The Relationship Between Social Media Usage, Fear of Missing Out and Loneliness Among Youth in Kerala

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Data were gathered from 303 participants through standardized instruments like UCLA Loneliness Scale, a revised FOMO scale and a subscale from the MTUAS for measuring social media engagement. Analysis showed that heavier use of social media tends to align with stronger feelings of FOMO and greater loneliness. Clear patterns emerged in gender differences, with women reporting higher FOMO and loneliness levels than men. Place of residence also shaped outcomes whereas individuals living in urban areas showed higher scores across all three variables compared to those from semi-urban and rural settings. Regression analysis pointed out to FOMO as a significant driver of social media usage, while loneliness had a weaker direct impact. These results suggest a reinforcing loop where online behaviour and emotional vulnerabilities intensify one another. The study highlights the urgent need for interventions that encourage healthier digital habits and to strengthen emotional resilience among young users navigating today's highly connected world. Key Messages Social media use, FOMO, and loneliness are positively correlated among youth. Females report significantly higher FOMO and loneliness. Urban youth are more affected by FOMO and loneliness. FOMO strongly predicts social media engagement. Psychological interventions should address FOMO in youth digital behaviour. Introduction Social media platforms have transformed communication worldwide, offering rapid connectivity while simultaneously raising serious concerns about their psychological effects (Smith & Jones, 2019). Among these effects, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has emerged as a significant issue, particularly for young adults of age 18–30, whose developmental stage is deeply rooted in seeking peer validation (Williams et al., 2022). Although intended to enhance social interaction, frequent and prolonged social media use paradoxically contributes to increased feelings of loneliness and emotional disconnection (Brown & Green, 2021). Youth and Social Media Use Young adults aged between 18 and 30 are among the most active users of social media platforms, often engaging in daily interactions that shape their personal and social identities (Vogel et al., 2014). Visually driven platforms, such as Instagram, have intensified the process of social comparison, leading to dissatisfaction with one's own life and experiences (Fox, 2016). In collectivistic societies, where belonging and group acceptance are highly valued, the emotional consequences of online social comparison can be even more profound (Triandis, 1995). Compounding this issue, algorithmic content personalization continuously reinforces user engagement by selectively showing content that fosters comparison and emotional reactivity (Kornreich, 2018). This tailored exposure increases the likelihood of compulsive social media use, contributing to digital addiction patterns among young users (Reer et al., 2019). Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Its Impact FOMO, first defined by Przybylski et al. (2013), refers to the pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. Research suggests that individuals experiencing high levels of FOMO also report elevated anxiety, lower self-esteem, and a greater need for online validation (Stead & Bibby, 2017). The association between FOMO and problematic internet use has been clearly established, emphasizing its role in driving excessive digital engagement (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). Individuals with a pronounced fear of missing out often engage in compulsive behaviours such as repetitive checking and posting, seeking reassurance through online feedback (Alt, 2015). Unaddressed, FOMO can escalate into severe emotional distress, negatively influencing self-perception and social relationships (Casale & Fioravanti, 2015). Furthermore, the rise of influencer culture has amplified these dynamics, presenting curated, often unattainable lifestyles that heighten feelings of exclusion among ordinary users (Vincent, 2021). This cultural shift not only impacts emotional health but also influences consumer behaviour patterns, with many individuals making impulsive purchasing decisions to maintain social relevance (Lu & Sinha, 2024). Loneliness in the Digital Age Loneliness is commonly described as the painful feeling that arises when an individual's social relationships are perceived as insufficient (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). It can be classified into three types: social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential loneliness, each representing different dimensions of perceived isolation (Streefkerk, 2020). Social loneliness occurs when an individual lacks a broad social network, while emotional loneliness results from the absence of intimate bonds (Perlman & Peplau, 1981). Existential loneliness, by contrast, emerges during periods of deep reflection on life transitions or mortality (Weiss, 1973). Although social media promises to bridge communication gaps, excessive engagement has been associated with increased experiences of loneliness, especially among young adults (Kross et al., 2013). Research indicates that while digital interactions are frequent, they often lack the depth and emotional resonance of in-person communication (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007). In the Indian context, it has been observed that nearly 24% of young people experience loneliness, with urban residents being more affected than those in rural areas (Srivastava & Srivastava, 2023). Studies further show that the higher prevalence of loneliness in urban populations may be linked to lifestyle factors, reduced communal interactions, and increased individualistic living conditions (Bessière et al., 2008). Interplay of Social Media, FOMO and Loneliness The relationship between social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness appears to be deeply cyclical and mutually reinforcing (Li et al., 2023). Frequent engagement with social media increases exposure to curated experiences, which fuels FOMO and heightens feelings of exclusion (Luth & Maryam, 2023). As these feelings intensify, individuals may turn even more to online platforms in an attempt to reestablish a sense of belonging, thus perpetuating the cycle of emotional dependency (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010). Importance of the Study Given the deep entrenchment of social media in daily life, there is an urgent need to explore how these interconnected psychological variables impact youth. Understanding the dynamics among social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness provides valuable insights into behavioral patterns in both social and personal contexts (Jose et al., 2022). Existing studies have demonstrated that increased time spent on platforms like Instagram correlates with higher levels of FOMO and loneliness among young individuals in India (Sudheer & Saligram, 2023). However, the specific connection between these three factors has been underexplored, especially within Indian settings where cultural expectations and digital behaviours may interact uniquely. Bridging this research gap is critical, as it will offer a comprehensive understanding of how modern digital habits affect emotional well-being (Sharma et al., 2022). By shedding light on these connections, effective strategies can be formulated to promote mindful social media use, build emotional resilience, and enhance psychological health among young adults. Conceptual Model The conceptual model for this study shows the relationships between social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness. This Social media act as a primary influencing factor, triggering fear of missing out through social comparison and digital reinforcement mechanisms. FOMO, in turn, contributes to emotional and social loneliness, creating a loop where individuals increasingly rely on social media to fill the emotional void, spreading the cycle of digital dependency. Social Media Usage → FOMO (Higher social media engagement increases FOMO) FOMO → Loneliness (Increased FOMO leads to higher loneliness) Social Media Usage → Loneliness (Social media usage can directly contribute to loneliness) Objectives 1) To find the gender-based disparity in Fear of missing out, loneliness, and social media usage. 2) To investigate whether Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Loneliness, and Social Media (SM) Usage vary based on place of living 3) To analyse the correlation between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Loneliness, and Social Media Usage. 4) To assess the impact of Social Media (SM) Usage on Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Loneliness. Hypothesis H₀₁ : There is no significant gender difference in Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage. H₀₂ : There is no significant difference in Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage based on the place of living. H₀₃ : There is no significant correlation among Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage. H₀₄ : Social media usage does not significantly predict Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and loneliness. Materials and Methods Participants and Procedure The total sample that was collected throughout the research was 303. The population opted for this study was from Kerala within an age group of 18–30. Online Google forms were provided to the participants for collecting data. Sampling method used for collecting the data was convenient sampling. Inclusion Criteria The inclusion criteria for this study require participants to be young adults aged 18 to 30, residing in Kerala, and actively using social media. Exclusion Criteria The participants above or below the specified age range are not allowed to participate in this study. Those who are from place other than Kerala ,also not considered. Tools UCLA loneliness scale UCLA loneliness scale consists of 20 items, measuring subjective feelings of loneliness and the individuals feelings of isolation. It is a Four point scale with a test -retest correlation coefficient found to be 0.73 which implies good stability over time. The Cronbach's α value is 0.959 which denotes an extremely high level of internal consistency reliability. Scoring for this test goes like those with higher scores have higher level of loneliness and vice-verse. FOMO scale The scale used for getting FOMO Score is developed by Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, and Gladwell in 2013. Over the years since its development this scale has transformed a lot, Originally it consists of 32 items and latest revised version is having 10. This is a 5-point Likert scale. Individual scores are computed by dividing the total mean score and then dividing it with the number of items. This scale has excellent internal reliability consistency. The Cronbach’s α value 0.898 implies that the scale exhibits high internal consistency. The higher the values of Cronbach α are, the higher the internal consistency reliability is perceived by the researcher which implies that the items in the scale are more interrelated (Przybylski et al., 2013). MTUAS Social Media Usage Scale is a 9 item subscale from MTUAS Scale which is used to measure the Attitude of individuals on General social media use. Scoring of this scale is a 10point frequency scale ranging from All the time ( 10 ) to Never ( 1 ).The interpretation of this scale is like that, higher the score indicated high score and lower the score indicated low score. Reliability of this Sub-scale found to be 0.87. This implies that this scale possesses acceptable internal consistency reliability. The items of this scale are moderately interconnected (Rosen et al., 2013). Analysis Jamovi 2.3.26 version is used as the statistical software to analyse the data for this study. The tests that are used are Descriptive tests, Independent sample t-test, One way ANOVA with post hoc test, Pearson’s product moment correlation test, Regression analysis & Reliability analysis. Pearson’s correlation test is used to find the correlation between variables, One way ANOVA is used to determine significant differences among the means of 3 or more groups, Another test known as linear regression helps to locate the predictors to dependent variables and Used reliability analysis to check the reliability value of all the variables, and For comparing the means of 2 unrelated groups Independent sample t-test is used. Results Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations for Fear of Missing Out, Loneliness, and Social Media Usage. Variable M SD Skewness Kurtosis 1 2 3 Fear of Missing Out 22.6 12.6 -0.28 -0.65 — Loneliness 28.8 16.0 -0.08 -1.28 .612*** — Social Media Usage 53.2 13.4 -0.18 0.03 .460*** .332*** — Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Table 2 Group differences in Gender for the variable loneliness and Fear of missing out. Variables Men Women T(301) P Cohen’s d M SD M SD Loneliness 26.9 15.99 31.1 15.75 -2.26 0.025 .29 FOMO 24.6 8.83 28.5 9.55 -3.66 < .001 .40 Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Note Gender coded as Male = 1, Female = 2. d = Cohen’s d Table 3 Group differences regarding the place of living Variables Rural Semi-Urban Urban F P Value η² M SD M SD M SD Loneliness 30 16.28 24.2 13.66 31.2 16.77 5.91 0.003 .05 FOMO 24.6 9.07 24.7 8.74 29.4 9.38 9.31 < .001 .09 Social Media Usage 52.8 13.4 50.4 13.4 55.7 12.9 3.98 0.020 .03 Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Note Place of Living groups coded as = Rural = 1, Semi-Urban = 2, Urban = 3. η² = partial eta squared. Table 4 Correlations Between Fear of Missing Out, Loneliness, and Social Media Usage. Variable 1 2 3 Fear of Missing Out — Loneliness .612*** — Social Media Usage .460*** .332*** — Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Table 5 Regression analysis of FOMO, Loneliness on Social media usage Predictor variable t- value P Value Estimate (B) Model summary Intercept 17.47 < 0.001 35.76 R = 0.464 R² = 0.215 Adjusted R² = 0.210 F = 41.2 Fear of missing out 6.34 < 0.001 0.5869 Loneliness 1.25 0.212 0.0676 Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Discussions Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for the 3 variables FOMO, Loneliness and social media usage. The contents of this table include Sample Size, Range, Minimum and Maximum values for each variables, Mean value of each variable, Standard deviation, Skewness and Kurtosis. Table 2 , Since there are 2 groups in gender section, independent sample t test is performed and result reveals significant gender difference in Loneliness. So the Null hypothesis(H 01 ) is rejected. This finding implies crucial role of gender in the experience of loneliness, with females being more susceptible than males(Kirwan, 2020). Particularly a study conducted by Martel(2013), Point out that loneliness typically emerges in adulthood, where females are at much risk of having adolescent-onset internalizing problems. Social and emotional factors, such as greater sensitivity to social rejection and higher expectations for social relationships, contributes to the heightened feelings of loneliness in females (Maes., et al., 2014). Females are more likely to engage in social comparisons, which can intensify feelings of loneliness and social isolation (Buell & Snyder, 2019). This body of evidence underscores the need for gender-specific interventions to address loneliness, particularly among young women in emerging adulthood. Supporting this, Pinquart & Sörensen (2001) conducted one study to explore the gender difference and the result point out that there exists significant gender difference on Loneliness, Also, the study support the current study findings that Females exhibit more loneliness than males. Gursoy and Bıçakç (2006) give an explanation for this gender difference is because Females have less opportunity to Socialize than Men, also male adolescents participate more in Sports activities and Social activities contributing high chances to get socialize. These factors make it vulnerable for Females to feel more loneliness than that of males. Independent sample t test is performed to find the gender difference in FOMO and there exists significant gender difference in FOMO. Since there is significant gender difference between the groups, the Null hypothesis was rejected. The mean difference between the 2 gender groups indicate that female participants exhibit more FOMO as related to male participants. Widiyastono & Evita (2022) Explored the gender difference in experiencing FOMO in Gen Z population. There exists gender difference in FOMO & Females tend to shows high mean score on Fomo than males. (Ine Beyens et.al) Conducted study to explore adolescents Facebook related stress and Fear of missing out, Findings revealed significant gender difference on Fomo and Females have more Fomo than Males. Females have high tendency to connect with others and Fear of missing out arise when they miss social gatherings or opportunities to connect with friends and family. Also, they have high need to get validation from others, so they are more prone to FOMO when they are not much popular on social media. Cultural factors also have significant connection with in certain populations for FOMO. Table 3 shows the group differences regarding the place of living. One-Way ANOVA is used to detect the differences between FOMO ,Social medja usage and Loneliness based on individuals place of living. Null-Hypothesis(H₀₂ ) states that there is no significant differences in loneliness, Social medja usage and FOMO among individuals based on their place of living. The results indicate that H₀₂ is rejected and so we can claim that there exists differences in variables among residents from different places. Post hoc test is conducted to find differences among variables in between different groups, Urban residents experienced more loneliness compared to those from semi-urban areas, suggesting that living in cities may increase feelings of isolation. Similarly, FOMO was notably higher among urban participants than among rural and semi-urban individuals, highlighting the greater social pressures often present in city life. In terms of social media usage, urban participants reported higher use than those from semi-urban areas, although the overall difference was smaller compared to the other variables. The researcher contributes the cause factor for this difference for the fast-paced lifestyle and higher social demands prevailing more in urban settings (Valkenburg & Peter,2007). Przybylski’s Findings also point out that FOMO is more prevalent in Urban individuals than individuals from rural areas. Continuous exposure to social gatherings, events and activities are found to be the core factors leading for Fear of missing out in Individuals in Urban settings than rural as the probability of missing out of events are higher for them with comparing to other settings (Przybylski et al ,2013). Bessiere et al investigated social media usage among individuals of urban, rural and semi-urban settings. The result show’s significant difference in social media usage between these 3 settings. Urban residents are found to use social media more frequently than that of people from rest to settings. Greater accessibility, Low digital gap and better network facilities yield this higher social media usage among the individuals in Urban settings (Bessière et al,2008). Recently some studies on psychological impacts of social media usage also demonstrate that there exists significant FOMO and loneliness issue among individuals from Urban area than that of people from rural area. The main contributing factor behind this is due to busy and competitive life style in Urban settings than rest of the other two settings (Lou et al, 2012). Table 4 , Karl Pearson Product Moment correlation is performed to understand the relationship between the variables. P-value obtained for all scores is less than 0.01, Null Hypothesis ( H 03 ) is rejected and suggests that Participants with high FOMO tend to engage more in usage of social media and Vice-verse. There exists a moderate positive correlation between loneliness and Usage of Social Media ,so individuals with higher level of loneliness tend to have higher social media usage and vice-verse. So there is clear cut evidence to state that as usage of social media increases ,loneliness increases among users and vice-verse. Meta Analysis was explored and the analysis suggest that there is positive relationship between the variables FOMO and social media use. Within the broad aspect of social media, specific analysis was conducted linking up all social media platforms, and Instagram was the one which show strong relationship with FOMO as comparing to Facebook and Snap-chat. The result of this study is related with Media effect model that connects addiction of social media as an key for Fear of missing out (Zhang,&Yali Li, 2021). Problematical use of Social Media consists of Fear of missing out and increased stickness. Study centred around Loneliness Problematical use of Social Media also indicates positive correlation. It can be interpreted as when Problematic social media use increase, Loneliness also increases. This indicates the relationship and constancy of loneliness, Social Media use and FOMO (Zhang et al., 2023). A Cross-sectional study evaluated the connection between Daily loneliness, Social Media usage and FOMO. The findings of the study also highlights correlation between these variables which is relevant to the findings of the present study( Wang, M., Li, Y., & Xu, Y. (2023). Table 5 presents the effect of Social Media Usage on FOMO and Loneliness. The results indicate that the overall regression model is statistically significant and explains approximately 21.5% of the variance in social media usage. Among the predictors, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) emerged as a significant positive predictor, suggesting that individuals experiencing higher levels of FOMO are more likely to engage in greater social media use. However loneliness did not make a meaningful contribution to predict social media usage when FOMO was considered in the analysis. (Nusrath et al, 2020) Investigated the connection between FOMO, mindfulness and social media usage among adolescents and same pattern is found. (Przybylski, 2013) in one of the foundational studies found that People with high FOMO tend to use social media more to reduce their fears of missing out on rewarding experiences. (Boniel-Nissim, M, 2018) also arrived at a conclusion suggesting that FOMO mediates the connection between surface learning approaches and problematic internet use. This indicates that students with higher FOMO are more susceptible to excessive online engagement activities than people with low FOMO. (Blackwell Et al, 2017) conducted research involving personality traits and FOMO as predicators of social media use and digital addiction. The results suggest that People with higher FOMO Levels are more likely to develop addictive behaviours related to social media platforms. In contrast, Loneliness was found to have a non-significant effect, indicating that its contribution to predicting social media usage is minimal. From these findings, it can be inferred that social media usage significantly contributes to the development of FOMO, reinforcing the notion that individuals who frequently engage with social media beyond a typical threshold are more prone to experiencing a fear of missing out. While loneliness does not appear to directly predict social media use, FOMO serves as a critical driving force, highlighting the importance of addressing this factor in discussions surrounding excessive social media engagement. Thus, managing FOMO-related tendencies may be essential in mitigating the compulsive use of social media and its associated psychological effects. Conclusion, limitations, recommendations Conclusion The present study aimed to explore the relationship between loneliness, Social media use and Fear of missing out among young people from Kerala. The major findings of the study is that there are gender differences in loneliness and Fear of missing out. Additionally significant difference is found with these 3 variables in relation to their place of living. Also, there is a positive relationship between Fear of missing out, loneliness and Social media usage. This indicate that whereas social media usage increases, both loneliness and Fear of missing out also increases. It is also found that Independent variable Social media usage has significant effect on both Loneliness and Fear of missing out. Limitations The cross-sectional nature of this study limits the ability to find causal relationships between the variables Fear of Missing Out, loneliness, and social media usage. Since It capture data at a single point of time, it leads to missing of potential longitudinal changes. Self-reported measures may lead to biases, so it affects the accuracy in reporting social media usage, Fear of missing out and loneliness. From the feedback of the study it is found that, due to length, participants simply rush through the survey, fail to answer some of the questions or give rather shallow responses. It is also evident that participant’s attention span, especially the youths is usually low. A common challenge is that long or even complicated questionnaires may cause respondent fatigue and the effect may have negative impacts on data quality Recommendations . It is recommended to use longitudinal studies to get exact insight about the causal relationship between variables. Qualitative methods like interviews, focus group discussions and case studies should be used to get deeper insight into the participants understanding on FOMO and loneliness in the context of social media. Pre and post test research might be performed by implementing interventions that could be presented in the form of a technology detox, social media awareness sessions etc. Scholars should focus more on different social media platforms and features (likes, comments, followers) connecting these variables to get more details about the triggering factors. Cross-Cultural Comparisons is a possibility that should be considered and by Comparing results across regions and cultures will help to identify universal and unique trends. Adapt research to evolving social media platforms and emerging digital behaviours based on latest Tech Trends & Updates especially considering the fact that Artificial intelligence and quantum computing is grabbing attention in this virtual world. Declarations Ethical Considerations The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Department of Applied Psychology, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India, as part of the postgraduate research requirements during the academic period 2022–2024. While the institution does not have a formal Institutional Ethics Committee and therefore could not issue an official ethical approval letter, the study was conducted in accordance with academic ethical standards. All procedures were reviewed and approved at the departmental level by the supervising faculty. The research adhered to the ethical principles outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA) and was consistent with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent revisions. Consent to Participate Before participating, everyone was fully informed about the purpose of this study and what it would involve and got their consent to participate in this study. All data collected has been kept confidential, meaning it is securely stored and only accessible to the research team. This ensures that participant’s privacy is fully respected and maintained throughout the study. Consent to Publish This manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data in any form (including images, videos, or identifiable information). Therefore, consent for publication is not applicable. Conflict of Interest The authors declare that there are no financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could have influenced the conduct, interpretation or presentation of this research. The manuscript has been prepared and submitted with full academic integrity and transparency. Funding Declaration This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. All stages of the study including design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and manuscript preparation were carried out independently by the authors without any external financial support. Author Contribution Jithu J Krishnan conceptualized and designed the study, collected and analysed data and prepared the manuscript draft. Dr. Indumathy Jayaprakash provided guidance, supervision and critical revision of the manuscript. Both authors reviewed and approved the final version of the paper. Data Availability All data generated or analysed during this study are presented within this published article. The raw participant data sheets contain personal and confidential information and therefore cannot be shared publicly. 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Krishnan¹","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jithu","middleName":"J","lastName":"Krishnan¹","suffix":""},{"id":546359948,"identity":"fb50b269-1972-4e4d-958b-03aa47c887a7","order_by":1,"name":"Indumathy Jayaprakash²","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development 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08:40:53","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":768324,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7851850/v1/e671247b-cb0a-4589-8dbe-78b87b782820.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Relationship Between Social Media Usage, Fear of Missing Out and Loneliness Among Youth in Kerala","fulltext":[{"header":"Key Messages","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial media use, FOMO, and loneliness are positively correlated among youth.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFemales report significantly higher FOMO and loneliness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eUrban youth are more affected by FOMO and loneliness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOMO strongly predicts social media engagement.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePsychological interventions should address FOMO in youth digital behaviour.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial media platforms have transformed communication worldwide, offering rapid connectivity while simultaneously raising serious concerns about their psychological effects (Smith \u0026amp; Jones, 2019). Among these effects, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has emerged as a significant issue, particularly for young adults of age 18\u0026ndash;30, whose developmental stage is deeply rooted in seeking peer validation (Williams et al., 2022). Although intended to enhance social interaction, frequent and prolonged social media use paradoxically contributes to increased feelings of loneliness and emotional disconnection (Brown \u0026amp; Green, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eYouth and Social Media Use\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYoung adults aged between 18 and 30 are among the most active users of social media platforms, often engaging in daily interactions that shape their personal and social identities (Vogel et al., 2014). Visually driven platforms, such as Instagram, have intensified the process of social comparison, leading to dissatisfaction with one's own life and experiences (Fox, 2016). In collectivistic societies, where belonging and group acceptance are highly valued, the emotional consequences of online social comparison can be even more profound (Triandis, 1995). Compounding this issue, algorithmic content personalization continuously reinforces user engagement by selectively showing content that fosters comparison and emotional reactivity (Kornreich, 2018). This tailored exposure increases the likelihood of compulsive social media use, contributing to digital addiction patterns among young users (Reer et al., 2019).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Its Impact\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOMO, first defined by Przybylski et al. (2013), refers to the pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. Research suggests that individuals experiencing high levels of FOMO also report elevated anxiety, lower self-esteem, and a greater need for online validation (Stead \u0026amp; Bibby, 2017). The association between FOMO and problematic internet use has been clearly established, emphasizing its role in driving excessive digital engagement (Kuss \u0026amp; Griffiths, 2017). Individuals with a pronounced fear of missing out often engage in compulsive behaviours such as repetitive checking and posting, seeking reassurance through online feedback (Alt, 2015). Unaddressed, FOMO can escalate into severe emotional distress, negatively influencing self-perception and social relationships (Casale \u0026amp; Fioravanti, 2015). Furthermore, the rise of influencer culture has amplified these dynamics, presenting curated, often unattainable lifestyles that heighten feelings of exclusion among ordinary users (Vincent, 2021). This cultural shift not only impacts emotional health but also influences consumer behaviour patterns, with many individuals making impulsive purchasing decisions to maintain social relevance (Lu \u0026amp; Sinha, 2024).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLoneliness in the Digital Age\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness is commonly described as the painful feeling that arises when an individual's social relationships are perceived as insufficient (Cacioppo \u0026amp; Patrick, 2008). It can be classified into three types: social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential loneliness, each representing different dimensions of perceived isolation (Streefkerk, 2020). Social loneliness occurs when an individual lacks a broad social network, while emotional loneliness results from the absence of intimate bonds (Perlman \u0026amp; Peplau, 1981). Existential loneliness, by contrast, emerges during periods of deep reflection on life transitions or mortality (Weiss, 1973). Although social media promises to bridge communication gaps, excessive engagement has been associated with increased experiences of loneliness, especially among young adults (Kross et al., 2013). Research indicates that while digital interactions are frequent, they often lack the depth and emotional resonance of in-person communication (Valkenburg \u0026amp; Peter, 2007). In the Indian context, it has been observed that nearly 24% of young people experience loneliness, with urban residents being more affected than those in rural areas (Srivastava \u0026amp; Srivastava, 2023). Studies further show that the higher prevalence of loneliness in urban populations may be linked to lifestyle factors, reduced communal interactions, and increased individualistic living conditions (Bessi\u0026egrave;re et al., 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eInterplay of Social Media, FOMO and Loneliness\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe relationship between social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness appears to be deeply cyclical and mutually reinforcing (Li et al., 2023). Frequent engagement with social media increases exposure to curated experiences, which fuels FOMO and heightens feelings of exclusion (Luth \u0026amp; Maryam, 2023). As these feelings intensify, individuals may turn even more to online platforms in an attempt to reestablish a sense of belonging, thus perpetuating the cycle of emotional dependency (Hawkley \u0026amp; Cacioppo, 2010).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eImportance of the Study\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGiven the deep entrenchment of social media in daily life, there is an urgent need to explore how these interconnected psychological variables impact youth. Understanding the dynamics among social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness provides valuable insights into behavioral patterns in both social and personal contexts (Jose et al., 2022). Existing studies have demonstrated that increased time spent on platforms like Instagram correlates with higher levels of FOMO and loneliness among young individuals in India (Sudheer \u0026amp; Saligram, 2023). However, the specific connection between these three factors has been underexplored, especially within Indian settings where cultural expectations and digital behaviours may interact uniquely. Bridging this research gap is critical, as it will offer a comprehensive understanding of how modern digital habits affect emotional well-being (Sharma et al., 2022). By shedding light on these connections, effective strategies can be formulated to promote mindful social media use, build emotional resilience, and enhance psychological health among young adults.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConceptual Model\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe conceptual model for this study shows the relationships between social media usage, FOMO, and loneliness. This Social media act as a primary influencing factor, triggering fear of missing out through social comparison and digital reinforcement mechanisms. FOMO, in turn, contributes to emotional and social loneliness, creating a loop where individuals increasingly rely on social media to fill the emotional void, spreading the cycle of digital dependency.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage \u0026rarr; FOMO (Higher social media engagement increases FOMO)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOMO \u0026rarr; Loneliness (Increased FOMO leads to higher loneliness)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage \u0026rarr; Loneliness (Social media usage can directly contribute to loneliness)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan type=\"BoldUnderline\" class=\"BoldUnderline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eObjectives\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1) To find the gender-based disparity in Fear of missing out, loneliness, and social media usage.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2) To investigate whether Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Loneliness, and Social Media (SM) Usage vary based on place of living\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3) To analyse the correlation between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Loneliness, and Social Media Usage.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4) To assess the impact of Social Media (SM) Usage on Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Loneliness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eHypothesis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eH₀₁\u003c/b\u003e: There is no significant gender difference in Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eH₀₂\u003c/b\u003e: There is no significant difference in Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage based on the place of living.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eH₀₃\u003c/b\u003e: There is no significant correlation among Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, and social media usage.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eH₀₄\u003c/b\u003e: Social media usage does not significantly predict Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and loneliness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eParticipants and Procedure\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe total sample that was collected throughout the research was 303. The population opted for this study was from Kerala within an age group of 18\u0026ndash;30. Online Google forms were provided to the participants for collecting data. Sampling method used for collecting the data was convenient sampling.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eInclusion Criteria\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe inclusion criteria for this study require participants to be young adults aged 18 to 30, residing in Kerala, and actively using social media.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eExclusion Criteria\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe participants above or below the specified age range are not allowed to participate in this study. Those who are from place other than Kerala ,also not considered.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eTools\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eUCLA loneliness scale\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUCLA loneliness scale consists of 20 items, measuring subjective feelings of loneliness and the individuals feelings of isolation. It is a Four point scale with a test -retest correlation coefficient found to be 0.73 which implies good stability over time. The Cronbach's α value is 0.959 which denotes an extremely high level of internal consistency reliability. Scoring for this test goes like those with higher scores have higher level of loneliness and vice-verse.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFOMO scale\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe scale used for getting FOMO Score is developed by Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, and Gladwell in 2013. Over the years since its development this scale has transformed a lot, Originally it consists of 32 items and latest revised version is having 10. This is a 5-point Likert scale. Individual scores are computed by dividing the total mean score and then dividing it with the number of items. This scale has excellent internal reliability consistency. The Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α value 0.898 implies that the scale exhibits high internal consistency. The higher the values of Cronbach α are, the higher the internal consistency reliability is perceived by the researcher which implies that the items in the scale are more interrelated (Przybylski et al., 2013).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMTUAS\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage Scale is a 9 item subscale from MTUAS Scale which is used to measure the Attitude of individuals on General social media use. Scoring of this scale is a 10point frequency scale ranging from All the time (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e) to Never (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).The interpretation of this scale is like that, higher the score indicated high score and lower the score indicated low score. Reliability of this Sub-scale found to be 0.87. This implies that this scale possesses acceptable internal consistency reliability. The items of this scale are moderately interconnected (Rosen et al., 2013).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAnalysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJamovi 2.3.26 version is used as the statistical software to analyse the data for this study. The tests that are used are Descriptive tests, Independent sample t-test, One way ANOVA with post hoc test, Pearson\u0026rsquo;s product moment correlation test, Regression analysis \u0026amp; Reliability analysis. Pearson\u0026rsquo;s correlation test is used to find the correlation between variables, One way ANOVA is used to determine significant differences among the means of 3 or more groups, Another test known as linear regression helps to locate the predictors to dependent variables and Used reliability analysis to check the reliability value of all the variables, and For comparing the means of 2 unrelated groups Independent sample t-test is used.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDescriptive Statistics and Correlations for Fear of Missing Out, Loneliness, and Social Media Usage.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSkewness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eKurtosis\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFear of Missing Out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.65\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.08\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-1.28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.612***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.460***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.332***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNote. * p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05, ** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01, *** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGroup differences in Gender for the variable loneliness and Fear of missing out.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVariables\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMen\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWomen\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT(301)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCohen\u0026rsquo;s d\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.99\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.75\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-2.26\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.025\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.29\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOMO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.83\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.55\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-3.66\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNote. * p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05, ** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01, *** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender coded as Male\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, Female\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ed\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Cohen\u0026rsquo;s d\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGroup differences regarding the place of living\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVariables\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRural\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSemi-Urban\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUrban\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eP Value\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eη\u0026sup2;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.66\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.77\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.003\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.05\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOMO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.07\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.74\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.38\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.31\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.09\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e55.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.98\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.03\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNote. * p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05, ** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01, *** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Living groups coded as =\u0026thinsp;Rural\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, Semi-Urban\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2, Urban\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eη\u0026sup2; = partial eta squared.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCorrelations Between Fear of Missing Out, Loneliness, and Social Media Usage.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFear of Missing Out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.612***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Media Usage\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.460***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.332***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNote. * p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05, ** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01, *** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRegression analysis of FOMO, Loneliness on Social media usage\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredictor variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003et- value\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eP Value\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEstimate (B)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eModel summary\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntercept\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17.47\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35.76\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.464\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eR\u0026sup2; = 0.215\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdjusted R\u0026sup2; = 0.210\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;41.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFear of missing out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.34\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.5869\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLoneliness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.212\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.0676\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNote. * p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05, ** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01, *** p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001\u003c/h2\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussions","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows the descriptive statistics for the 3 variables FOMO, Loneliness and social media usage. The contents of this table include Sample Size, Range, Minimum and Maximum values for each variables, Mean value of each variable, Standard deviation, Skewness and Kurtosis.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, Since there are 2 groups in gender section, independent sample t test is performed and result reveals significant gender difference in Loneliness. So the Null hypothesis(H\u003csub\u003e01\u003c/sub\u003e) is rejected. This finding implies crucial role of gender in the experience of loneliness, with females being more susceptible than males(Kirwan, 2020). Particularly a study conducted by Martel(2013), Point out that loneliness typically emerges in adulthood, where females are at much risk of having adolescent-onset internalizing problems. Social and emotional factors, such as greater sensitivity to social rejection and higher expectations for social relationships, contributes to the heightened feelings of loneliness in females (Maes., et al., 2014). Females are more likely to engage in social comparisons, which can intensify feelings of loneliness and social isolation (Buell \u0026amp; Snyder, 2019). This body of evidence underscores the need for gender-specific interventions to address loneliness, particularly among young women in emerging adulthood. Supporting this, Pinquart \u0026amp; S\u0026ouml;rensen (2001) conducted one study to explore the gender difference and the result point out that there exists significant gender difference on Loneliness, Also, the study support the current study findings that Females exhibit more loneliness than males. Gursoy and Bı\u0026ccedil;ak\u0026ccedil; (2006) give an explanation for this gender difference is because Females have less opportunity to Socialize than Men, also male adolescents participate more in Sports activities and Social activities contributing high chances to get socialize. These factors make it vulnerable for Females to feel more loneliness than that of males. Independent sample t test is performed to find the gender difference in FOMO and there exists significant gender difference in FOMO. Since there is significant gender difference between the groups, the Null hypothesis was rejected. The mean difference between the 2 gender groups indicate that female participants exhibit more FOMO as related to male participants. Widiyastono \u0026amp; Evita (2022) Explored the gender difference in experiencing FOMO in Gen Z population. There exists gender difference in FOMO \u0026amp; Females tend to shows high mean score on Fomo than males. (Ine Beyens et.al) Conducted study to explore adolescents Facebook related stress and Fear of missing out, Findings revealed significant gender difference on Fomo and Females have more Fomo than Males. Females have high tendency to connect with others and Fear of missing out arise when they miss social gatherings or opportunities to connect with friends and family. Also, they have high need to get validation from others, so they are more prone to FOMO when they are not much popular on social media. Cultural factors also have significant connection with in certain populations for FOMO.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e shows the group differences regarding the place of living. One-Way ANOVA is used to detect the differences between FOMO ,Social medja usage and Loneliness based on individuals place of living. Null-Hypothesis(H₀₂\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e states that there is no significant differences in loneliness, Social medja usage and FOMO among individuals based on their place of living. The results indicate that \u003cb\u003eH₀₂\u003c/b\u003e is rejected and so we can claim that there exists differences in variables among residents from different places. Post hoc test is conducted to find differences among variables in between different groups, Urban residents experienced more loneliness compared to those from semi-urban areas, suggesting that living in cities may increase feelings of isolation. Similarly, FOMO was notably higher among urban participants than among rural and semi-urban individuals, highlighting the greater social pressures often present in city life. In terms of social media usage, urban participants reported higher use than those from semi-urban areas, although the overall difference was smaller compared to the other variables. The researcher contributes the cause factor for this difference for the fast-paced lifestyle and higher social demands prevailing more in urban settings (Valkenburg \u0026amp; Peter,2007). Przybylski\u0026rsquo;s Findings also point out that FOMO is more prevalent in Urban individuals than individuals from rural areas. Continuous exposure to social gatherings, events and activities are found to be the core factors leading for Fear of missing out in Individuals in Urban settings than rural as the probability of missing out of events are higher for them with comparing to other settings (Przybylski et al ,2013). Bessiere et al investigated social media usage among individuals of urban, rural and semi-urban settings. The result show\u0026rsquo;s significant difference in social media usage between these 3 settings. Urban residents are found to use social media more frequently than that of people from rest to settings. Greater accessibility, Low digital gap and better network facilities yield this higher social media usage among the individuals in Urban settings (Bessi\u0026egrave;re et al,2008). Recently some studies on psychological impacts of social media usage also demonstrate that there exists significant FOMO and loneliness issue among individuals from Urban area than that of people from rural area. The main contributing factor behind this is due to busy and competitive life style in Urban settings than rest of the other two settings (Lou et al, 2012).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, Karl Pearson Product Moment correlation is performed to understand the relationship between the variables. P-value obtained for all scores is less than 0.01, Null Hypothesis (\u003cb\u003eH\u003c/b\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cb\u003e03\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e) is rejected and suggests that Participants with high FOMO tend to engage more in usage of social media and Vice-verse. There exists a moderate positive correlation between loneliness and Usage of Social Media ,so individuals with higher level of loneliness tend to have higher social media usage and vice-verse. So there is clear cut evidence to state that as usage of social media increases ,loneliness increases among users and vice-verse. Meta Analysis was explored and the analysis suggest that there is positive relationship between the variables FOMO and social media use. Within the broad aspect of social media, specific analysis was conducted linking up all social media platforms, and Instagram was the one which show strong relationship with FOMO as comparing to Facebook and Snap-chat. The result of this study is related with Media effect model that connects addiction of social media as an key for Fear of missing out (Zhang,\u0026amp;Yali Li, 2021). Problematical use of Social Media consists of Fear of missing out and increased stickness. Study centred around Loneliness Problematical use of Social Media also indicates positive correlation. It can be interpreted as when Problematic social media use increase, Loneliness also increases. This indicates the relationship and constancy of loneliness, Social Media use and FOMO (Zhang et al., 2023). A Cross-sectional study evaluated the connection between Daily loneliness, Social Media usage and FOMO. The findings of the study also highlights correlation between these variables which is relevant to the findings of the present study( Wang, M., Li, Y., \u0026amp; Xu, Y. (2023).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e presents the effect of Social Media Usage on FOMO and Loneliness. The results indicate that the overall regression model is statistically significant and explains approximately 21.5% of the variance in social media usage. Among the predictors, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) emerged as a significant positive predictor, suggesting that individuals experiencing higher levels of FOMO are more likely to engage in greater social media use. However loneliness did not make a meaningful contribution to predict social media usage when FOMO was considered in the analysis. (Nusrath et al, 2020) Investigated the connection between FOMO, mindfulness and social media usage among adolescents and same pattern is found. (Przybylski, 2013) in one of the foundational studies found that People with high FOMO tend to use social media more to reduce their fears of missing out on rewarding experiences. (Boniel-Nissim, M, 2018) also arrived at a conclusion suggesting that FOMO mediates the connection between surface learning approaches and problematic internet use. This indicates that students with higher FOMO are more susceptible to excessive online engagement activities than people with low FOMO. (Blackwell Et al, 2017) conducted research involving personality traits and FOMO as predicators of social media use and digital addiction. The results suggest that People with higher FOMO Levels are more likely to develop addictive behaviours related to social media platforms. In contrast, Loneliness was found to have a non-significant effect, indicating that its contribution to predicting social media usage is minimal. From these findings, it can be inferred that social media usage significantly contributes to the development of FOMO, reinforcing the notion that individuals who frequently engage with social media beyond a typical threshold are more prone to experiencing a fear of missing out. While loneliness does not appear to directly predict social media use, FOMO serves as a critical driving force, highlighting the importance of addressing this factor in discussions surrounding excessive social media engagement. Thus, managing FOMO-related tendencies may be essential in mitigating the compulsive use of social media and its associated psychological effects.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion, limitations, recommendations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe present study aimed to explore the relationship between loneliness, Social media use and Fear of missing out among young people from Kerala. The major findings of the study is that there are gender differences in loneliness and Fear of missing out. Additionally significant difference is found with these 3 variables in relation to their place of living. Also, there is a positive relationship between Fear of missing out, loneliness and Social media usage. This indicate that whereas social media usage increases, both loneliness and Fear of missing out also increases. It is also found that Independent variable Social media usage has significant effect on both Loneliness and Fear of missing out.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec27\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eLimitations\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe cross-sectional nature of this study limits the ability to find causal relationships between the variables Fear of Missing Out, loneliness, and social media usage. Since It capture data at a single point of time, it leads to missing of potential longitudinal changes. Self-reported measures may lead to biases, so it affects the accuracy in reporting social media usage, Fear of missing out and loneliness. From the feedback of the study it is found that, due to length, participants simply rush through the survey, fail to answer some of the questions or give rather shallow responses. It is also evident that participant\u0026rsquo;s attention span, especially the youths is usually low. A common challenge is that long or even complicated questionnaires may cause respondent fatigue and the effect may have negative impacts on data quality\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan type=\"BoldUnderline\" class=\"BoldUnderline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eRecommendations\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is recommended to use longitudinal studies to get exact insight about the causal relationship between variables. Qualitative methods like interviews, focus group discussions and case studies should be used to get deeper insight into the participants understanding on FOMO and loneliness in the context of social media. Pre and post test research might be performed by implementing interventions that could be presented in the form of a technology detox, social media awareness sessions etc. Scholars should focus more on different social media platforms and features (likes, comments, followers) connecting these variables to get more details about the triggering factors. Cross-Cultural Comparisons is a possibility that should be considered and by Comparing results across regions and cultures will help to identify universal and unique trends. Adapt research to evolving social media platforms and emerging digital behaviours based on latest Tech Trends \u0026amp; Updates especially considering the fact that Artificial intelligence and quantum computing is grabbing attention in this virtual world.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan type=\"BoldUnderline\" class=\"BoldUnderline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical Considerations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Department of Applied Psychology, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India, as part of the postgraduate research requirements during the academic period 2022\u0026ndash;2024. While the institution does not have a formal Institutional Ethics Committee and therefore could not issue an official ethical approval letter, the study was conducted in accordance with academic ethical standards. All procedures were reviewed and approved at the departmental level by the supervising faculty. The research adhered to the ethical principles outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA) and was consistent with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent revisions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore participating, everyone was fully informed about the purpose of this study and what it would involve and got their consent to participate in this study. All data collected has been kept confidential, meaning it is securely stored and only accessible to the research team. This ensures that participant\u0026rsquo;s privacy is fully respected and maintained throughout the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Publish\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis manuscript does not contain any individual person\u0026rsquo;s data in any form (including images, videos, or identifiable information). Therefore, consent for publication is not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eConflict of Interest\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that there are no financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could have influenced the conduct, interpretation or presentation of this research. The manuscript has been prepared and submitted with full academic integrity and transparency.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeclaration\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. All stages of the study including design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and manuscript preparation were carried out independently by the authors without any external financial support.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJithu J Krishnan conceptualized and designed the study, collected and analysed data and prepared the manuscript draft. Dr. Indumathy Jayaprakash provided guidance, supervision and critical revision of the manuscript. Both authors reviewed and approved the final version of the paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data generated or analysed during this study are presented within this published article. The raw participant data sheets contain personal and confidential information and therefore cannot be shared publicly. However, summary data and materials relevant to the study\u0026rsquo;s findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlt D. College students\u0026rsquo; academic motivation, media engagement. and fear of References; 2015.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlt D. College students\u0026rsquo; academic motivation, media engagement, and fear of missing out. Comput Hum Behav. 2015;49:111\u0026ndash;9.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlt D, Boniel-Nissim M. 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Cyberpsychology Behav. 2021;24(3):102\u0026ndash;19.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7851850/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7851850/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examines how social media activity relates to the experience of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and feelings of loneliness among young adults in Kerala aged 18 to 30. Data were gathered from 303 participants through standardized instruments like UCLA Loneliness Scale, a revised FOMO scale and a subscale from the MTUAS for measuring social media engagement. Analysis showed that heavier use of social media tends to align with stronger feelings of FOMO and greater loneliness. Clear patterns emerged in gender differences, with women reporting higher FOMO and loneliness levels than men. Place of residence also shaped outcomes whereas individuals living in urban areas showed higher scores across all three variables compared to those from semi-urban and rural settings. Regression analysis pointed out to FOMO as a significant driver of social media usage, while loneliness had a weaker direct impact. These results suggest a reinforcing loop where online behaviour and emotional vulnerabilities intensify one another. The study highlights the urgent need for interventions that encourage healthier digital habits and to strengthen emotional resilience among young users navigating today's highly connected world.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Relationship Between Social Media Usage, Fear of Missing Out and Loneliness Among Youth in Kerala","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-18 06:44:22","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7851850/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"653d8d32-37fe-47ca-917e-82a8025da8fc","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-07T08:40:21+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-18 06:44:22","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7851850","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7851850","identity":"rs-7851850","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}