Author: Rituparna Prakash Baliarsingh, Dimpal Kumari, Tanishqa Bajpai
Introduction:
In today’s digital age, students are constantly exposed to social media platforms where they observe others’ activities, achievements, and lifestyles. This exposure often creates a psychological phenomenon known as Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). FOMO refers to the anxiety or discomfort a person feels when they believe others are having rewarding experiences without them. This study aims to understand how FOMO affects students’ behaviour, focus, and daily decision-making.
Objective:
To understand the underlying issues of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and its effect on Student Behaviour.
Literature Review:
The Otago study by Riordan et al. (2015) examines Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) among college students and its relationship with alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences, revealing that higher FOMO is linked to greater risk behaviours in social settings. This research aligns with broader FOMO literature, which identifies the phenomenon as a social anxiety-related drive to stay connected and avoid missing rewarding experiences, particularly in digital and social contexts. Prior studies show FOMO’s association with increased social media engagement, psychological stress, and various behavioural outcomes among youth and young adults, underscoring its relevance for mental health and consumption patterns. Collectively, these works highlight FOMO as a key psychological factor shaping modern social behaviour and its potential impacts on well-being.
Rozgonjuk, Elhai, Ryan, and Scott (2019) investigate how Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) influences university students’ daily activities by examining the link between FoMO, interruptions from smartphone notifications, and surface approaches to learning. The study finds that higher FoMO is significantly associated with more frequent disrupted activities due to notifications and a tendency toward less effective, surface learning strategies, although it did not affect the frequency of receiving notifications themselves. These results extend existing FoMO literature by showing how anxiety about missing social information can negatively impact academic focus and cognitive engagement. Prior research similarly connects FoMO with problematic technology use and distraction, highlighting its broader implications for student productivity and learning outcomes.
Data Collection:
To understand the underlying issue of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and its effect on Student Behaviour following five questions are formed on likest scale (5 point scale).
A google from was formed in linear scale. Data was coded as 5 for strongly agree, 4 for agree, 3 for neutral, 2 for disagree and 1 for strongly disagree. 113 students of ITM were surveyed and data was downloaded as excel sheet; for each question: Mean, Standard Deviation, Standard Error and Tstats were calculated.
Data Analysis:
Table:
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Mean
3.42
3.51
3.35
3.74
3.16
Standard Deviation
1.04
1.10
0.99
1.09
1.24
Standard Error
0.10
0.10
0.09
0.10
0.12
T Stats
4.33
4.95
3.80
7.24
1.37
All the Tstats values are greater than 1.96; People agree to the above statements.
Conclusion:
People feel anxious when I see others posting about activities or events on social media.
People frequently check my phone to avoid missing important updates.
People feel left out when I am not part of social gatherings shared online.
People’s concentration on studies decreases because of social media usage.
People compare my lifestyle or achievements with others on social media.
Reference:
Riordan, B. C., Flett, J. A. M., Hunter, J., Scarf, D., & Conner, T. S. (2015). Fear of missing out (FOMO): The relationship between FOMO, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences in college students. University of Otago Research Archive. https://hdl.handle.net/10523/22970
Rozgonjuk, D., Elhai, J. D., Ryan, T., & Scott, G. G. (2019). Fear of missing out is associated with disrupted activities from receiving smartphone notifications and surface learning in college students. Computers & Education, 140, 103590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.05.016