The relationship between Big Five personality traits and fear of missing out: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Desire to establish close ties with others but fear of missing out on fulfilling experiences, this phenomenon known as fear of missing out (FoMO) is prevalent in the digital era. Although previous research indicated that personality traits, particularly the Big Five, play a crucial role in FoMO, the varied results limited our understanding of their connection. To elucidate this topic further, we performed a meta-analysis including 35 empirical studies (N = 18,964), covering 31 published articles to investigate the relationship between Big Five personality traits and FoMO. We also examined the moderating role of gender, age, and self-construal in the relationship between the two. Our findings revealed that FoMO is significantly positively correlated with neuroticism (r = 0.325) and extraversion (r = 0.061), while significantly negatively correlated with conscientiousness (r = −0.107). However, FoMO exhibited no significant correlation with agreeableness and openness. Furthermore, age and self-construal moderated the association of FoMO with conscientiousness and extraversion; gender did not exert any moderating effect. In summary, the current study found specific associations between different dimensions of the Big Five and FoMO, and the role of certain moderators thereof, which aided in clarifying some unclear issues and advancing future research in this field.