Fashion trends among teenagers: How relative deprivation and self-disclosure affect fear of missing out

The ever-evolving fashion trends on social media have become a significant factor in triggering the fear of missing out among teenagers. The spread of fashion trends created social pressure to keep up with the latest developments. This research aimed to analyze the influence of relative deprivation and self-disclosure on the fear of missing out in the context of fashion trends among teenagers. A quantitative approach was employed, with data analysis using variance-based structural equation modeling to evaluate the relationships between latent variables. This study involved 334 respondents selected through purposive sampling with the criteria of teenagers aged 17–21 year who actively used social media and were interested in fashion trends. The research results indicated that relative deprivation had a significant influence on the fear of missing out (b = 0.855; p < 0.001), suggesting that the higher the feeling of relative deprivation, the higher a person's level of fear of missing out. Conversely, self-disclosure did not show a significant influence on the fear of missing out (b = 0.053; p = 0.279), meaning that individuals with high self-disclosure tended not to experience fear of missing out significantly. These findings provided new insights into how social comparison affected teenagers regarding fashion trends and confirmed that self-disclosure did not always contribute to the fear of missing out. The results of this research were expected to serve as a basis for designing digital mental health strategies and education regarding wiser social media use.