If my friends spend the day in the country, or go to the movies, but I am not present, it is possible to feel a feeling of emptiness or sadness that has been increased by the use of social networks. Now, it is possible to see how they have fun through, for example, Instagram, and this feeling of “we are missing something” can lead to anxiety. However, is just the opposite possible? That is, is it possible to feel good about missing something?
In a recent study conducted by Washington State University (United States), the majority of people with a high degree of “joy to miss something” or JOMO (for its acronym in English, ‘joy of missing out’) also presented high levels of social anxiety.
The term JOMO has been popularized as a healthy enjoyment of solitude in almost direct opposition to negative FOMO, the “fear of missing out” that people can have when they see that others have fun experiences without them, as explained above. In an analysis of two samples of adults, the researchers found conflicting results regarding JOMO, with evidence that there is some anxiety behind joy.
“In general, a lot of people like to be connected,” says Professor Chris Barry, lead author of the paper published in ‘Telematics and Informatics Reports’. “In trying to evaluate JOMO, we found that some people they enjoyed getting lostnot because of the solitude or the calming, zen experience of being able to regroup, but rather to avoid social interactionhas warned.
This could also explain the correlation found between JOMO and social media use, a result that surprised the researchers, who expected that people who wanted to miss out on social events would not bother to check what their friends and family were up to. According to Barry, one possible explanation is that, for those with social anxiety, the Social media can seem like a less intense way to bond than interacting in person.
Barry and his co-authors conducted surveys with two different groups of about 500 participants each, recruited through the platform of crowdsourcing ‘Turk’ from Amazon. To measure JOMO, the researchers formulated a series of questions about the enjoyment of spending time alone and disconnection, as if the participants liked having time for self-reflection and if they were happy to see that their friends had a good time even when they were not with them. The survey also included questions designed to assess loneliness, social anxiety, social media use, personality traits, and life satisfaction.
The study of the first sample revealed connections between those with a high level of JOMO with the use of social media and life satisfaction, but the social anxiety it was the one with the strongest correlation.
With these mixed results, the team designed a second study to see if they could find a group of people with high levels of JOMO but without social anxiety. They found it, but that group was small, accounting for about 10 percent of the participants. Despite not having social anxiety, this group with a high JOMO level had moderate feelings of loneliness.
Relationship with low self-esteem?
Although other research has linked the fear of missing out with the low self esteem and loneliness, these results indicate that the experience of the joy of missing something is not so clear. Barry has suggested that JOMO might not be a steady state or linked to personality traits, but rather a momentary phase of needing to disconnect.
“There are many unanswered questions, such as ‘What’s a good dose of social interaction versus disconnection?’ I think that’s going to differ for each person,” Barry said.
“Why do people miss things? If they try to avoid something, it’s probably not healthy in the long run”
Previous research has shown that for people with anxiety, continued exposure to what makes them anxious can help reduce stress, so, For social anxiety sufferers, more interaction is better, not less. “Motives Matter”says Barry. “Why do people lose things? If it’s because they need to recharge their batteries, maybe that’s good. If they’re trying to avoid something, it’s probably not healthy in the long run,” he concluded.
