords: Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), personality characteristics, parental psychological control, personal goals