Anxious, bored, and (maybe) missing out: Evaluation of anxiety attachment, boredom proneness, and fear of missing out (FoMO)

Fear of missing out (FoMO) describes the concern of missing out on a rewarding experience. Though research demonstrates anxiety and depression severity are related to FoMO, there are gaps in the literature regarding mediating factors between these variables which may explain why not everyone is equally inclined to experience FoMO. Specifically, boredom proneness and anxiety attachment may provide further understanding of how FoMO intensity is not uniform for individuals of similar anxiety and depression severity. The aims of this study were to test if boredom proneness mediates the relations of both anxiety and depression severity with FoMO. An additional aim was to examine if anxiety attachment mediates the relationship between boredom proneness and FoMO. To this end, we recruited 450 adults from across the United States who completed multiple survey measures. By use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) we tested multiple theoretical models. Results indicated anxiety attachment influences how boredom proneness predicts FoMO. Additionally, boredom proneness appears to regulate the activation of anxiety attachment by mediating anxiety and depression severity. Boredom proneness also mediated the relations of anxiety and depression severity with FoMO. As not everyone is equally inclined to FoMO, the current research contributes to the empirical literature by highlighting individual differences which further explain the apprehensions that one is missing out. We discuss the multi-dimensional nature of FoMO and the theoretical basis for our results. Limitations and suggestions for future research is outlined.