FoMO Anxiety Scale – Chinese Version

Description

In daily life, people have social needs, and the university student demographic exhibits a pressing desire for social interaction. This strong need for interpersonal connection drives students to want to understand others and share their life experiences. University students are in the age group that uses social media most frequently, making online social interactions a crucial part of their social lives. The term “fear of missing out” (FoMO) was first introduced by American writer Anne Stampler in 2011, who described it as a universal tendency to be curious about what happens in the lives of others, to constantly monitor social media platforms, to want to interact frequently with friends, and to feel disappointed about missing out on shared activities. Subsequently, J. Walter Thompson Intelligence defined it as a state of persistent anxiety about missing out on something, where individuals may not even know what they are missing but nonetheless fear that others might be having a great time. This study adopts the definition by Przybylski et al., describing FoMO as a diffuse anxiety that arises from the worry of missing others’ exciting experiences and rewards. FoMO is a subtype of anxiety and a special type of anxious behavior. FoMO also acts as a personality variable, meaning that people have varying degrees of inclination toward it, which is influenced by factors such as the environment and interpersonal relationships. Externally, FoMO manifests as a reluctance to miss gatherings with friends in offline situations and as frequent log-ins and content refreshing on social media in online environments. Internally, it reflects a continuous desire to know what others are doing. Individuals with high FoMO are at greater risk of developing maladaptive behaviors and are more easily attracted to low-cost platforms like social media. Overall, a higher level of FoMO can lead individuals to become immersed in social media, generating various maladaptive behavioral problems. The Fear of Missing Out scale (FoMOs), developed by Przybylski et al., is the most widely used instrument for measuring FoMO.

Authors and Contact Email

Information not available.

Purpose

This paper discusses the phenomenon of FoMO and its implications for university students, focusing on how they seek interpersonal connections and the effects of social media on their behavior.

Test Year

Information not available.

Administration Method and Scoring

The FoMO scale employs a five-point Likert scoring (1=完全不符合; 2=比较不符合; 3=不确定; 4=比较符合; 5=完全符合;), where a higher total score indicates a higher level of FoMO.

Reliability and Validity

A survey was conducted using a convenient sampling method involving students from two universities in Henan and Hebei, collecting data from 504 questionnaires, of which 466 were valid, resulting in an effectiveness rate of 92.5%. The average age of respondents was 21.63±1.56 years. The levels of FoMO among respondents were as follows: FoMO 2.93±0.68, Information anxiety 2.97±0.82, Contextual anxiety 2.96±0.83. Further data was gathered from five universities in Nanchang, resulting in a total of 1092 valid questionnaires.

Factors and Subscales

The items measuring FoMO are divided into two factors:
1. **错失信息焦虑 (Information Anxiety)**
2. **错失情境焦虑 (Contextual Anxiety)**

Keywords

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), Social Media, University Students, Anxiety, Interpersonal Relationships.

Items in Chinese

错失信息恐惧
1. 我害怕其他人比我有更多精彩的经历、收获。
2. 我害怕我的朋友比我有更多精彩的经历、收获。
3. 当我发现我的朋友玩得很开心的时候没有我，我会感到烦恼。
4. 当我不知道我的朋友在忙什么时，我会感到焦虑。

错失情境恐惧
7. 当我错过了和朋友见面的机会时，我会感到烦恼。
8. 当我玩得开心时，在线与大家分享发生的事对我来说很重要(比如，更新状态)。
9. 当我错过一个已经计划好的聚会时，我会感到烦恼。
10. 当我外出旅行时，我仍密切关注朋友的最新动向。

Items in English

Information Anxiety
1. I fear that others have more exciting experiences and rewards than I do.
2. I fear that my friends have more exciting experiences and rewards than I do.
3. I feel upset when I find out that my friends had fun without me.
4. I feel anxious when I don’t know what my friends are up to.

Contextual Anxiety
7. I feel upset when I miss the chance to meet with friends.
8. It is important for me to share what is happening online when I’m having fun (e.g., updating my status).
9. I feel upset when I miss a planned gathering.
10. I still closely follow my friends’ latest updates while traveling.

References

李琦,王佳宁,赵思琦,等.错失焦虑量表测评大学生的效度和信度[J].中国心理卫生杂志,2019.
张亚利,李森,俞国良.大学生错失焦虑与认知失败的关系:手机社交媒体依赖的中介作用[J].中国临床心理学杂志,2020,v.28(01):72-75+86.
胡光友.基本心理需要满足与大学生问题性社交网络使用的关系[D].2020.