Working Hypothesis: The act of FOMO, the fear of missing out, is not a new psychological phenomenon that has been created by social media, but something that is almost impossible to identify because of its inevitable occurrence in an individual’s everyday life. 

I want to prove that previous studies show individuals rather than just adolescents experience FOMO, whether it be a quick thought that goes in and out of the head of someone, or an experience that can stick in someone’s head, and possibly result in depression or anxiety-like symptoms. Furthermore, the public is trying to raise concern with individuals on social media that are getting diagnosed with these disorders and even suicides, but social media is too new and fresh for data to be analyzed on how FOMO can contribute to it.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503023000154#bib0002

Background: This long article details different studies done on individuals who may experience FOMO in an everyday situation. Many of these individuals were categorized into different feelings of when they experienced this effect. The article details many different types of FOMO that could occur, one of the most common being experiencing FOMO while at work or missing work.

How I intend to use it: This article helps to prove my point that FOMO can occur in anyone’s life and it does not have to do with social media. It also helps me to highlight how different types of FOMO have been heavily studied dating back to the early 2000’s.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563213000800

Background: I was able to find this article from reading down into the first source that I found, and this article details in depth the psychological aspect of FOMO and how it affects the brain. A study was able to be conducted on adults (Aged 22-65) rather than children in which they were examined on their overall well being. The hypothesis was that those who fulfilled their satisfaction for the day and did what they were supposed to do generally had a lower rate of FOMO. 

How I intend to use it: The study reveals that their tested hypothesis was correct. However, what helps me in this paper is that the study was conducted in 2011, and there were exactly 50% male and 50% female who responded to the survey. This helps me prove the sexual differences of FOMO to narrow my research point.

3rd Source: https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v43/acr_vol43_1019794.pdf 

Background: This article discusses the basic argument that is being made in favor of social media. Individuals in the adolescent age group are specifically examined in this study. A poll was taken from students of a University on whether or not they experience FOMO, and 75% of the students surveyed corresponded social media use to experiencing feelings of missing out. 

How I intend to use it: I believe that although this is the point that I am trying to refute, it will help me greatly when writing my rebuttal argument and proving my “worthy opponent” wrong. Further in the article, it highlights that those who experience FOMO more frequently also attribute it to scenarios outside of social media like family, friends, or coworkers.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219303735

Background: In the beginning of this article, it defines the idea of what workplace FOMO is, and how it can contribute to poor performance for the employee in their specific department. Different studies were taken and examined individual’s feelings of FOMO and what it made them feel like. Surveys were conducted where there were different outcomes and fears that the employees correlated it too, some of those being missing out on work information, fear of missing out on new work opportunities, and more.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this article to further prove my point that FOMO is its own psychological disorder rather than something that contributes to other disorders. Although everyone may experience FOMO, the negative thoughts that reside in people’s minds are mostly different, which is why these surveys are conducted.

Source: Anxiety and stress severity are related to greater fear of missing out on rewarding experiences: A latent profile analysis

Background: This article published in the Psych Journal discusses the anxiety and depression that correlates with FOMO. However, something that is important for me to note in this article is that when studies were conducted on these individuals in particular, they were divided by sex, which can further narrow my results and analysis. A FOMO scale was used to survey these university students, which is basically a questionnaire the student can fill out for example “when I miss out on a planned get together it bothers me”. It was found that females generally experienced more FOMO like symptoms than men, but the men experienced more depressive symptoms than the females. The article made their research extremely accurate by removing any outsiders. For example, they removed 114 student’s replies that were careless or insufficient responses

How I intend to use it: Although there were differences seen in sex for different symptoms, the article later puts out a disclaimer that the differences in scores between the females and males were not statistically significant. This helps me to prove that FOMO is an inevitable part of life that directly affects the brain rather than causing other underlying conditions.