Why Do People Browse and Post on WeChat Moments? Relationships among Fear of Missing Out, Strategic Self-Presentation, and Online Social Anxiety.

Abstract

This study examined the mediating and moderating roles of positive and honest self-presentations in the relationship between fear of missing out (FoMO) and online social anxiety (OSA). A total of 796 social media users were recruited online. These participants completed a questionnaire package, which included a section on demographic information, the Positive Self-Presentation and Honest Self-Presentation Scales, the FoMO Scale, and the Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users. Both positive and honest self-presentations partially mediated the relationship between FoMO and OSA, with the former acting as an accelerative mediating factor. Honest self-presentation had a buffering moderating role between FoMO and OSA. Positive self-presentation showed marginal gender differences on the moderating effect. Positive and honest self-presentations clarified the "double-edged sword" effects on the relationship between FoMO and OSA. Honest self-presentation, rather than positive self-presentation, buffered OSA. Results can be used as reference to develop interventions on self-presentation strategies to relieve OSA.