Why do people even check their mobile phones regularly when they are together with other people? So, what is the reason that we have so many "phubber"? This study compares the explanatary power of one main reason for phubbing - namely FoMO ("Fear of Missing Out") - to other causes for this behaviour: social norms as well as personality traits like social anxiety and concentration issues. Thus, it's not only the fear to be left out, to miss out important things that make people show phubbing behaviour. People also just copy the behaviour of others and follow social norms. Likewise, concentration ability lowers the phubbing behaviour.

1. “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of
Missing Out”?
Comparing different causes of
problematic usage of mobile phones in
social situations
C. Bosau & J. Panakkal

2. 2
Quelle: http://healthmeup.com/photogallery-healthy-living/could-you-be-suffering-from-fear-of-missing-out-fomo/32443/3

3. 3
Quelle: http://www.buzzly.fr/jq/ckeditor/plugins/doksoft_uploader/userfiles/phubbing2.jpg
Quelle: https://timenerdworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/phubbing.jpg?w=600
Quelle: http://www.buzzly.fr/jq/ckeditor/plugins/doksoft_uploader/userfiles/phubbing.jpeg

4. 4
Quelle: http://blog.vodafone.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stop-phubbing-campaign.jpg

5. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
Previous results: Phubbing
5
What we already know:
• Phubbing indeed has negative consequences:
• for social interaction: inferior conversation and lower levels of empathy
(Misra, Cheng, Genevie & Yuan, 2014)
• for romantic relationships: less satisfaction and lower individual well-
being (Bosau & Ruvinsky, 2016; Krasnova, Abramova, Notter & Baumann, 2016; McDaniel & Coyne,
2016; Roberts & David, 2016)
• for leader-employee-relationships: lower employee engagement (Roberts &
David, 2017)
Important question:
How can this strange and contradictory behaviour be explained?

6. 6
Quelle: http://www.ithinkonpaper.com/fomo/

7. 7
Quelle: http://www.examiner.com/article/checking-facebook-and-twitter-all-day-scientists-say-you-may-have-fomo

8. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
Previous results: Fear-of-missing-
Out
8
What we already know:
• Mobile phones are potential addiction sources (Carbonell, Oberst & Beranuy, 2013)
• FoMO correlates highly with social media engagement in general (Przybylski, Murayama,
DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013) and Facebook usage in particular (Bosau, Aelker & Amaadachou, 2014)
• FoMO correlates with problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) and habitual
checking behaviour (Collins, 2013)
• INDEED:
FoMO is also an important predictor of phubbing (Bosau & Kühn, 2015; Chotpitayasunondh &
Douglas, 2016)
Remaining questions:
Are there other predictors? What are the predictors, that can explain this
contradictory behaviour?

9. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
The study
9
Former studies:
§ many looked at FoMO only
§ FoMO can only explain about 5-15%
of the variance
à there is a lot left and unexplained!
This study:
§ looked intensively at the literature
for theoratically plausible
predictors
§ integrated FoMO and several
other measures of personality
Method:
• Online questionnaire (posted via Facebook, mailing-lists and personal
emails, partly snowball sampling) in spring 2016
• N = 309
• age: 15 to 59 years:
< 18y = 3%, 18-25y = 50%, 26-30y = 25%, 31-40y = 13%, > 40y = 10%
• male = 22%, female = 78%

10. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
The scales
10
Fear of Missing Out - FoMO
(Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013)
Phubbing
(Roberts & David, 2016, slightly adapted)
The independent variables:
The dependent variable:
GenderThe moderator:
Cognitive concentration issues
(Jacobs, 2015)
Social Interaction Anxiety
(Fergus, Valentiner, McGrath, Gier-Lonsway & Kim, 2012)
Descriptive social norms
(single item measurement)
Age

11. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
1,81
1,83
2,20
2,29
2,36
2,41
2,57
3,04
3,07
3,73
1 2 3 4 5
Ich werde unruhig, wenn ich nicht weiß, was meine Freunde vorhaben.
Wenn ich eine gute Zeit erlebe, ist es mir wichtig, Einzelheiten darüber online zu
teilen (z.B Facebook-Status ...
Manchmal frage ich mich, ob ich zu viel Zeit damit verbringe, zu erfahren was um
mich herum passiert.
Ich fürchte, dass meine Freunde bereichendere Erlebnisse erfahren als ich.
Es beunruhigt micht, wenn ich erfahre, dass meine Freunde ohne mich Spaß
haben.
Ich fürchte, dass andere Menschen tollere Erlebnisse erfahren als ich.
Auch wenn ich im Urlaub bin, verfolge ich weiterhin was meine Freunde machen.
Es ärgert mich, wenn ich eine Gelegenheit verpasse, mich mit meinen Freunden zu
treffen.
Es ist mir wichtig, Insiderwitze meiner Freunde zu verstehen.
Es ärgert mich, wenn ich ein geplantes Treffen verpasse.
FoMO – Fear of Missing Out
11
Independent variable
• scale of Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan & Gladwell (2013)
• scale: 1 = „trifft gar nicht zu“ vs. 5 = „trifft voll zu“
• Cronbach’s α = .78
Problem: an
exploratory factor
analysis showed a
three (!) factor
solution

12. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
1,81
2,29
2,36
2,41
1 2 3 4 5
Ich werde unruhig, wenn ich nicht weiß, was meine Freunde vorhaben.
Ich fürchte, dass meine Freunde bereichendere Erlebnisse erfahren als ich.
Es beunruhigt micht, wenn ich erfahre, dass meine Freunde ohne mich Spaß
haben.
Ich fürchte, dass andere Menschen tollere Erlebnisse erfahren als ich.
FoMO – shortened scale
12
Independent variable
• a factor analyses of the scale of Przybylski et al. (2013) showed a three factor
solution (PCA with Varimax rotation; criterium: eigenvalue)
• 63% explained variance
• only the first factor can be labeled as the ‚pure‘, original FoMO-factor (28%
explained variance)
• Cronbach’s α of the shortened scale = .81

13. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
2,28
2,42
2,46
2,50
2,56
3,03
1 2 3 4 5
Mir war ein effektives Arbeiten/Lernen wegen ungünstiger äußerer …
Trotz gutem Vorsatz und redlichem Bemühen, konnte mich nur für sehr kurze …
Ich musste mich sehr zusammenreißen, um überhaupt eine Aufgabe in Angriff …
Ich habe mit einer Arbeit begonnen und dann ohne Absicht etwas ganz anderes …
Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten, sorgfältig und zugleich zügig zu arbeiten/lernen.
Trotz gutem Vorsatz, eine gewisse Zeit intensiv zu arbeiten/lernen, habe ich …
Cognitive concentration issues & Social
Interaction anxiety
13
Independent variable
• scale of Jacobs (2015): scale: 1 = „nie“ vs. 5 = „sehr oft“; Cronbach’s α = .90
• scale of Fergus, Valentiner, McGrath, Gier-Lonsway & Kim (2012): scale: 1 =
„trifft gar nicht zu“ vs. 5 = „trifft voll zu“; Cronbach’s α = .85
1,73
1,93
2,41
2,57
2,58
2,65
1 2 3 4 5
Ich bin angespannt, wenn ich mit nur einer Person alleine bin.
Ich werde angespannt, wenn ich einen Bekannten auf der Straße treffe.
Wenn ich zu einer Gruppe dazustoße, denke ich darüber nach, dass ich …
Ich bin nervös, wenn ich mit Menschen zu tun habe, die ich nicht gut kenne.
Ich werde angespannt, wenn ich über mich oder meine Gefühle sprechen muss.
Ich bin angespannt, wenn ich zu einer Gruppe dazustoße.

14. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
2,12
2,17
2,18
2,22
2,50
2,78
3,08
3,19
1 2 3 4 5
Wenn ich in Gesellschaft von anderen etwas esse, benutze ich mein Smartphone.
Ich halte mein Smartphone in der Hand wenn ich in Gesellschaft bin.
In Gesellschaft von anderen, achte ich darauf, dass ich mein Smartphone jederzeit
sehe.
Ich benutze mein Smartphone in einem sozialen Umfeld, auch wenn ich eigentlich
etwas zur Gruppe beitragen könnte.
Ich schaue ab und zu auf mein Smartphone, während ich mich unterhalte.
Wenn mein Smartphone klingelt/vibriert, schaue ich drauf, auch wenn ich mich
gerade unterhalte.
Wenn ich unterwegs mit Bekannten oder Freunden bin, benutze ich mein
Smartphone.
Wenn ich mich in Gesellschaft befinde, nutze ich mein Smartphone in Momenten
der Stille.
Phubbing
14
Dependent variable
• scale of Roberts & David (2016), original pPhubbing-scale was slightly adapted
• scale: 1 = „nie“ vs. 5 = „sehr oft“
• Cronbach’s α = .85

15. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
1 2 3 4 5
Age
FoMO
Descriptive phubbing norm
Cognitive concentration
problems
Social Interaction Anxiety
Phubbing
-.28***
-.17*** .25***
-.27*** .34*** .17***
-.18*** .33*** .19*** .34***
-.30*** .47*** .35*** .31*** .21***
Bivariate correlations of the constructs
15
Main question: Is there a relationship between the independent
constructs and phubbing?

16. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
standardized Beta
-.14***
.33***
.23***
.12**
-.01
.30
standardized Beta
-.16***
.36***
.23**
.29
The regression results
16
standardized Beta
Age -.18***
FoMO .42***
Descriptive phubbing norm
Cognitive concentration problems
Social Interaction Anxiety
corr. R2 .24
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
• dependent variable: Phubbing
• stepwise regression analysis
FoMO remains to be the
strongest predictor
However: additional variance (in total: 30%)
can be explained by the other predictors

17. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 17
standardized
Beta
Age -.12**
FoMO .34***
Descriptive phubbing norm .25***
Cognitive concentration problems .14**
Social Interaction Anxiety .01
corr. R2 .33
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
standardized
Beta
-.20
.30**
.15
.02
-.10
.16
• dependent variable: Phubbing
• regression analysis – comparison male vs. female
♀ ♂ concentration
problems and
social norms
are a stronger
predictor for
females
males phub
only because of
FoMO
The regression results: moderator gender

18. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”?
standardized Beta
-.17***
.22***
.26***
.15***
-.02
.25
standardized Beta
-.19***
.25***
.27**
.23
The regression results
18
standardized Beta
Age -.23***
FoMO – short version .29***
Descriptive phubbing norm
Cognitive concentration problems
Social Interaction Anxiety
corr. R2 .16
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
• dependent variable: Phubbing
• stepwise regression analysis
lower explanatory power of FoMO à the
correlation of FoMO and Phubbing is
partly tautologic
only 25% can of the
variance be explained

19. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 19
standardized
Beta
Age -.14**
FoMO – short version .24***
Descriptive phubbing norm .28***
Cognitive concentration problems .17***
Social Interaction Anxiety -.01
corr. R2 .27
* p < .10, ** p < .05, *** p < .01
standardized
Beta
-.26
.09
.19
.08
-.05
.10
• dependent variable: Phubbing
• regression analysis – comparison male vs. female
♀ ♂
The regression results: moderator gender
FoMO is now a
lower predictor
for females and
for males even
no predictor at
all any more!

20. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 20
Ø FoMO is still a very strong predictor of phubbing
• BEWARE: the explanatory power strongly depends on the operationalisation and
the used scale of FoMO
• the existing FoMO scale of Przybylski et al. (2013) could have some validity
problems
Ø People who admit having cognitive concentration problems tend to have also problems to
concentrate on social situations and thus do phub more
Ø Phubbing behaviour is also influenced by the phubbing behaviour of other people. Thus,
people simply copy the behaviour of others to some extend
Ø However: the results should only be generalized for females!
Conclusion
FoMO might still be an important predictor of phubbing
behaviour. Though, phubbing is more than just fearing to miss
out on something.

21. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 21
• Bosau C., Aelker, L. & Amaadachou, H. (2014). Ich darf nichts verpassen! – Kann “Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)”
Suchtverhalten in Facebook erklären? 49th Congress of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs) in Bochum,
Germany.
• Bosau C. & Kühn, M. (2015). How to explain “phubbing” – Can “Fear of Missing Out” predict the compulsive use of
mobile phones in social situations?. 9th Conference of the Media Psychology Division (German Psychological Society)
in Tübingen, Germany.
• Bosau, C. & Ruvinsky, M. (2016). Die Nutzung von Smartphones in Partnerschaften – Negative Effekte von Phubbing
und FoMO auf die Beziehungsqualität. 50th Congress of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs) in Leipzig,
Germany.
• Carbonell, X., Oberst, U. & Beranuy, M. (2013). The Cell Phone in the Twenty-First Century: A Risk for Addiction or a
Necessary Tool? Principles of Addiction. Vol. 1, pp. 901-909.
• Chotpitayasunondh, V. & Douglas, K.M. (2016). How “phubbing“ becomes the norm: The antecedents and
consequences of snubbing via smartphone. Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 63, 9-18.
• Collins. L. (2013). FoMO and Mobile Phones: A Survey Study. Unpublished master thesis. Tilburg University, Tilburg.
• Fergus, T.A., Valentiner, D.P., McGrath, P.B., Gier-Lonsway, S.L. & Kim, H. (2012). Short Forms of the Social
Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 94 (3), 310-320.
• Jacobs, B. (2015). Zusammenhänge zwischen Leistungsprognosen, Ergebniseinschätzungen, erzielten Leistungen in
Konzentrationstests und subjektiver Auffassung der eigenen Konzentrationsfähigkeit. Abgerufen von
http://psydok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/volltexte/2015/5252/ [21.05.2016]
• Krasnova, H., Abramova, O., Notter, I. & Baumann, A. (2016). Why Phubbing is Toxic for Your Relationship:
Understanding the Role of Smartphone Jealousy among „Generation Y“ Users. 24th European Conference on
Information Systems (ECIS), İstanbul, Turkey.
• McDaniel, B.T. & Coyne, S.M. (2016). “Technoference”: The interference of technology in couple relationships and
implications for women’s personal and relational well-being. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Vol. 5(1), 85-98.
Literature

22. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 22
• Misra, S., Cheng, L., Genevie, J. & Yuan, M. (2014). The iPhone Effect: The Quality of In-Person Social Interactions in
the Presence of Mobile Devices. Environment and Behaviour, 1-24.
• Przybylski, A.K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C.R. & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioural
correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 29, pp. 1841-1848.
• Roberts, J.A. & David, M.E. (2016). My life has become a major distraction from my cell phone: Partner phubbing and
relationship satisfaction among romantic partners. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 54, 134-141.
• Roberts, J.A. & David, M.E. (2017). Put down your phone and listen to me: How boss phubbing undermines the
psychological conditions necessary for employee engagement. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 75, 206-217.
Literature

23. Media Psychology 2017Bosau & Panakkal: “Phubbing”, only caused by “Fear of Missing Out”? 23
Thank you very much for your
attention!
Contact details:
Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln
Prof. Dr. Christian Bosau, Dipl.-Psych. & Master of HRM & IR
Schaevenstraße 1a/b
50676 Köln
Tel.: +49 221 20302-0
e-mail: christian.bosau@rfh-koeln.de
Slideshare: cbosau
Twitter: cribocologne