Research Essay Example on FoMO

FoMO, or the fear of missing out, is a feeling that someone gets when they know something is going on and they aren’t there. FoMO happens with all ages. The research on FoMO is very little but what is found about it can be very helpful to someone suffering. The problem, causes, and effects of FoMO will be discussed. What will also be mentioned is the solutions to maybe help someone who can relate. FoMO is an extreme problem that more and more people are dealing with everyday. In Marina Milyavskaya’s “Fear of Missing out: Prevalence, Dynamics, and Consequences of Experiencing FOMO,” she shows just how much FoMO affects the average person by doing a study on college students. “Results showed that as people reported greater FOMO they also reported that they would feel more distracted and less focused on the task at hand” (Milyavskaya 9). Depending on how extreme a person’s FoMO is, they could be constantly distracted and get absolutely nothing done. Being unproductive can result in other problems that could tie back to having more FoMO. In Milyavskaya’s study, “Approximately 15% of our sample reported experiencing FOMO once a week or more frequently, 35% experienced it one to three times a month, 36% reported it less than once a month, and only 13% reported never having experienced FOMO” (Milyavskaya 9). Looking at the data, 86% of people in this experiment have experienced FoMO. That’s 86% of people feeling anxious, sad, and left out. With that being said, it is shown that FoMO has a huge impact on a person's mental health and many studies show that in different scenarios. The cause of FoMO has a lot to do with how much we actually see and know from the internet. In Kim Jeeyoon’s ““Investigating ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) as an Extrinsic Motive Affecting Sport Event Consumer’s Behavioral Intention and FOMO-Driven Consumption’s Influence on Intrinsic Rewards, Extrinsic Rewards, and Consumer Satisfaction” they identify that,“The phenomenon of FOMO can be found in social reports indicating that 56% of adults who use social media and 69% of millennials in the US experience FOMO” (1). This isn’t just affecting teens, over half of adults who use social media experience FoMO. Social media shows what everyone is doing, when they are doing it, and who they are doing it with. So because of that, people may get anxiety or FoMO knowing they aren’t at that party, bar, or over at that person's house. Jeeyoon confirms, “The notion that FOMO is a form of extrinsic motive for sport event consumption can be linked to socialization studies as social apprehension and compliance are known to cause people to support a sports team popular among others” (1). FoMO can be caused by “bandwagoning,” thinking ‘oh that sports team is doing good so I have to like them or support them’. Seeing that people like a different team than themselves might make them feel left out and maybe persuade them to like another team only because everyone likes them. FoMO can be caused by many things but some things that expose people to the most can be the worst thing for their FoMO. Effects of FoMO could result in a decline of mental health and even physical health. Arora and Kaur say on page 3 in their article, ““Detach out to Attach on Everything: A Study on Relationship between Personality and Fear of Missing out (FoMO),” “Such individuals can experience FoMO and can lead to social pain and a fear of rejection and loneliness of not being a part of the group which can have an adverse impact on their mental health.” FoMO leads people to have so much depression and anxiety that can steer people to hurt themselves. That is a bigger problem that some people in the world don’t pay a lot of attention to. Arora and Kaur also argue that,“FoMO can have a negative impact on health as it can make a person feel exhausted and tired even without doing much physical work throughout the day” (5). If FoMO damages mental health it can definitely damage physical health just as much. Not getting outside and moving, even one day a week can lead to obesity and social nonacceptance. Overall, mental health as well as physical health is greatly and negatively affected by FoMO. An easy search of FoMO solutions can help with making those negative effects positive in any way. Although FoMO cannot be professionally or medically diagnosed there is much research on the solutions that can make FoMO not as bad or even go away. Gregory Brown shares in his article “Fomo 2.0.,” “If you're hitting a dead end on what about "the swing of things" is stressing you, you might try making a list of how your life was better and worse before things picked up and how it's better and worse now.” Solutions like making a pros and cons list or a compare and contrast list are easy ways to identify the cause of the FoMO. Now this might not make it easier to stop the cause completely but realization is the first step to getting better. On top of that, Brown claims, “FOMO ISN'T ALL BAD: Some studies show that risk-seeking behavior—like taking out a loan to start a business or going for more reps at the gym—is more likely to occur when you see people around you taking similar risks.” FoMO could be a good thing. The feeling of being behind with the trends or “not keeping up with the Jones” could cause a spark of motivation in someone specific. A simple compare and contrast list could do the trick of just realizing what is really causing this FoMO but finally acting on that realization is a step in the right direction. FoMO is an extreme problem that more and more people are dealing with everyday. So things like social media will be detrimental to worsening the feeling of being left out, having anxiety about not fitting in, or feeling depressed about not being somewhere ‘everybody else’ is. FoMO can cause mental disorders that could lead to someone harming themselves or people around them as well. Realizing what is causing this feeling is a good first step to getting rid of the anxiety, depression, and feeling of missing out. Then acting on that, maybe even with some help, will have someone with FoMO feeling content with themselves. All in all, helping this feeling is better for anyone's overall health. So do you think FoMO is a big problem?