Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839

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Computers in Human Behavior

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Literature review

Fear of missing out and social networking sites use and abuse: A
meta-analysis
Giulia Fioravanti a, Silvia Casale a, *, Sara Bocci Benucci a, Alfonso Prostamo a, Andrea Falone b,
Valdo Ricca b, Francesco Rotella c
a
Department of Health Sciences, Psychology Unit, Via di San Salvi 12, 50135, University of Florence, Italy
b
Department of Health Sciences, Psychiatry Unit, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134, University of Florence, Italy
c
Psychiatry Unit, AOU Careggi Hospital, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134, Florence, Italy

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A growing body of research has examined the potential effects of the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on Social
Fear of missing out Networking Site (SNS) use and Problematic SNS use (PSNSU). The aim of the current meta-analysis is to sum­
Meta-analysis marize findings on the relationship between FoMO levels and (i) SNS use and (ii) PSNSU. Furthermore, we meta-
Problematic social networking sites use
analyzed results on the associations between FoMO and some individual characteristics. The sample included 33
Social media addiction
Social networking site use
independent samples with a total of 21,473 participants. The results of the random-effects meta-analysis show a
positive correlation between FoMO and SNS use and between FoMO and PSNSU, with effect sizes indicating
robust associations. Age, sex, and geographic area of the samples did not moderate the associations. FoMO was
positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and neuroticism and negatively correlated with consciousness.
These results give robustness to the construct validity of FoMO itself, as this concept was introduced to explain
why some people might be especially attracted to social media. Moreover, concerns that others might be having
rewarding experiences that one is absent from seem to be a trigger for a compulsive use of social platforms,
driven by the need to get in touch with others, or as tool to develop social competence.

1. Introduction
As social networking sites (SNSs) such as Instagram and Facebook
are used worldwide on a daily basis by millions of people, growing
scientific interest has emerged towards psycho-social factors driving
high SNS engagement. Studies on social media use and abuse are often
characterized by a confirmatory approach in which empirical studies
have focused their attention on those psychosocial risk factors (e.g., low
self-esteem, impulsivity) that have already been demonstrated to play a
role in the development or maintenance of substance addictions (Bil­
lieux, Maurage, Lopez-Fernandez, Kuss, & Griffiths, 2015). Conversely,
although various recent evidence has supported its role in a variety of
negative outcomes (e.g., Scott & Woods, 2018), the concept of the fear of
missing out (FoMO; Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013)
was first introduced to describe a possible specific pathway towards high
social media engagement. FoMO is defined as “a pervasive apprehension
that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is
absent” (Przybylski et al., 2013, p. 1841). It reflects concerns, worries,
and anxieties that people have in relation to being out of touch with the
satisfying events and experiences taking place across their extended
social circles. As such, FoMO has recently received great scientific
attention in the field of social media use, because SNSs are considered an
ideal tool for fulfilling the “desire to stay continually connected with
what others are doing” (Przybylski et al., 2013, p. 1841). In fact, initial
support for the involvement of FoMO in social media engagement has
been recently given with convergent results on the positive association
between FoMO and high SNS use (see supplementary material Table S1).
However, empirical findings on the strength of the association have
been mixed. For instance, Beyens, Frison, and Eggermont (2016)
observed a moderate correlation (r = 0.50), whereas Chai et al. (2019)
found a weak association (r = 0.0.21). This might at least in part be due
to the fact that FoMO seems to vary depending on sociodemographic
characteristics. In fact, young people tend towards higher levels of
FoMO (Casale & Fioravanti, 2020; Elhai et al., 2018; Przybylski et al.,
2013; Stead & Bibby, 2017), whereas conflicting results about sex dif­
ferences have been reported. Some studies show that men have high

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: giulia.fioravanti@unifi.it (G. Fioravanti), silvia.casale@unifi.it (S. Casale), sara.bocci@stud.unifi.it (S.B. Benucci), alfonso.prostamo@stud.unifi.
it (A. Prostamo), valdo.ricca@unifi.it (V. Ricca), francesco.rotella@unifi.it (F. Rotella).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106839
Received 4 November 2020; Received in revised form 30 March 2021; Accepted 19 April 2021
Available online 30 April 2021
0747-5632/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. Fioravanti et al.
levels of FoMO, but only in a young sample (Przybylski et al., 2013).
Other studies have found that women have higher levels of FoMO than
men (Casale, Rugai, & Fioravanti, 2018; Elhai et al., 2018; Stead &
Bibby, 2017), whereas other findings indicate no sex differences (Casale
& Fioravanti, 2020).
We thus want to provide a meta-analytic summary on the association
between FoMO and social media use/abuse, thereby assuming that this
association is moderated by sociodemographic characteristics.
1.1. FoMO, social networking site use and problematic social networking
site use
The relationship between FoMO and SNSs engagement has been
proposed within the self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 1985;
Ryan & Deci, 2000) framework. SDT supports three basic psychological
needs that must be satisfied to foster well-being and health: a need for
competence (i.e., to feel effective, skillful, and able to face life chal­
lenges), a need for autonomy (i.e., to feel that one causes, identifies with,
and endorses one’s own behavior), and a need for relatedness (i.e., to
feel close to and accepted by others and gain social acceptance). Przy­
bylski et al. (2013) found that individuals showing less satisfaction in
regard to these three basic psychological needs also report higher levels
of FoMO, which in turn leads to an increased behavioral engagement in
SNS use.
The existence of unmet needs was also the theoretical starting
premise of Beyens and colleagues’ study (2016). These authors found
that adolescents’ need to belong and need for popularity were related
with increased FoMO, which, in turn, was associated with increased
Facebook use. Wang et al. (2018) found that FoMO mediated the asso­
ciation between the unmet need to belong and authentic
self-presentation on SNSs (i.e., authentically sharing one’s own feelings,
thoughts, and life events on SNSs) among adolescents with a low level of
perceived social support.
Przybylski et al. (2013) also pointed out the potential links of FoMO
with psychological health and well-being. Again, the authors speculated
that FoMO could play an important role in linking individual variability
in multiple factors, such as psychological need satisfaction, overall
mood, and general life satisfaction, to social media engagement.
Researchers have also been increasingly interested in the possibility
that FoMO levels might drive not only the level of engagement with
SNSs, but also the development of a compulsive (i.e., unregulated) use of
SNSs. Problematic SNS use (PSNSU) has been defined as a lack of self-
regulation in one’s own use of SNSs that lead to negative conse­
quences in everyday life (Andreassen & Pallesen, 2014). Several scholars
(e.g., Kuss & Griffiths, 2011) argue that SNS use may be addictive
because some individuals experience symptoms similar to those expe­
rienced by those who suffer from other forms of addiction, and women
are more likely to exhibit PSNSU (Su, Han, Yu, Wu, & Potenza, 2020).
Mood modification, salience, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict,
and relapse appear to be present in those who use SNSs excessively
(Müller et al., 2016). Those who are concerned that they might miss an
opportunity for social interaction and/or rewarding experiences
happening across their friend networks are more likely to show a defi­
cient self-regulation in their own use of SNSs because of the need to stay
continually connected to what their friends are doing and to alleviate
anxious feelings of being socially excluded (see Table S1).
In keeping with Przybylski et al. (2013), some researchers have
speculated that FoMO might act as a mediator variable in the relation­
ship between individual differences (e.g., personality trait factors or
predisposing psychopathology) and PSNSU. Alt and Boniel-Nissim
(2018a) evidenced that those with high levels of neuroticism were
more likely to experience the fear of missing out and then tended to
compulsively use SNSs to fulfil their psychological need for social
connection which, in turn, interfered with their lives. Oberst, Wegmann,
Stodt, Brand, and Chamarro (2017) found that adolescents with strong
experiences of FoMO due to depression and anxiety symptoms are more
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Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
likely to develop PSNSU, which in turn causes them to “phub” (phone +
snubbing) their offline interactions (Franchina, Vanden Abeele, Van
Rooij, Lo Coco, & De Marez, 2018). Similarly, Wegmann, Oberst, Stodt,
and Brand (2017) found that FoMO mediates the association between
depression and Internet-communication disorder.
A different line of research has hypothesized that FoMO might act as
an additional factor beyond personality traits or psychiatric disorders
rather than be caused by them. Blackwell, Leaman, Tramposch,
Osborne, and Liss (2017) examined the effects of extraversion, neurot­
icism, attachment styles, and levels of FoMO on PSNS. FoMO was the
only significant predictor of PSNSU, but a positive correlation between
neuroticism and FoMO was found, thus suggesting that FoMO might be
at least partly derived from a more stable tendency to experience
negative emotions. The latter result is in accordance with Stead and
Bibby’s work (2017), which finds emotional stability to be negatively
correlated with FoMO among young adults. Such a study also revealed a
moderate negative association between conscientiousness and FoMO.
FoMO was found to be negatively associated with both general mood
and overall life satisfaction (Blachnio & Przepiòrka, 2018; Przybylski
et al., 2013).
As already mentioned, the magnitude of the association between
FoMO and impaired control over SNSs use seems to vary depending on a
number of factors. When sex-related differences were not considered,
the empirical findings on the association between FoMO levels and PSNS
were generally consistent, showing a moderately positive association.
For example, Blackwell et al. (2017) found a moderate correlation (r =
0.56) for a southeastern U.S. sample of young adults. Similarly, a
moderate correlation (r = 0.43) was found by Tunc-Aksan and Akbay
(2019) in a sample of Turkish adolescents. However, evidence from
other studies (e.g., Casale et al., 2018) seems to suggest that the
magnitude of the correlation might depend on sex (i.e., r = 0.47 and r =
0.26 among men and women, respectively). Moreover, no cross-cultural
studies have examined the possible effect of geographical location on the
relation between FoMO and PSNSU, even though the strength of the
association may differ between countries. In fact, it has been highlighted
that Internet behaviors can be better understood when the sociocultural
and digital environment in which the problematic behaviors have
evolved and take place are taken into consideration (Kuss, Kristensen, &
Lopez-Fernandez, 2021). For instance, Stead and Bibby (2017) found a
weak, non-significant association between FoMO and PSNSU for a
sample of undergraduates from the United Kingdom, whereas the
overwhelming majority of the literature studies tend to report positive
associations.
1.2. The present study
Research on the FoMO construct has rapidly expanded in recent
years, mainly - albeit not exclusively - in social media use research.
Relative to many other factors that have been a-priori linked to PSNS (e.
g., low self-esteem, impulsivity) because of their relevance in other
behavioral addictions, FoMO has been introduced first to explain social
media engagement, thus warranting scientific attention in this field. Our
primary aim was to summarize the evidence on the association between
FoMO and social media use/abuse, notwithstanding the fact that FoMO
has been considered as a mediating or rather a moderating variable.
However, as FoMO has been theoretically conceptualized as a mediating
or moderating factor by most studies, we decided to include, as sec­
ondary outcomes, the meta-analysis of the correlations between FoMO
and all the other psychological variables assessed in the included studies
(e.g., personality traits). Providing evidence of an association between
FoMO and specific personality traits (e.g., neuroticism) might lend
initial support to the line of research that suggests that FoMO needs to be
considered in the context of other psychological mechanisms, as a
consequence or as a moderating variable.
Finally, as reviewed above, there are some debated issues that a
meta-analysis on this topic could help clarify, such as (i) the possible
G. Fioravanti et al.
effect of geographic location on the association between FoMO and SNS/
PSNS, that is, whether the findings can be generalized across countries;
(ii) the sex-related differences about the magnitude of the correlations
between FoMO and SNS/PSNS; (iii) if the association between FoMO
and SNS/PSNS differs according to the age of the users. For these rea­
sons, sample characteristics, including proportion of females,
geographic location of the sample, and mean age of participants have
been considered as potential moderators.
2. Methods
The reporting of this systematic review and meta-analysis follows
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-
Analyses) guidelines provided by Liberati et al. (2015). The identi­
fication of relevant abstracts, selection of studies and subsequent data
extraction were performed independently by two of the authors (A.P.
and S.B.B.), and conflicts were resolved by a third investigator (G.F.).
2.1. Literature search
Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct searches for
eligible studies published up to December 3, 2019 were performed using
the following terms: “FoMO AND (problematic social network use OR so­
cial network use OR internet OR social media use OR problematic social
media use OR social media addiction OR social networking use OR social
networking addiction OR problematic internet use OR internet addiction OR
Generalized Problematic Internet Use OR Facebook use OR problematic
Facebook use OR Facebook addiction OR Instagram use OR problematic
Instagram use OR Instagram addiction).” We include terms such as
“Internet addiction” and “Internet use” due to evidence that some re­
searchers include the assessment of SNS use/abuse with the assessment
of Internet use/abuse (e.g., Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018a). PROSPERO
REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020184991.
2.2. Inclusion criteria and study selection
All cross-sectional studies assessing both the fear of missing out
(FoMO) and social network site (SNS) use or problematic social network
site use (PSNS) were included. Only articles written in English were
included. Articles lacking quantitative data were excluded. For the ar­
ticles included for eligibility, the full text was analyzed.
2.3. Data extraction and quality assessment
The following information for each study was collected when
available: first author, year of publication, journal, area, population
type, sample size, mean age, female percentage, mean and standard
deviation of FoMO, SNS use, PSNS, depression, anxiety, openness,
agreeableness, life satisfaction, extraversion, fear of negative evalua­
tion, neuroticism, consciousness, assessment measures for each domain
and correlation values. Primary outcomes were the correlations between
FoMO and SNS use and between FoMO and PSNS. Secondary outcomes
were correlations between FoMO and the other selected domains. In
cases of missing data, authors of the included studies were contacted for
additional information. In cases of two or more effect sizes of an
outcome extractable from one study, we extracted all of the effect sizes
only when independence between effect sizes was assumed.
2.4. Statistical analysis
The primary analysis was performed including all of the effect sizes
assessed by converting correlations between FoMO and PSNS and FoMO
and SNS use extracted by primary studies in Fisher’s Z values. A separate
analysis for each outcome was performed. The secondary analysis was
carried out including all of Fisher’s Z values indicating a correlation
between FoMO and one of the secondary domains (depression, anxiety,
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Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
openness, agreeableness, consciousness, extraversion, neuroticism, life
satisfaction, and fear of negative evaluation) and grouping by outcome.
Even in this case, a separate analysis for each outcome was performed. A
meta-regression was performed to assess the influence of sex and age in
the primary analysis results. Furthermore, an analysis grouped by area
was performed to estimate the influence of geographic area on primary
outcomes. All analyses were conducted by applying a random effects
model and a 95% confidence interval. Heterogeneity was computed by
using I2 statistics. To assess publication bias, funnel plot interpretation
and Egger’s (Egger, Davey Smith, Schneider, & Minder, 1997) regression
intercept were used. All analyses were performed using software pro­
gram Review Manager (RevMan) [Computer program], Version 5.3,
Copenhagen: The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration,
2014.
3. Results
3.1. Results of the literature search
The study flow summary is reported in Fig. 1. Of the 112 records
identified through the database search, 33 fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
Of these, we excluded from our quantitative analysis the study con­
ducted by Wegmann et al. (2017), as these authors assess FoMO with a
modified bifactorial construct, whereas all of the other studies included
use the original FoMO monofactorial construct. In two cases, we had to
determine whether to extract more effect sizes of the same outcome from
the same study: (i) from Buglass, Binder, Betts, and Underwood (2017),
we discarded longitudinal data and considered only cross-sectional data
in accordance with our protocol; and (ii) from Dhir, Yossatorn, Kaur, and
Chen (2018), we extracted only the effect size derived from Study A,
which was conducted before Study B, to limit any distortions due to the
participants’ familiarity with the test. Therefore, the number of full text
articles was 32. Since one paper reported data deriving from two inde­
pendent studies, a total of 33 studies were included in the meta-analysis.
Of these, 13 analyze the relationship between FoMO and SNS use, 14
analyze the relationship between FoMO and PSNS and the remaining six
studies examine both relationships.
The characteristics of the studies included in the meta-analysis are
summarized in Table 1. In each study, FoMO was measured with the
Fear of Missing Out Scale (Przybylski et al., 2013) in its original English
form or with other versions in non-original languages either validated
(the Italian, Turkish or Spanish versions) or non-validated (the Chinese
version). On the other hand, SNS use or PSNS was assessed with different
scales or items depending on the study (Table 2), all with good psy­
chometric characteristics. Of the 33 studies, 23 included data on the
association between FoMO and secondary outcomes (depression n = 3;
anxiety n = 3; fear of negative evaluations n = 3; neuroticism n = 3;
extraversion n = 3; agreeableness n = 2; openness n = 2; life satisfaction
n = 2; and consciousness n = 2). The total sample consisted of 21.473
participants (F = 44.65%, mean age = 22.70 ± .38, and range: 13–41
years old).
3.2. Associations between FoMO and SNS use
Meta-analytic results of the random-effects model applied to a total
of 19 independent samples show a positive correlation between FoMO
and SNS use (Fisher’s Z = 0.322; SE = 0.049; 95% CI .226, .418; Z =
6.584; p < .001). The results are summarized in Fig. 2. Concerning the
risk of publication bias, the funnel plot (Fig. 3) shows data symmetry,
denoting a low risk of publication bias; this result was confirmed by
Egger’s test (Egger et al., 1997), which yielded a statistically nonsig­
nificant p-value of .52.
3.3. Associations between FoMO and problematic SNS use
Meta-analytic results of the random-effects model applied to a total
G. Fioravanti et al.
Fig. 1. Flow chart for the study included in the meta-analysis.
of 20 independent samples indicate a positive correlation between
FoMO and PSNS (Fisher’s z = 0.486; SE = 0.031; 95% CI .426, .547; Z =
15.695; p < .001). The results of the analysis are shown in Fig. 4. Con­
cerning the risk of publication bias, the funnel plot (Fig. 5) shows data
symmetry, denoting a low risk of publication bias; this result was
confirmed by Egger’s test (Egger et al., 1997), which yielded a statisti­
cally nonsignificant p-value of .33.
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Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
3.4. Associations between FoMO and secondary outcomes
The results of the analysis are shown in Fig. 6. FoMO was positively
correlated with depression (Fisher’s Z = 0.352; SE = 0.146; 95% CI .065,
.639; Z = 2.404; p = .016), anxiety (Fisher’s Z = 0.693; SE = 0.022, 95%
CI .650, .737; Z = 31.240; p < .001), fear of negative evaluation (Fisher’s
Z = 0.501; SE = 0.030; 95% CI .442, .560; Z = 16.654; p < .001) and
neuroticism (Fisher’s Z = 0.379; SE = 0.060; 95% CI .261, .496; Z =
6.322; p < .001). Otherwise, FoMO was negatively correlated with
conscientiousness (Fisher’s Z = − 0.276; SE = 0.072; 95% CI -.417,
G. Fioravanti et al. Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839

Table 1 analysis was conducted on a total of 19 samples (Asia = 4; Europe + UK

Characteristics of the included studies. = 6; Latin America = 1; the Middle East = 1; the USA = 7) for the
First author Sample % of Mean SD of age National setting relation between FoMO and SNS use and on a total of 18 samples (Asia
(year) size women age of of = 1; Europe + UK = 9; Latin America = 1; the Middle East = 4; the USA
sample sample = 3) for the relation between FoMO and PSNS. The results of the analysis
Alt (2015) 296 85.30 25.4 7.1 Israel show that geographic area interfered with the correlation between
Alt (2018a) 216 49.00 – Israel FoMO and SNS use (Q-value(df) = 11.78(4); p = . 019). More in detail,
Alt (2018b) 359 52.60 48.38 5.36 Israel the strength of correlation between the two dimensions seems to be
Alt (2018c) 270 49.00 Israel
greater in the studies performed in the Middle East and in Europe + UK
–
Bailey (2018) 296 67.00 – Costa Rica/
Colombia and lower in the Latin America. However, geographical area did not
Barry (2017) 113 45.10 15.27 1.02 U.S.A. moderate the correlation between FoMO and PSNS (Q-value (df) = 0.15
Beyens 402 57.00 16.41 1.43 Belgium (4); p = .997).
(2016)
The results of the meta-regression analysis of the correlation between
Blackwell 207 7.38 22.15 7.38 U.S.A.
(2017) FoMO and SNSs use adjusted for age and sex show that the effect was not
Błachnio 360 – 22.20 6.84 Poland related to covariates (Q = 2.25; df = 2; p = .324), and the goodness of fit
(2018) test (Tau2 = 0.044; I2 = 95.73% Q(df) = 210.94(9); p = .0000) dem­
Buglass (2017 506 47.00 20.70 9.1 U.K. onstrates that the model did not explain the variance between studies.
study 1)
Casale (2018) 573 54.60 22.39 2.82 Italy
Similar results were obtained from a meta-regression analysis of the
Casale (2020 239 61.10 23.02 2.64 Italy correlation between FoMO and PSNSU adjusted for age and sex. Tests of
study 2) the model (Q = 0.34; df = 2; p = .842) conclude that the effect size is not
Chai (2019) 1319 53.70 – China related to the covariates. Furthermore, the regression model did not
Dempsey 291 57.60 20,03 3.06 U.S.A.
explain variance between studies, as the goodness of fit test showed
(2019)
Dhir (2018 1554 45.50 14.54 1.73 Finland (Tau2 = 0.17; I2 = 92.91%; Q(df) = 127.01(9); p = .0000). A summary of
study 1) the meta-regression results is shown in Table 3.
Franchina 2663 57.10 14.87 1.67 Belgium
(2018) 3.6. Sensitivity analysis
Hadlington 630 50.00 41.41 14.18 U.K.
(2018)
Liu (2018a) 465 – 18.83 1.08 China Finally, consistent with the MOOSE guidelines (Stroup et al., 2000),
Oberst (2017) 1468 74.30 16.59 0.62 Latin-America a sensitivity analysis was performed based on study quality. Three
Pontes (2018) 511 64.60 – – criteria were used to define methodological quality based on literature
Przybylski 2079 49.90 43.21 11.49 U.K.
suggestions (Downes, Brennan, Williams, & Dean, 2016) and the infor­
(2013)
Roberts (2019 107 47.00 – U.S.A. mation available in the studied reports: (i) the use of a previously
study 1) published validated scale of the Fear of Missing Out Scale; (ii) reports of
Roberts (2019 458 45.00 20.35 0.94 U.S.A. any information on scale score reliability (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha or
study 2) test-retest) in the study sample; and (iii) reports of any information on
Rogers (2019) 97 62.00 19.81 2.55 U.S.A.
Salim (2017) 326 73.90 21.44 2.12 Indonesia
the factorial validity of the Fear of Missing Out Scale in the study sample.
Scott (2018) 101 66.00 – U.K. Overall, 32 studies satisfied two of the three criteria and were catego­
Sha (2019) 2299 13.00 30.33 9.8 Germany, rized as being of higher quality among the sample of studies included in
Austria & this meta-analysis. We then performed the analysis only for the relation
Switzerland
between FoMO and SNS use, as the only study that satisfied one of the
Stead (2017) 495 69.00 20.62 1.6 –
Tomczyk 717 47.00 13.00 5.59 Bosnia and three criteria was focused on this relation. For the relation between
(2018) Herzegovina FoMO and SNS use, the resulting Fisher’s Z and confidence interval were
Tunc-Aksan 296 45.90 – Turkey recorded as Fisher’s Z = 0.32 (SE = 0.05), 95% CI [.22, .42], Z = 6.35, p
(2019) < .001.
Wang (2018) 832 48.00 16.43 0.93 China
Wolniewicz 299 57.1 20.00 3.02 U.S.A.
(2018) 4. Discussion and conclusion
Yin (2015) 629 40.20 – Taiwan
The main purpose of the present meta-analytic study was to sum­
marize the evidence on the association between FoMO and social media
− 0.135; Z = 3.848; p < .001). No significant results emerged from
use/abuse, taking into consideration possible moderators. Our findings
correlation analyses of FoMO with agreeableness (Fisher’s Z = − 0.15;
indicate that FoMO is positively related to both SNSs use and PSNSU,
SE = 0.119; 95% CI -.382, .083, Z = − 1261; p = .207), openness
with effect sizes that can be considered moderate according to Cohen’s
(Fisher’s Z = 0.208; SE = 0.277; 95% CI -.336, .751; Z = 0.749; p =
criteria (1992), and large according to Hemphill’s criteria (2003).
.454), extraversion (Fisher’s Z = 0.053; SE = 0.027; 95% CI -.001, .107;
Moreover, the sensitivity analysis and analyses of publication bias
Z = 1.942; p = .052) and life satisfaction (Fisher’s Z = − 0.066; SE =
confirm that these results are robust. Interestingly, the relationship be­
0.021; 95% CI -.107, .726; Z = 3.219; p = .001).
tween FoMO and PSNSU was found to be stronger than the relationship
between FoMO and social networking site use. These results, as a whole,
3.5. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression give robustness to the construct validity of FoMO itself, as this concept
was introduced to explain why some people might be especially
To establish whether the geographic area moderates the correlations attracted to social media (Przybylski et al., 2013). In fact, our findings
between FoMO, on the one hand, and SNS engagement and PSNSU, on are consistent with Przybylski et al.’s speculations (2013) that PSNSU
the other, we performed a subgroup analysis. We recoded the moderator might arise as a result of an effort to mitigate emotional frustration. Put
to convert variable “country” extracted from the original paper into new differently, FoMO might not be only an important mechanism that ex­
variable “geographic area” to enable the formation of subgroups. We plains the widespread use of social media but also an important pre­
identified five macroareas (Europe + UK, Asia, Latin America, the cursor of impaired control with such media. Worries that others might
Middle East and the USA) corresponding to as many subgroups. The be having rewarding experiences that one is absent from seem to be a

5
G. Fioravanti et al. Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839

Table 2
Psychometric characteristics of FoMo, SNS use and PSNSU measures of the included studies.
First Author Assessment FoMO/ Cronbach’ s α Assessment SNSs use Cronbach’s Assessment problematic Cronbach’s
(year) Language version α SNSs use α
Alt (2015) FoMOs/ENG .83 SME .84
Alt (2018a) FoMOs/ENG .82 SPIUT .80
Alt (2018b) FoMOs/ENG .80 SPIUT .83
Alt (2018c) FoMOs/ENG .81 SPIUT .80
Bailey (2018) FoMOs/ENG - short form .84 PEOUSM .85
Barry (2017) FoMOs/ENG .94 Social Media Survey - adolescent version *
Beyens (2016) FoMOs/ENG .84 The Facebook Intensity Scale .78 Perceived stress related to .82
Facebook use
Blackwell (2017) FoMOs/ENG .91 SME .85 BSMAS .88
Błachnio (2018) FoMOs/ENG .78 FIQ .87
Buglass (2017 FoMOs/ENG .88 One item on individual daily use of –
study 1) Facebook
Casale (2018) FoMOs/ITA .81 BSMAS Italian version .82
(preliminary version)
Casale (2020 FoMOs/ITA Factor 1: .79 BSMAS Italian version .83
study 2) Factor 2: .73
Chai (2019) FoMOs/Chinese .73 Qzone use intensity scale .85
translation
Dempsey (2019) FoMOs/ENG .87 Five items regarding how often they engage .87 BSMAS .87
in various Facebook features
Dhir (2018 study FoMOs/ENG - short form ** BSMAS - Compulsive Use **
1)
Franchina (2018) FoMOs/ENG - short form .56 Items on breadth of social media platform – PSMU .82
used (number of platforms used)
Hadlington FoMOs/ENG .91 RFDT .80
(2018)
Liu (2018a) FoMOs/Chinese .85 The Chinese social media .94
translation addiction scale
Oberst (2017) FoMOs/ES .82 SNI .78
Pontes (2018) FoMOs/ENG .91 BSMAS .86
Przybylski FoMOs/ENG .90 SME .82
(2013)
Roberts (2019 FoMOs/ENG .88 SMI .86
study 1)
Roberts (2019 FoMOs/ENG .86 SMI .93
study 2)
Rogers (2019) FoMOs/ENG .90 Social Media Use - frequency –
Salim (2017) FoMOs/ENG .79 Self-Presentation Tactics in Social Media .83
Scott (2018) FoMOs/ENG .89 Nighttime social media use .82
Sha (2019) FoMOs/ENG .76 SAS - Facebook Use .90
Disorder
Stead (2017) FoMOs/ENG .83 Spraggins’ modified .89
questionnaire
Tomczyk (2018) FoMOs/ENG .89 SMI .89 BSMAS .89
Tunc-Ansan FoMOs/TR .81 SMAS .74
(2019)
Wang (2018) FoMOs/ENG .80 Honest Self-presentation .74
Scale/Chinese version
Wolniewicz FoMOs/ENG .87 Smartphone Usage .71 SAS-SV .88
(2018)
Yin (2015) FoMOs/Chinese .84 Items of Continuance Intention .74
translation

Note: BSMAS= Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (Andreassen, Torsheim, Brunborg, & Pallesen, 2012); BSMAS Italian version (Monacis, de Palo, Griffiths, &
Sinatra, 2017); FoMOs/Chinese translation (Chai et al., 2019); FoMOs/ENG = Fear of Missing Out Scale/English version (Przybylski et al., 2013); FoMOs/ES = Fear of
Missing Out/Spanish version (Gil, Del Valle, Oberst, & Chamarro, 2015); FoMOs/ITA= Fear of Missing Out Scale/Italian version (Casale & Fioravanti, 2020);
FoMOs/TR = Fear of Missing Out Scale/Turkish version (Can & Satici, 2019); FIQ= Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire (Elphinston & Noller, 2011); Honest
Self-presentation Scale/Chinese version (Niu, Bao, Zhou, Kong, & Sun, 2015); Items on breadth of social media platform used (Franchina et al., 2018); Items of
Continuance Intention (Bhattacherjee, Perols, & Sanford, 2015); Nighttime social media use (Woods & Scott, 2016); PEOUSM= Perceived Ease Of Use of Social Media
(Curran & Lennon, 2011); PSMU= Problematic Social Media Use (Franchina et al., 2018); Perceived stress related to Facebook use (Beyens et al., 2016); RFDT =
Responses to Failures with Digital Technology (Hadlington & Scase, 2018); Qzone use intensity scale (Niu et al., 2018); SAS - Facebook Use Disorder = Smartphone
Addiction scale - Facebook use disorder (Kwon, Kim, Cho, & Yang, 2013); SAS-SV= Smartphone addiction scale-short version (Kwon et al., 2013); Self-Presentation
Tactics in Social Media (Huang, 2014); SMAS= Social Media Addiction Scale (van den Eijnden, Lemmens, & Valkenburg, 2016); Smartphone Usage (Elhai, Levine,
Dvorak, & Hall, 2016); SME= Social Media Engagement questionnaire (Przybylski et al., 2013); SMI= Social Media Intensity (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007);
Social Media Survey - adolescent version (Barry, Sidoti, Briggs, Reiter, & Lindsey, 2017); SNI= Social Network Intensity (Salehan and Negahban (2013); Spraggins’
modified questionnaire (Spraggins, 2009); The Chinese social media addiction scale (Liu & Ma, 2018b); SPIUT= The Short Problematic Internet Use Test (Siciliano
et al., 2015); The Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison et al., 2007).
* = the authors reported: "items developed for this study directly reflected the constructs of interest” (p. 10; Barry et al., 2017).
** = the authors reported: "sufficient construct validity in the context of the measurement.

6
G. Fioravanti et al.
Fig. 2. Forest plot for correlation between FoMO and Social Network Sites Use (95% CI).
Fig. 3. Symmetric funnel plot for the correlation between FoMO and SNS use.
trigger for a compulsive use of social platforms, driven by the need to get
in touch with others, or as tool to develop social competence.
According to Przybylski et al. (2013) and subsequent research, FoMO
is driven by individual differences (whether they be unmet needs, low
life satisfaction, or personality traits). In the current study, we
meta-analytically examined the relations between FoMO and various
psychological dimensions assessed by the included studies. These results
should be interpreted with caution and should not be generalized
because very few studies focused on the correlations between FoMO and
PSNSU also included individual difference (i.e., personality traits, psy­
chopathology, and life satisfaction). That said, neuroticism and consci­
entiousness were positively correlated with FoMO. As personality traits
are by definition stable variables, it could be argued that these results
support Przybylski et al.’s (2013) speculations that FoMO needs to be
understood in the context of predisposing factors. Neurotic individuals
have a generally anxious predisposition and tend to worry. Conse­
quently, vulnerable, insecure and emotionally unstable individuals may
7
Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
experience more worry about being socially excluded, thereby causing
them to experience high levels of FoMO (Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018a;
Blackwell et al., 2017; Stead & Bibby, 2017). Individuals with high
levels of conscientiousness are goal-oriented and inclined toward plan­
ning and seeking high achievement. Such individuals might experience
lower FoMO levels because they attach less importance to social events
or tend to avoid social platforms as they view SNSs as a potential
distraction from more important tasks (Butt & Philipps, 2008; Stead &
Bibby, 2017).
The relationship between FoMO and depression shows a moderate
effect size. As previously reported (e.g., Dempsey, O’Brien, Tiamiyu, &
Elhai, 2019; Dhir et al., 2018; Oberst et al., 2017; Elhai, 2020), negative
mood/affectivity could lead to experiences of FoMO. On the other hand,
the fear of being socially excluded and the non-fulfillment of the need to
stay continuously connected to others could lead to negative emotions
and depressive symptoms. Finally, both the fear of negative evaluation
and anxiety showed the strongest relations to FoMO, as previously
G. Fioravanti et al.
Fig. 4. Forest plot for correlation between FoMO and PSNSU (95% CI).
Fig. 5. Symmetric funnel plot for the correlation between FoMO and PSNSU.
reported (e.g., Blackwell et al., 2017; Dempsey et al., 2019; Dhir et al.,
2018; Oberst et al., 2017; Wegmann et al., 2017). From a theoretical
point of view, both the fear of missing out and the fear of being nega­
tively judged are emotional dimensions related to interpersonal re­
lationships (Casale, Fioravanti, Flett, & Hewitt, 2014; Casale &
Fioravanti, 2020). It is possible to assume that the large effect size found
could be the result of a common construct associated with/underlining
both variables, that is, social anxiety. However, it is also possible that
individuals might be more likely to suffer from anxiety when they feel
that they do not belong or believe that they are missing out on important
shared experiences. Indeed, due to the cross-sectional design of the
selected studies, we cannot assume with certainty the direction of the
relationships studied. Although FoMO has mainly been conceptualized
as a psychological driver of SNS use, the relationship between FoMO and
SNS use could be bidirectional. As suggested by Przybylski et al. (2013)
themselves, a vicious cycle between FoMO and engagement in social
media use could exist. On the one hand, the rewarding experience
originating from the fulfilment of a need to “socially monitor” other
people’s lives to alleviate anxieties of being socially excluded might
8
Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
exacerbate compulsive SNS checking behaviors and SNS addiction
symptoms. On the other hand, being frequently exposed to other peo­
ple’s lives through SNSs could increase the apprehension surrounding
being excluded from rewarding experiences that others might have and
therefore enhance the fear of missing out. Indeed, one of the few lon­
gitudinal studies in this field (Buglass et al., 2017) has shown that in­
dividuals engaging in increased levels of SNS use exhibit raised levels of
FoMO. It has also been hypothesized that individuals with higher levels
of FoMO substitute real social contact with online social contact when
their levels of expired loneliness increase and that this “substitution”
contributes to increasing levels of expired loneliness (Dossey, 2014).
Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify whether FoMO is an ante­
cedent or consequence of PSNS, but also for clarifying its relationship
with unmet needs or loneliness.
Finally, the subgroup analyses and meta-regression using age, sex,
and the geographical area of samples as moderators show that these
variables do not moderate the relations between FoMO and SNS use and
between FoMO and problematic SNS use. Findings from previous studies
were quite consistent in showing that young people tend towards higher
G. Fioravanti et al.
Fig. 6. Forest plot for correlation between FoMO and secondary outcomes (95% CI).
levels of both FoMO and PSNSU (Casale & Fioravanti, 2020; Elhai et al.,
2018; Przybylski et al., 2013; Stead & Bibby, 2017). The absence of a
moderating role of age could be explained by the scarce heterogeneity of
the ages of participants (i.e., low variance) of the studies included in the
meta-analysis. The mean age of the total sample was 22.70 (SD = 9.38),
and most of the studies were therefore conducted on adolescents or
young adults. Of the 33 studies included, only four recruited participants
had a mean age higher than 30 years (and less than 50 years). For this
reason, future studies should examine the FoMO phenomenon and its
relationship to the use and abuse of SNSs among adult samples.
9
Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839
Similarly, the percentage of women included in the samples did not
significantly explain the between-study variability of effect sizes. This
finding could be attributed to conflicting results on sex differences in
FoMO levels. As a matter of fact, some studies have found that young
men have high levels of FoMO (Przybylski et al., 2013), whereas some
others show that women report higher levels of FoMO than men (Casale,
Fioravanti, & Rugai, 2018; Elhai et al., 2018; Stead & Bibby, 2017).
Other findings indicate no sex differences (Casale & Fioravanti, 2020).
Regarding the moderating role of the geographical area of samples, the
meta-regression shows that only the association between FoMO and SNS
G. Fioravanti et al. Computers in Human Behavior 122 (2021) 106839

Table 3
Summary of the results of meta-regressions with covariates: geographical area, age and gender between FoMO and SNS use and FoMO and PSNS.
FoMO - SNS use

Covariate: Geographical Area Covariates: Age and Gender

Geographical area n of studies Point estimate df (Q) p value Test of the Model
Asia 4 0.231 Q(df) p value
Europe + UK 6 0.404 2.25(2) 0.324
Latina America 1 − 0.050 Goodness of fit
Middle East 1 0.829 Tau2 I2 Q(df) p value
USA 7 0.283 0.044 95.73% 210.94(9) 0.000
Total Between 4 (11.78) 0.019
FoMO - PSNS
Covariate: Geographical Area Covariates: Age and Gender
Geographical area n of studies Point estimate df (Q) p value Test of the Model
Asia 1 0.427 Q(df) p value
Europe + UK 9 0.467 0.34(2) 0.842
Latina America 1 0.499 Goodness of fit
Middle East 4 0.461 Tau2 I2 Q(df) p value
USA 3 0.467 0.017 92.91% 127.01(9) 0.000
Total Between 4 (0.15) 0.997

use is moderated by geographical area. However, we were not able to
determine how much the effect size changes by geographical area. No
changes in the magnitude of the relationship between FoMO and PSNS
were found across different geographic areas. It thus seems that FoMO is
trans-culturally related to problematic social networking site use.
Although the effect sizes obtained from the present meta-analysis
indicate robust associations between FoMO and SNS use and between
FoMO and PSNSU, some limitations should be considered. As mentioned
previously, as only cross-sectional studies were included, we cannot
make inferences about the causality or direction of the relations iden­
tified. Related to this point is the fact that the small number of studies
focused on the individual characteristics associated with FoMO limits
the statistical power of the analyses performed on secondary outcomes.
The generalizability of the current findings could also be compromised
by the convenience sampling methods used across studies. In this
respect, future studies might want to use the machine learning (ML)
approach in this field. Such an approach has received a growing atten­
tion in clinical psychology and psychiatry in recent years (see, for
example, Coutanche & Hallion, 2019; Dwyer, Falkai, & Koutsouleris,
2018), especially because it has the ability to quantify the generaliz­
ability of a “learned” pattern or algorithm to new, non-collected data.
This might be particularly advantageous in the present field, as the vast
majority of the studies are generally conducted with non-clinical sam­
ples. In fact, the use of ML in this field might provide accurate pre­
dictions concerning FoMO and problematic social media in new data set
(e.g., treatment-seeking adults) beyond the dataset in which they were
originally tested (e.g., undergraduates).
In terms of the stability of our findings, we acknowledge that FoMO
is a psychological construct, i.e., an effort to represent reality rather than
an objectively existing constituent of it. This implies that its ability to
describe and explain the human experience might be context- or
situation-dependent, and some authors (e.g., Casale & Flett, 2020) have
recently argued that FoMO levels might decrease if social experiences
are reduced or forbidden (e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic) as FoMO
includes, by definition, the possibility for significant others to have
enjoyable or rewarding experiences. Although this seems psycholog­
ically plausible, some authors (Boursier, Gioia, Musetti, & Schimmenti,
2020) have recently shown that people have reported that they spend
more hours/day on social media during the pandemic than before the
pandemic, and the association with FoMO levels was similar in strength
to that observed before the pandemic (Gioia, Fioravanti, Casale, &
Boursier, 2021). These conflicting positions might encourage studies
that clarify whether the strength of the association between FoMO and
PSNS is situation-dependent. In other words, it might be the case that
other factors (e.g., isolation) interact with FoMO levels to predict social
media use and abuse depending on the circumstances.
Despite these limitations, the current meta-analysis clarifies that a
strong association between FoMO and PSNSU does exist, although it
does not seem to depend on geographical location, age or sex. From a
clinical perspective, the data suggest that FoMO should be used as a
relevant dimension in the evaluation and treatment of problematic SNS
use. Moreover, results from the current meta-analysis might inform
related areas of study which examine very similar questions but do not
use the FOMO scale. For instance, some authors provided evidence of an
interactive effect of the fear of being negatively evaluated and low social
support on PSNSU (Casale et al., 2014), and some others have shown
that higher perceived isolation is associated with higher PSNS among
both young (Bonsaksen et al., 2021) and older adults (Meshi, Cotten, &
Bender, 2020).
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could appear to influence the
work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106839.
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