The association between fear of missing out and social media addiction among university students: a mediation model with path-specific moderation

Introduction This study investigated the relationship between fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media addiction among college students and its underlying mechanisms. Methods Using a convenience sampling method, we administered an online questionnaire via the Wenjuanxing platform to university students from a specific region in China and obtained a total of 218 valid responses. This study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Participants completed the Fear of Missing Out Scale, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, and the Social Comparison Orientation Scale. Results FoMO was significantly positively correlated with social media addiction and significantly negatively correlated with self-concept clarity. Self-concept clarity partially mediated the relationship between FoMO and social media addiction, with the indirect effect accounting for 45.7% of the total effect. Social comparison orientation significantly moderated the direct pathway from FoMO to social media addiction (B = 0.130, p = 0.005). The interaction between self-concept clarity and social comparison orientation was marginal (B = 0.086, p = 0.055) However, the index of moderated mediation was not significant (index = −0.060, 95% CI [−0.152, 0.066]), indicating that the indirect effect did not significantly vary as a function of social comparison orientation. Therefore, the moderating effect was path-specific rather than evidence of moderated mediation. Discussion Higher social comparison orientation strengthened the direct positive predictive effect of FoMO on social media addiction, but marginally weakened the negative predictive effect of self-concept clarity on social media addiction. These findings suggest that FoMO is positively associated with university students’ social media addiction both directly and indirectly through its negative association with self-concept clarity, with social comparison orientation serving as a moderator of the direct pathway, though not of the entire mediating mechanism. The results offer theoretical support and practical implications for the prevention of and intervention in social media addiction among university students.