Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Its Relationship with Digital Dementia among University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/bsj.Vol21.Iss36.1484Keywords:
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Digital Dementia.Abstract
The current study aims to investigate the following:
1. The level of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) among university students.
2. The level of digital dementia among university students.
3. The nature and direction of the correlation between Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and digital dementia among university students.
4. Gender-based differences (male–female) in the relationship between FoMO and digital dementia.
To achieve these objectives, the researcher adopted and translated the Fear of Missing Out scale developed by M.M. Mazloom and A. Atalay (2022). Additionally, the researcher utilized the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), based on which a 20-item scale was developed to assess digital dementia across four dimensions: memory, concentration, device dependency, and cognitive overload.
The total sample consisted of 493 male and female students, selected through stratified random sampling from the University of Baghdad and distributed across various colleges.
The results revealed the following:
● FoMO was prevalent among students at a level exceeding the average.
● Digital dementia was found to be highly prevalent.
● A statistically significant correlation was found between FoMO and digital dementia.
● No significant gender-based differences were found in the relationship between FoMO and digital dementia.
In light of these findings, a set of conclusions and recommendations were presented to guide future research in this field.
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