Fear Of Missing Out

Fear of missing out or FoMO is “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”.^[2]This social angst^[3] is characterized by “a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing”.^[2] FoMO is also defined as a fear of regret,^[4] which may lead to a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, profitable investment or other satisfying events.^[5] In other words, FoMO perpetuates the fear of having made the wrong decision on how to spend time, as “you can imagine how things could be different”.^[4]

Self-determination theory (SDT) asserts that the feeling of relatedness or connectedness with others is a legitimate psychological need that influences people’s psychological health.^[6] In this theoretical framework, FoMO can be understood as a self-regulatory state arising from situational or long-term perception that one’s needs are not being met.^[2]

With the advent of technology, people’s social and communicative experiences have been expanded from face-to-face to online. On one hand, modern technologies (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones) and social networking services (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) provide a unique opportunity for people to be socially engaged with a reduced “cost of admission”.^[2] On the other hand, mediated communication perpetuates an increased reliance on the Internet. A psychological dependence to being online could result in anxiety when one feels disconnected, thereby leading to a fear of missing out^[7] or even pathological Internet use.^[8] As a consequence, FoMO is perceived to have negative influences on people’s psychological health and well-being, because it could contribute to people’s negative mood and depressed feelings.^[4]FoMO has also been associated with experiencing more negative alcohol-related consequences and consuming a higher quantity of alcoholic drinks.^[9]

Source (Read More): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to loose.”
-Jedi Master Yoda

May The Force Be With You.