Cross-Sectional Nexus of Fomo, Self-Esteem, and Social Anxiety Across Generations in Peshawar, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54938/ijemdss.2026.05.4.797Keywords:
Fear of Missing Out , Social Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Generational Differences, Mediation AnalysisAbstract
The present study explored the association of FM, SE and SA among generational groups. A cross-sectional sample of 190 adults was collected by physical visit and digitally from Peshawar, Pakistan by hybrid distribution method. It was hypothesized that the subjects having more FOMO would be having a lower degree of self-esteem; and those having high Social Anxiety would be having a higher degree of FoMO. Individuals having high self-esteem would be having low levels of Social Anxiety. Furthermore, to investigate if the relationship between FoMo and Social Anxiety is mediated by self-esteem. Three sets of standardized scales were used for the subjects namely, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Fear of Missing out Scale.
The study focused on the relationships among Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Social Anxiety and Self-esteem among generational groups. The correlational analysis showed a significant positive correlation between FOMO and Social Anxiety (r = .30, p < .01) and a significant negative correlation between Social Anxiety and Self-esteem (r = -.34, p < .01). Interestingly, there was no significant correlation between Self-esteem and FOMO.
The results showed that there was no interaction effect between FOMO and Social Anxiety as the effect of FOMO on Social Anxiety did not vary with the level of Self-esteem. The results of a comparison of gen Z (n = 95) and Millennials (n = 70) revealed that there were no significant differences between the FOMO levels of the two generations (t(163) = .43, p = .09). The findings indicated, however, that Social Anxiety (t(163) = .23, p < .001) was not the same for both cohorts, indicating that social distress varies significantly between these two cohorts. This study offers unique insights to the FOMO, Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety of the generations.
Future studies are encouraged to use qualitative interviews and follow up studies to investigate why self-evaluation does not have a mitigating effect on FoMo and how self-evaluation changes over time across generations of social anxiety. Furthermore, employing stratified sampling and platform-specific analysis will improve result generalizability and shed light onto the effects of the different digital environments on such psychological outcomes.
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