Effect of Mindless Scrolling on Fear of Missing Out

Description

Page: 73-75

Gunjan and Sunita Devi (Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana)

Students frequently mindlessly go through Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. It provides an interesting amount of entertainment, but there are also drawbacks, such as the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), which provides the fear that you will lose out on experiences if you do not scroll, amplifying the cycle. The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of mindless scrolling on the fear of missing out among students. 120 college students were recruited to conduct the study. Self-reported measures were used to collect the data from the sample. The collected data was statistically analyzed on SPSS-26 using regression analysis. The outcomes of the regression analysis depicted that mindless scrolling (F=14.66, p<.001) predicts the level of FOMO in participants by explaining approximately twelve to thirteen percent of the variance in FOMO. The outcome of the study depicted that students who scroll mindlessly on social media websites including YouTube or Instagram are more prone to FOMO. These findings underscore the need for awareness programs emphasizing mindful social media usage and managing social media habits more effectively.