Social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) in the workplace: the influence on job burnout and workplace relations

Purpose This study explores how employees respond to social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) in the workplace and examines the subsequent impacts of these responses. Based on the transactional theory of stress and coping, the research focuses on how FoMO affects employees’ adoption of stress-coping behaviors: active work interruption (a problem-oriented strategy) and social network interaction (an emotion-oriented strategy). It further investigates the outcomes of these coping strategies – job burnout (resulting from the problem-oriented strategy) and workplace relationships (resulting from the emotion-oriented strategy). Additionally, the study explores how the perceived competitive climate moderates the effect of FoMO on these coping behaviors. Design/methodology/approach A two-phase survey yielded 244 responses, which were then analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling to validate the relationships among the variables. Findings The findings revealed that FoMO increases employees’ active work interruption, leading to job burnout. In addition, FoMO leads employees to engage in more social network interaction, which promotes workplace relations. The perceived competitive climate positively moderates the indirect effect of workplace FoMO through active work interruption and job burnout. Originality/value This study emphasizes that individuals are not merely passive recipients of stress but active agents in coping with it. This shift from “passive impacts” to “active responses” helps uncover the bidirectional impacts of social media-induced FoMO on employees, thereby enriching our understanding of FoMO and expanding the application of the transactional theory of stress and coping. Additionally, we explore the boundary conditions of the FoMO mechanism and advance research related to the perceived competitive climate.