Psychology & well-being
FoMO scale: what it is and how to measure it
- Concept
- Fear of missing out (FoMO)
- Field
- Psychology & well-being
- Scales in the library
- 1
- Items
- 10
FoMO (fear of missing out) is the worry that others are having rewarding experiences without you, together with a desire to stay connected to see what they are doing. Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, and Gladwell (2013) were the first to measure the concept, with a 10-item scale published in the appendix of their paper. In Vietnam, FoMO often appears in studies on social media addiction, smartphone addiction, trend-driven shopping, and impulse buying among young people.
Comparing the scales
| Scale | Author (year) | Items | Response format | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Fear of Missing Out scale | Przybylski et al. (2013) | 10 | 5-point | Choose when measuring FoMO as an everyday trait; 10 items, 5-point 'how true of me' scale, no reverse-coded items. |
Items of each scale
Original English wording from the published source. Replace placeholders such as [system] or
[brand] with what your study is about, and pilot the questionnaire with 20 to 30 respondents first.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) · Fear of Missing Out scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| FO1 | I fear others have more rewarding experiences than me. |
| FO2 | I fear my friends have more rewarding experiences than me. |
| FO3 | I get worried when I find out my friends are having fun without me. |
| FO4 | I get anxious when I don't know what my friends are up to. |
| FO5 | It is important that I understand my friends "in jokes". |
| FO6 | Sometimes, I wonder if I spend too much time keeping up with what is going on. |
| FO7 | It bothers me when I miss an opportunity to meet up with friends. |
| FO8 | When I have a good time it is important for me to share the details online (e.g. updating status). |
| FO9 | When I miss out on a planned get-together it bothers me. |
| FO10 | When I go on vacation, I continue to keep tabs on what my friends are doing. |
Source: Przybylski et al. (2013). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Fear of Missing Out scale.
Tips
- Many online versions copy items FO5 and FO8 incorrectly; use the exact wording in Appendix A of the original paper.
- Keep the 1-5 'how true of me' scale so your mean score can be compared with other studies.
- If you measure it alongside BSMAS or SAS-SV in the same questionnaire, check for common method bias because the items are fairly close in content.
Once you have a scale, put the concept in the research model drawer to state your hypotheses, work out the minimum sample size, and after data collection check reliability with the Cronbach's alpha calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How is the FoMO score calculated?
The authors take the mean of the 10 items, from 1 to 5; there are no reverse-coded items.
Is FoMO one factor or two?
The original is one factor, but some Asian studies found two. Run EFA and CFA on your own sample and report the structure you find.
Where does FoMO usually sit in a model?
Usually as an antecedent or mediator of social media or smartphone addiction; in shopping studies, FoMO is often a predictor of impulse buying.