Adicción a las Redes Sociales y Personalidad: El Papel Moderador del Miedo a Perderse Algo

Social Network Addiction (SNA) in university students has aroused interest among researchers in the field to understand the possible association with individual differences. The objective of the investigation is to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between Social Network Addiction, personality traits and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) in university students. A sample of 524 university students participated in this investigation. The instruments used were a Sociodemographic and Social Network Usage Questionnaire, the Social Network Addition Scale, the NEO Five Factor Inventory Personality Questionnaire (NEO FFI-20) and the Fear of Missing Out Scale. The main results indicated the existence of negative associations between SNA and the personality characteristics Conscientiousness and Extraversion and positive correlations with Neuroticism. Regression analyses suggested that SNA, Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Extraversion predicted FoMO. It was also verified the mediating role of FoMO in the association between personality and SNA. The practical implications of the research, limitations and suggestions for future studies are also discussed.