A Longitudinal Study Of The Influence Of Self-Presentation On The Fear Of Missing Out In College Students’ Social Networking Sites

With the advent of the digital age,virtual social networking sites have become the main places for college students to communicate with each other.The anonymity and convenience of social networking sites provide more opportunities for college students to show and build their self-image freely.However,it also brings a lot of problems to college students who are not mature physically and mentally.Fear of missing out is one of the common problems.Fear of missing out is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing.A large number of studies have found that the fear of missing out can lead to problematic use of social networking sites,and lower college students’ self-esteem and self-evaluation.Previous studies mainly investigated the adverse effects of fear of missing on the physical and mental development of college students,but less investigated the influencing factors of fear of missing.Based on the I-PACE model,basic psychological needs theory and social comparison theory,this study adopts longitudinal research to investigate the risk factors and protective factors affecting the fear of missing simultaneously,aiming to provide theoretical support and educational guidance for reducing the level of college students’ fear of missing.In this study,we use the method of cluster sampling,taking the students of three colleges and universities in Shandong Province as the research objects.We used the Fear of Missing questionnaire,the social network self-presentation Strategy Questionnaire,the online Social Comparison Questionnaire,the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Neurotic Personality Inventory to measure these college students.The questionnaire was measured every six months and tested three times in total.Then SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.4 were used for data processing,and the following conclusions were drawn:(1)The level of college students’ fear of missing out shows a downward trend within one year;(2)The cross-hysteresis model found that positive self-presentation on social networking sites at the former point in time could significantly positively predict the fear of missing at the later point in time,but the real self-presentation on social networking sites at the former point in time had no significant predictive effect on the fear of missing at the later point in time.The parallel development model finds that the positive self-presentation could significantly predict the initial level and development rate of the fear of missing,but the true self-presentation could only predict the initial level of the fear of missing,and had no significant effect on the development rate.;(3)Online social comparison and satisfaction of basic psychological needs of college students play a chain mediating role in the longitudinal effects of positive self-presentation on the fear of missing out.The satisfaction of college students’ basic psychological needs plays a mediating role in the longitudinal influence of real self-presentation on social networking sites on the fear of missing out.(4)Neurotic personality can regulate the relationship between positive self-presentation on social networking sites and online upward social comparison.Compared with college students with low neurotic level,positive self-presentation on social networking sites of college students with high neurotic level can significantly positively predict online upward social comparison.