Fear of Missing Out on Social Media Platforms and its relationship to Self-Esteem among Adolescents in Jordan

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and Self-Esteem levels among 7th and 10th-grade students in private schools in Amman, Jordan. Additionally, the study aimed to explore the relationship between FoMO and self-esteem. The research also intended to examine differences in FoMO and self-esteem levels between male and female students and across different grade levels. The sample consisted of 590 students randomly selected from private schools in Amman for the academic year 2022/2023. To achieve the study's objectives, the researchers translated and utilized measures of FoMO and self-esteem. They verified the reliability and validity of these measures and administered them to the study sample. The study adopted a descriptive and correlational approach as the most appropriate, aiming to describe the levels of FoMO and self-esteem and reveal potential correlations between the two variables. The results indicated a low level of FoMO among students and a high level of self-esteem. A significant negative correlation was found between FoMO and self-esteem. There were also significant differences in FoMO and self-esteem levels across different grade levels, with 7th-grade students scoring higher in all dimensions. However, there were no significant differences in FoMO and self-esteem levels between male and female students, except for the "need for fame" dimension. Statistically significant differences were observed in FoMO levels attributed to grade level, favoring seventh-grade students in all dimensions. No statistically significant differences were found according to gender variables, except in the "need for fame" dimension. Results showed no statistically significant differences in self-esteem related to gender, but there were significant differences in self-esteem related to grade level, favoring tenth-grade students. The mean self-esteem score for tenth-grade students was 3.16, while it was 3.05 for seventh-grade students.