Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Fatigue: The Moderating Roles of Neuroticism and Emotion Regulation Among Adolescents

In the digital world, social media usage has proliferated among adolescents, shaping their identities, peer interactions, and becoming their mode of communication and entertainment. While increased engagement offers social connectivity, it has also been associated with psychological strain, including anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and difficulties regulating emotions. The present study hypothesized that neuroticism, defined as a fundamental personality dimension, moderated the relationship between fear of missing out (FOMO), social media fatigue, and emotional regulation strategies. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 291 adolescents with age ranges of 13-19 years. The findings indicate that FOMO is positively associated with social media fatigue and its cognitive, behavioral, and emotional valences. In regression analysis, FOMO, neuroticism, and expressive suppression significantly predicted social media fatigue while cognitive reappraisal was not a significant predictor. Moreover, neuroticism significantly moderated the relationship between FOMO and social media fatigue while expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal did not demonstrate a moderative effect. These findings suggest the importance of individual differences in personality and emotion regulation strategies in predicting social media fatigue among adolescents and emphasize the need for targeted intervention; addressing these psychological vulnerabilities to build healthy habits regarding social media usage.