Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.

Across three online studies, we examined the relationship between the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and moral cognition and behavior. Study 1 (N = 283) examined whether FoMO influenced moral awareness, judgments, and recalled and predicted behavior of first-person moral violations in either higher or l...

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Main Authors: Paul C McKee, Ithika Senthilnathan, Christopher J Budnick, Marie-Abèle Bind, Imad Antonios, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312724
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author Paul C McKee
Ithika Senthilnathan
Christopher J Budnick
Marie-Abèle Bind
Imad Antonios
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
author_facet Paul C McKee
Ithika Senthilnathan
Christopher J Budnick
Marie-Abèle Bind
Imad Antonios
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
author_sort Paul C McKee
collection DOAJ
description Across three online studies, we examined the relationship between the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and moral cognition and behavior. Study 1 (N = 283) examined whether FoMO influenced moral awareness, judgments, and recalled and predicted behavior of first-person moral violations in either higher or lower social settings. Study 2 (N = 821) examined these relationships in third-person judgments with varying agent identities in relation to the participant (agent = stranger, friend, or someone disliked). Study 3 (N = 604) examined the influence of recalling activities either engaged in or missed out on these relationships. Using the Rubin Causal Model, we created hypothetical randomized experiments from our real-world randomized experimental data with treatment conditions for lower or higher FoMO (median split), matched for relevant covariates, and compared differences in FoMO groups on moral awareness, judgments, and several other behavioral outcomes. Using a randomization-based approach, we examined these relationships with Fisher Tests and computed 95% Fisherian intervals for constant treatment effects consistent with the matched data and the hypothetical FoMO intervention. All three studies provide evidence that FoMO is robustly related to giving less severe judgments of moral violations. Moreover, those with higher FoMO were found to report a greater likelihood of committing moral violations in the past, knowing people who have committed moral violations in the past, being more likely to commit them in the future, and knowing people who are likely to commit moral violations in the future.
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spelling doaj-art-31db2b5f0be544a48aa2aa95367e1ceb2025-08-20T02:59:46ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011911e031272410.1371/journal.pone.0312724Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.Paul C McKeeIthika SenthilnathanChristopher J BudnickMarie-Abèle BindImad AntoniosWalter Sinnott-ArmstrongAcross three online studies, we examined the relationship between the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and moral cognition and behavior. Study 1 (N = 283) examined whether FoMO influenced moral awareness, judgments, and recalled and predicted behavior of first-person moral violations in either higher or lower social settings. Study 2 (N = 821) examined these relationships in third-person judgments with varying agent identities in relation to the participant (agent = stranger, friend, or someone disliked). Study 3 (N = 604) examined the influence of recalling activities either engaged in or missed out on these relationships. Using the Rubin Causal Model, we created hypothetical randomized experiments from our real-world randomized experimental data with treatment conditions for lower or higher FoMO (median split), matched for relevant covariates, and compared differences in FoMO groups on moral awareness, judgments, and several other behavioral outcomes. Using a randomization-based approach, we examined these relationships with Fisher Tests and computed 95% Fisherian intervals for constant treatment effects consistent with the matched data and the hypothetical FoMO intervention. All three studies provide evidence that FoMO is robustly related to giving less severe judgments of moral violations. Moreover, those with higher FoMO were found to report a greater likelihood of committing moral violations in the past, knowing people who have committed moral violations in the past, being more likely to commit them in the future, and knowing people who are likely to commit moral violations in the future.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312724
spellingShingle Paul C McKee
Ithika Senthilnathan
Christopher J Budnick
Marie-Abèle Bind
Imad Antonios
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
PLoS ONE
title Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
title_full Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
title_fullStr Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
title_full_unstemmed Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
title_short Fear of Missing Out's (FoMO) relationship with moral judgment and behavior.
title_sort fear of missing out s fomo relationship with moral judgment and behavior
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312724
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