Master thesis Psychology, specialisation Occupational Health Psychology Institute of Psychology
Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences – Leiden University Date: 14-10-2019
Student number: 0963062
First examiner of the university: Dr. A.P. Wit.
Second examiner of the university: Dr. N.J. van Doesum.
Am I missing something? A
study on stress and smartphone
usage among students.
An exploration into the stress that comes from the fear of missing
accurate information and social interactions in e-group participation.
Ismail Khalid
1
Table of content 1
Abstract 2
Introduction 3
Theoretical background 4
Conformity and exclusion 4
Fear of missing 5
Stress and Problematic Social Media Usage 5
Present study 6 Research goal 7 Research questions 7 Hypotheses 7 Methods 8 Participants 9 Procedure 9
Variables and instruments, scale construction 9
Results 11
Preliminary analyses 12
First inspections of the results 12
What do individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation? 14
Do individuals have a fear of missing something? 15
The stress/unrest that comes from FOMI and FOMO 18
The stress that comes from not having access to your device 20
Coping strategies 21
Discussion 22
References 28
Appendix A: Social media advertisement 30
Appendix B: Information letter 31
Appendix C: Informed consent form 32
Appendix D: Questionnaire 33
Appendix E: Debriefing 39
2 Abstract
The present study explores stress among students in the context of e-group participation. Individuals have a personal need to belong and a personal need for accurate information. When these needs are not being met, individuals will experience stress. In this day and age, more and more individuals use online groups (e-groups) to fulfill these needs. However, participating in e-groups can also lead to stress due to the fear of missing something, for example, when someone is unable to read messages due to not having access to his or her device (i.e., smartphone). Multiple regression analyses suggest that the more the stress that comes from worrying about missing social interactions (FOMO-stress) and the more the stress that comes from worrying about missing social interactions (FOMO-stress) an
individual experiences, the more stress an individual experiences that comes from not having access to his or her device (FOM-stress). Extra analyses show that the higher the personal need to belong, the more FOMO that individual has. Similarly, the higher the personal need for accurate information, the more FOMI that individual has. The present study also explores coping strategies to deal with FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress. The multiple regression analyses suggest that how often individuals use certain coping strategies (switching off device, switching off notifications and limiting e-group participation) has nothing to do with how much FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress the individual has.
3 1. Introduction
It is late at night and my smartphone lights up. What could it be? I have to know. Instead of sleeping at a reasonable time, I have to check the incoming message because I need to know what my friends are up to. Every time my smartphone notifies me of an incoming message, I have to check it. Maybe there is an upcoming social event I need to go to. Whatever it is, I cannot miss these notifications. I will get stressed and cannot stop worrying until I have seen what the notification is about. I lose sleep due to these messages, but some of my friends do not seem to have this issue. Even during the day I cannot put my
smartphone away and have to look at it every time I see a light blinking or when I hear the sound of a message coming in, but when this happens to a friend, he just ignores it and carries on with what he is doing. Why does an incoming message have a stressful effect for me but not for him? However, when dealing with information on deadlines I do not worry about missing this information at all, while my friend is constantly concerned he might be missing information about deadlines. Why is it that different kinds of messages cause a different kind of response, in terms of experiencing stress, in the same person? And why do others react differently to the same type of messages? And when I do feel stressed, how do I handle this? Should I switch off my phone entirely or just leave certain busy groups? What do others do when they feel stressed?
The reason that individuals want to be part of a group or e-group is that individuals feel the need to belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995, as described in Forsyth, 2014). This means that individuals want to feel like they matter to others. Because of this personal need to belong, individuals will attempt to find others they can relate to and search for the feeling that they matter and with whom they can form connections. Individuals also like others that they think they can understand and others that they think can understand them (Fiske, 2004).
Individuals also have a need for accurate information1. In order to find this accurate information, individuals are reliant upon others. When individuals have to perform a task, they have a certain need to find relevant information, for example about deadlines or when appointments have been made, or relevant information in order to perform the task
successfully (Hjørland, 1997).
1
Note: This personal need for accurate information is different from the so-called need for closure (Kruglanski & Webster, 1996) in the sense that the need for information entails having access to accurate information, whereas a need for closure revolves around whether or not an individual wants to avoid an ambiguous situation.
4 To satisfy these two needs, individuals will join groups. All individuals want to be part of a group to satisfy these needs. Individuals differ in their needs for belongingness and accurate information. Some individuals are fulfilled with just a few social groups or sources of accurate information, while others have a stronger need and will look for more groups to join in order to satisfy these needs (Leary, Kelly, Cottrell & Schreindorfer, 2013). In this day and age, more and more individuals use the internet to communicate with one another, starting out with mailing lists and forums, to being part of social media and the use of phone messaging applications on smartphones, creating a new type of group, namely e-groups. This type of group enables individuals to expand their social circles more easily than before, when individuals were limited to their local area, through family, friends and community groups (Lee & Barry, 2012). A part of our social life has been moved to the internet and as such, e-groups are more or less needed to maintain social contacts. According to Park, Kee and Valenzuela (2009), individuals use social media to fulfill the personal need to belong and the personal need for accurate information.
While e-groups provide a way for individuals to fulfill their needs, it can also put individuals at risk. A survey held in 2017 by GfK and Interpolis (Van Ast, 2018) showed that that some individuals set their alarm clocks in the middle of the night to check their phone for messages in order to keep up with their e-groups. Why is it that some individuals portray this behavior and other individuals do not? Are some individuals more worried than others about missing messages and if so, what kind of messages cause them to worry?
1.2. Theoretical background
1.2.1. Conformity and exclusion
Individuals differ in their personal need to belong and their personal need for accurate information. Because of these needs, some individuals will go to great lengths to stay a part of their group. Being part of a group might be more important than being right or having the correct information. The experiments by Asch (1956) show that when the majority of the group selects a wrong answer, and the individual knows that the answer is wrong, the individual might disregard his or her own right choice in favor of going along with the group. This conformity can be explained by the fact that there is a risk of being excluded from the group if you do not follow the majority (Abel, Buff & Burr, 2016). According to Baumeister and Leary (1995, as described in Forsyth, 2014), this risk of social exclusion or ostracism causes feelings of anxiety because it causes individuals to be afraid of losing their group
5 individuals will go through great lengths in order to avoid getting ostracized. An example in the context of e-groups might be that individuals set an alarm to go off at night in order to check their messages. These feelings of anxiety are at the root of an individual‟s fear of missing.
1.2.2. Fear of missing
In order to keep up with their groups, individuals will spend time and effort on their e-group participation. According to the Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954), individuals continuously compare themselves to others in order to determine their self-worth. Social media have made it easier for individuals to compare themselves. After all, being connected to internet makes that individuals can keep up with what everyone is doing and are notified when information is shared (Hop & Delver, 2012). Individuals can see what their friends are doing at any moment, which causes some individuals to worry about being left out if they do not take part in these social activities. This is called a Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). FOMO is a form of social anxiety when an individual gets the feeling that others are having rewarding experiences without them (Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwel, 2013). FOMO is a combination of anxiety, irritability and feelings of inadequacy.
Besides FOMO, which is connected to someone‟s personal need to belong, there might also be a different kind of fear of missing that is connected to someone‟s personal need for information. Scott and Woods (2018) state that individuals experience cognitive arousal because they worry about missing incoming messages when they cannot look at their smartphones. This cognitive arousal might also be triggered when an individual‟s need for accurate information is not being satisfied. The cognitive arousal that goes together with the worrying about missing information should then be related to a Fear of Missing
Information (FOMI). In the same way that an individual fears missing out on social activities and risks being excluded, an individual might fear missing relevant and accurate information. An individual who lacks crucial information might also be at risk of being excluded from a group in a different way (e.g. fired from a job) if his or her knowledge is not up to par.
1.2.3. Stress and Problematic Social Media Usage
E-group participation can bring both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand this type of group can have several benefits. Being part of e-groups is related to experiencing increased levels of social support and social validation, greater well-being, reduced stress and less physical illness (Liu & Yu, 2013; Nabi, Prestin & So, 2013). E-groups have been shown to have a positive effect on health interventions as well (Ling et al., 2018; Ridout & Campbell, 2018). On the other hand, being part of e-groups can also have its downside.
6 Maintaining the connection individuals have to these e-groups has an impact on their
personal resources, for example, the amount of free time someone has (Grawitch, Barber & Justice, 2010). Individuals have limited resources in their daily lives (personal resources), which they have to spend on activities (demands). Therefore they have to choose where to allocate these resources. If individuals are part of multiple (e-)groups, they have to decide on the amount of time and effort they spend on each of these groups. If individuals cannot spend enough resources on what they want, they will experience stress. The stress that comes from FOMO is most likely due to a fear of making the wrong choice with these limited resources (Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018). For example, spending time on homework instead of spending time with friends. Or making the choice to spend less resources on their e-groups by switching off their smartphone or limiting participation in certain e-groups.
Experiencing high levels of FOMO can lead to several negative outcomes. FOMO is negatively associated with general mood and overall life satisfaction. This implies that when individuals experience a high level of FOMO and thus experience more stress and anxiety, they are more likely to become addicted to social media usage and develop problematic social media use, i.e. PSMU (Franchina, Vanden Abeele, Van Rooij, Lo Coco & De Marez, 2018). This PSMU can be explained by the fact that for individuals who experience FOMO, social media are easy ways to stay socially connected with others (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007; JWTIntelligence, 2012). Furthermore, the addiction to social media leads to several negative outcomes such as more stress, sleeping problems and even physical complaints (Borelli, 2013).
It is unclear if FOMO and FOMI have the same effects on an individual. However, as discussed earlier, earlier research suggests that it may be more important for individuals to safeguard their social ties than to be right or have the correct information. Thus we expect that FOMI would have less severe consequences for the individual than FOMO.
1.3. Present study
The aim of the present study is to research the personal need to belong and the personal need for accurate information in relation to FOMO, FOMI and stress when it comes to
fulfilling these needs through e-group participation. We will examine the relation between the individual‟s needs and what the individual finds important to derive from their participation in e-groups. We will investigate if what the individual finds important to derive from his or her participation in e-groups is related to FOMO and FOMI. Lastly we will investigate if FOMO has a stronger relation to stress than FOMI does. In the present study, stress is split up into three different types. First of all, the stress that comes from not having access to your device
7 (i.e. smartphone), i.e., FOM-stress. Secondly, the stress that comes from worrying about missing accurate information, i.e., FOMI-stress. Lastly, the stress that comes from worrying about missing social interactions, i.e., FOMO-stress.
Given that individuals cope with stress in various manners, the present study explores whether or not individuals use certain coping strategies more or less often when they
experience more or less FOMO-stress and if they use certain coping strategies more or less often when they experience more or less FOMI-stress.
1.3.1. Research questions
The main questions of the present study are as follows: Is FOM-stress more strongly related to FOMO-stress than to FOMI-stress? Is FOMI related to what individuals consider to be important to derive from their e-group participation? Is FOMO related to what individuals consider to be important to derive from their e-group participation? Is what individuals
consider to be important to derive from e-group participation related to their personal need to belong and/or related to their personal need for accurate information?
1.3.2. Hypotheses
H1a: Individuals who consider it important to derive accurate information from their e-group participation will have a higher personal need for accurate information (see Figure 1). H1b: Individuals who consider it important to derive a feeling of belongingness from their e-group participation will have a higher personal need to belong. H2a: FOMI is directly related to the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation. H2b: FOMO is directly related to the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation. H3a: FOMI-stress is directly and positively related to FOMI. H3b: FOMO-stress is directly related FOMO. H4: FOM-stress has a stronger relation to FOMO-stress than to FOMI-stress.
8 Figure 1. The model of the hypotheses.
2. Methods
2.1. Participants
In the present study, a convenience sample of 103 participants used the weblink to answer the questionnaire. These participants were recruited through personal social networks as well as social media posts with the following message (see Appendix A): Are you a student between 16 and 35 years of age? Are you currently enrolled in a MBO, HBO or WO study? Do you have a smartphone and have you always been curious about your participation in e-groups? Then we are looking for you! Click on the link, fill in the 15-minutes questionnaire, and get a chance at winning a gift voucher from BOL.com worth 15 euros!
Of these 103 participants, one participant was not a student, five participants did not fill in anything, two participants filled in less than half of the questionnaire and one participant did not fill in the crucial part of the questionnaire about stress. After excluding these nine participants, 94 participants have been used to analyze the collected data. Of these
remaining 94 participants, there were 33 (35%) men and 61 (65%) women. The average age of the participants was 23.5 (SD = 2.52). The youngest participant was 19 years of age and the oldest participant was 29 years of age.
9 2.2. Procedure
Participants were given a weblink to the survey and could read a description on what the present study was about and how the gathered data would be handled (see Appendix B). After having read the information and after participants had given informed consent (see appendix C), they filled in the questionnaire (see Appendix D). This questionnaire took approximately fifteen minutes to complete. After completing the questionnaire, there was an option to fill in their email address in order to have a chance to win one of ten BOL.com gift vouchers of 15 euros. Participants were told that the email address would not be linked to the results of the questionnaire. After filling out the questions, participants were debriefed and given more information on the subject. Some helpful links about FOMO and social isolation as well as contact information were provided if participants had any questions about this study (see Appendix E).
The data gathered from this questionnaire have been anonymized and will remain confidential. After the data collection was finished, the gift vouchers were raffled among the participants.
2.3. Variables and instruments, scale construction
The questionnaire used in the present study makes use of altered and translated questions derived from and inspired by several scales, and also of questions we created specifically for the present study. For example, from the Need to Belong Scale (Leary, Kelly, Cottrell & Schreindorfer, 2013), the question “I do not like being alone” has been translated and altered into “Within my groups I find it important to have social interaction regularly”. This change removes the double negative in the question. In the same line, we constructed the question “Within my groups, I find it important to exchange information regularly”. From the Social Media Stress questionnaire (JWTIntelligence, 2012), we only adapted a few questions. An example of a question we have adapted from this questionnaire is “I feel stressed when I do not have my smartphone with me”. Several questions from this questionnaire have been left out, however, because they are not applicable to the present study. An example of a
question we have left out is “I often share or like posts from others so that in turn they will share or like my own posts”.
The personal need to belong scale consists of the following 7 items (α = .61): “Within my e-groups, I find it important that the others include me in social interactions”, “…we regularly have social interactions”, “…the others care about me”, “…the others are able to support me when I need them”, “…I am invited to social activities", "…the others accept me for what I do” and “…the others don‟t reject me for who I am”.
10 The personal need for accurate information scale consists of the following 7 items (α = .76): “Within my e-groups, I find it important that the information I share is appreciated”, “…there is clear information on what we want to achieve”, “…there is clear information on how we want to achieve our goals”, “…we regularly exchange information", "…my potential questions on information will not be ignored", "…I can check my information with the others” and “…I am able to receive the information I need”.
The importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation scale consists of the following 3 items (α = .68): “Within my e-groups, I value social bonding”,
“…friendships” and “…belongingness”.
The importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation consists of 2 items (α = .76): “Within my e-groups, I value the exchange of information” and “…that all of us have accurate information”. After statistical analysis, the item “…discussing study/work-related topics” was not included in this scale since it had a very low correlation with the other two items in this scale.
The FOMO scale consists of the following 5 items (α = .64): ”Within my e-groups, I find it important that I am not unaware when someone is struggling”, “…I participate when the others organise social activities", "…I can see when the others are having a good time”, “…I am up to date with the social plans of the others” and “…I understand in-jokes”.
The FOMI scale consists of the following 5 items(α = .62): “Within my e-groups, I find it important that I am up to date with details that have been agreed upon", "…I am informed about changes of earlier agreements", "…I participate when the others are exchanging information", "…I can get an explanation when I don‟t understand something” and “…I know what information the others have”.
As mentioned earlier, for the present study stress has been split up into three separate scales. FOMO-stress (stress that comes from FOMO), FOMI-stress (stress that comes from FOMI) and FOM-stress (the stress that comes from not having access to your device).
The FOMO-stress scale consists of the following 6 items (α = .79): “I feel stressed when I have the feeling that I don‟t have enough time for social bonding with my e-group", "…I have the feeling that I have not participated enough in social activities with the e-group", "…I have the feeling that I am being excluded", "…the others do not respond to social
11 suggestions I make", "…I do not get a quick response when I ask the others in the e-group a question” and “…I am not aware of the social activities of my e-group”.
The FOMI-stress scale consists of the following 6 items (α = .86): “I feel stressed when I feel that I have not contributed enough to the exchange of information in my e-group", "…I cannot ask for an explanation in my e-group when I do not understand something", "…I cannot participate in the exchange of information in the e-group", "…the others in my e-group do not respond when I share information with them", "…I am not sufficiently aware of the information that the others exchange” and “…I am not up to date on the details that have been agreed upon”.
The FOM-stress scale consists of the following 6 items (α = .79): “I feel stressed when I cannot see the screen of my smartphone, because the smartphone is face down", "the push notifications of my smartphone are disabled, so I cannot immediately know when I receive new messages", "the sounds/vibrations of my smartphone are disabled, so I cannot immediately know when I receive new messages", "I notice that I have a new message that I cannot immediately check", "I do not have my smartphone with me”and “I notice that I cannot keep up with everything that happens within my e-groups”.
The Coping questions were phrased by ourselves. A factor analysis identified three different factors, with which three scales were created (see Appendix F).
The “switch off device” scale consists of the following 5 items (α = .83): “When I feel stressed I switch off my smartphone", "…switch off my smartphone before I go to bed", "…switch off my smartphone before dinner", "…switch off my smartphone during family meetings” and ”…switch off my smartphone when I am on vacation”.
The “switch off notifications” scale consists of the following 4 items (α = .63): ”When I feel stressed I put my smartphone on silent", "…turn off the notifications on my
smartphone", "…limit the use of my smartphone” and “…turn off notifications for certain e-groups, but leave it on for other e-groups”.
The “limit e-group participation” scale consists of the following 2 items (α = .58): ”When I feel stressed I mention in certain e-groups that I will pause participation for now” and “…leave certain e-groups that cause me to have stress”.
12 3. Results
3.1. Preliminary analyses
Before testing the hypotheses, we used reliability analyses to check the internal consistency of the scales. As can be seen in the scale construction section (2.3), all of the scales had decent internal consistency values (α > .61), only the “limit e-group participation” scale of coping strategies had a lower internal consistency value (α = .58). The assumptions for the analyses have been met.
3.2. First inspections of the results
All hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analyses.
As can be seen in the correlations reported in Table 1, the stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) is highly correlated with the stress that comes from worrying about missing social interactions (FOMO-stress; r = .661) and with the stress that comes from worrying about missing accurate information (FOMI-stress; r = .671). FOMI correlates well with both the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation (r = .326) as well as with the need for accurate information (r = .436). FOMO does not have a correlation with the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation (r = .039), but does correlate well with the need to belong (r = .379). Remarkably, the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation has a higher correlation with the need for accurate information (r = .694) than with the need to belong (r = .368). Furthermore, of the three coping scales, only switching off notifications is weakly correlated to FOMI-stress (r = .211) and FOMO-stress (r = .239).
13 Table 1.
Means (M), standard deviation (SD) and correlations of all scales (n=94)
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. Need to belong 3.97 .51
2. Need for information 3.78 .41 .363** 3. E-group part.(belong)A 3.68 .55 .368** .694** 4. E-group part.(info)B 3.74 .44 .532** .636** .511** 5. FOMO 3.33 .56 .379** .039 .039 .060 6. FOMI 3.73 .48 .327** .436** .326** .267** .315** 7. FOMO-Stress 2.82 .75 .372** .075 .139 .291** .270** .199 8. FOMI-Stress 2.66 .79 .277** .213* .233* .304** .259* .381 .826** 9. FOM-stress 2.13 .74 .113 .120 .127 .163 .219* .101 .661** .671** 10. Switch off device 2.17 .97 .071 .003 .129 .064 .016 .066 .025 .152 -.079
11. Switch off notifications 3.44 .88 .100 -.073 -.018 .005 -.031 .003 .239* .211* -.091 .474**
12. Limit e-group participation 2.10 .97 .018 .020 -.057 -.066 -.109 -.020 .040 .125 .077 .093 .219**
AE-group part.(belong)= The importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation BE-group part.(info) = The importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation * = p <.05, ** = p <.01
14 Inspections of the means suggest that individuals experience FOMI-stress (M = 2.66) as often as FOMO-stress (M = 2.82). The same can be said about FOMI (M = 3.73) and FOMO (M = 3.33). Furthermore, of the three coping strategies, individuals more often choose to switch off the notifications on their devices (M = 3.44) than switching off their device (M = 2.17) or limiting their e-group participation (M = 2.10).
3.3. What do individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation? In order to predict what individuals find important to derive from their e-group participation on the basis of their personal need to belong and their personal need for accurate information, several analyses were conducted. In these analyses, we used two predictors for the sake of conceptual validity, in order to determine if the dependent variable is more strongly related to one independent variable and less strongly related to the other independent variable. For example: To test if the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation is more strongly related to the personal need for accurate information and less strongly related to the personal need to belong, the personal need to belong is added as a second predictor for conceptual validity.
Figure 2. What do individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation predicted from personal needs.
3.3.1. The importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation predicted from the personal need for accurate information
To test hypothesis 1a, that individuals who consider it important to derive accurate
information from their e-group participation will have a stronger personal need for accurate information, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation” from the “need for accurate information”
15 scale and adding the “need to belong” scale as a predictor for conceptual validation. A
significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 44.946, p < .001, R2 = .497). Only the need for accurate information had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .645, p < .001). The need to belong did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = .134, p = .098). This means that the more important it is to derive accurate information from e-group participation, the higher the personal need for accurate information. Thus, hypothesis 1a is supported.
3.3.2. The importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation predicted from the personal need to belong
To test hypothesis 1b, that individuals who consider it important to derive a feeling
belongingness from their e-group participation will have a stronger personal need to belong, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “the importance to derive a feeling belongingness from e-group participation” from the “need to belong” scale and adding the “need for accurate information” scale as a predictor for conceptual validation. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 47.189, p < .001, R2 = .509). Both the need to belong (𝛽 = .347, p < .001) and the need for accurate information (𝛽 = .510, p <.001) had a significant effect on the regression. This means that the more important it is to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation, the higher the personal need to belong. Thus, hypothesis 1b is supported. What is remarkable, however, is that the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation is more strongly related to the personal need for accurate information than to the personal need to belong.
3.4. Do individuals have a fear of missing something?
In order to measure FOMI and FOMO, individuals were asked what they consider important not to miss. We then predicted FOMI and FOMO from what individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation.
16 Figure 3. FOMI and FOMO predicted from what individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation.
3.4.1. The fear of missing accurate information (FOMI) predicted from what individuals consider important to derive from e-group participation
To test hypothesis 2a, that FOMI is related to considering it important to derive accurate information from e-group participation, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMI” from “the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation” scale and adding “the importance to derive a of belongingness from e-group participation” scale as a predictor for conceptual validity. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 6.219, p < .01, R2 = .120). Only the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .257, p < .05). The importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = .136, p = .273). This means that the more FOMI the individual experiences, the more important it is for the individual to derive accurate information from e-group participation. Thus, hypothesis 2a is supported.
3.4.2. The fear of missing accurate information (FOMI) predicted from the personal need for accurate information
As an extra analysis, we explored whether FOMI is directly related to the personal need for accurate information.
17 Figure 4. Extra analysis: FOMI predicted from the personal need for accurate information. A multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMI” from the “need for accurate information” scale and adding the “need to belong” scale as a predictor for conceptual validation. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 13.033, p < .001, R2 = .223). Only the need for accurate information had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .365, p < .001). The need to belong did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = .195, p = .052). This means that the more FOMI an individual experiences, the higher the personal need for accurate information is.
3.4.3. The fear of missing out on social interactions (FOMO) predicted from what individuals consider to be important to derive from their e-group participation
To test hypothesis 2b, that FOMO is related to considering it important to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMO” from “the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation” scale and adding “the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation” scale as a predictor for conceptual validation. The regression equation is not significant (F(2, 91) = .171, p = .843, R2 = .004). Neither the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation (𝛽 = .054, p = .657) nor the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation (𝛽 = .012, p = .923) had a significant effect on the regression. This means that FOMO is related to neither the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation nor to the importance to derive accurate
18 3.4.4. The fear of missing out on social interactions (FOMO) predicted from the
personal need to belong
Given that FOMO is not related to the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation, an extra analysis was conducted in order to explore whether FOMO is related to the personal need to belong.
Figure 5. Extra analysis: FOMO predicted from the personal need to belong.
A multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMO” from the “need to belong” scale and adding the “need for accurate information” scale as a predictor for conceptual validation. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 8.359, p < .001, R2 = .155). Only the need to belong had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .421, p < .001). The need for accurate information did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = -.114, p = .274). This means that the more FOMO the individual experiences, the higher the personal need to belong is.
3.5. The stress/unrest that comes from FOMI and FOMO
In order to measure the stress that comes from missing accurate information (FOMI-stress) and the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions (FOMO-stress), individuals were asked about situations that would cause stress or unrest. We then predicted FOMI-stress from FOMI, and FOMO-FOMI-stress from FOMO.
19 Figure 6. FOMI-stress predicted from FOMI, and FOMO-stress predicted from FOMO.
3.5.1. The stress that comes from worrying about missing accurate information (FOMI-stress) predicted from the fear of missing accurate information (FOMI)
To test hypothesis 3a, that FOMI-stress is related to FOMI, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMI-stress” from the “FOMI” scale and adding the “FOMO” scale as a predictor for conceptual validity. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 9.089, p < .001, R2 = .166). Only “FOMI” had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .332, p < .001). “FOMO” did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = .154, p = .130). This means that the more FOMI-stress an individual has, the more FOMI that individual experiences. Thus, hypothesis 3a is supported.
3.5.2. The stress that comes from worrying about missing out on social interactions (FOMO-stress) predicted from the fear of missing out on social interactions (FOMO) To test hypothesis 3b, that FOMO-stress is related to FOMO, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOMO-stress” from the “FOMO” scale and adding the “FOMI” scale as a predictor for conceptual validity. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 4.351, p < .05, R2 = .087). Only “FOMO” had a significant effect on the regression (𝛽 = .230, p < .05). “FOMI” did not have a significant effect (𝛽 = .127, p = .223). This means that the more FOMO-stress an individual has, the more FOMO that individual has. Thus,
20 3.6. The stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress)
Not having access to messages can cause stress or unrest (FOM-stress). In order to measure FOM-stress, individuals were asked if they experience stress when they do not have access to their device. We then predicted FOM-stress from FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress.
Figure 7. FOM-stress predicted from FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress.
To test hypothesis 4, that FOM-stress is more strongly related to FOMO-stress and less strongly related to FOMI-stress, a multiple linear regression was conducted to predict “FOM-stress” from “FOMI-stress” and “FOMO-stress”. A significant regression equation was found (F(2, 91) = 43.013, p < .001, R2 = .486). Both FOMO-stress (𝛽 = .335, p < .05) and FOMI-stress (𝛽 = .395, p <.01) had a significant effect on the regression. This means that the more FOM-stress an individual has, the more FOMO-stress and the more FOMI-stress that
individual will have. As can be seen from the 𝛽-coefficients, FOM-stress is related to both types of stress, but the relation between FOM-stress and FOMI-stress is slightly stronger than the relation between FOM-stress and FOMO-stress. Thus, hypothesis 4 is not fully supported.
21 3.7. Coping strategies
Individuals use different coping strategies when dealing with stress.
Table 2.
Means (M), standard deviation (SD) and correlations for “Coping strategies”
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 2.03 1.186
2. 3.78 1.186 .296**
3. 3.15 1.305 .401** .345**
4. 3.24 1.459 .176 .521** .428**
5. 2.28 1.094 .598** .303** .419** .132
6. 2.03 1.462 .457** .252* .294** .179 .448**
7. 2.23 1.168 .403** .156 .406** .207* .470** .730**
8. 2.27 1.265 .480** .211* .442** .118 .478** .463** .501**
9. 3.59 1.156 .053 .220* .188 .122 .282** .230* .260* .092
10. 1.80 1.248 -.011 .078 .145 .145 .034 .037 .003 .099 .153
11. 2.33 1.132 .031 .201 .127 .277** .040 .163 .113 .108 .232* .411** * = p <.05, ** = p <.01
1. When I feel stressed I switch off my smartphone 2… put my smartphone on silent.
3… turn off the notifications on my smartphone. 4… limit the use of my smartphone.
5… switch off my smartphone before I go to bed. 6… switch off my smartphone before dinner. 7… switch off my smartphone during family meetings. 8… switch off my smartphone when I am on vacation.
9… turn off notifications for certain e-groups, but leave it on for other e-groups. 10… mention in certain e-groups that I will pause participation for now. 11… leave certain e-groups that cause me to have stress.
As can be seen in the means reported in Table 2, individuals most often choose to put their device on silent, when they feel stressed (M = 3.43). Notifying a specific group that you will take a break from participation (M = 2.06) appears to be the least chosen option to deal with stress. Similarly, leaving e-groups that cause stress (M = 2.33) is also not a frequently
22 chosen option. Individuals seem to prefer to switch off notifications (M = 3.59) for certain e-groups, rather leaving a certain e-group or pausing participation. Several clusters can be identified by looking at the correlations. The items about switching off the smartphone have a high correlation with each other, for example items 1 and 5 (r = .59) and items 1 and 8 (r = 48). Similarly, items about turning off notifications have a high correlation with each other, for example items 2 and 3 (r = .43).
A factor analysis with varimax rotation identified three constructs from the questionnaire: switching off the device, switching off notifications and limiting e-group participation (see Appendix G and scale construction in the method section 2.3).
3.7.1 The choice of coping strategies predicted from FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress When experiencing stress due to worrying about missing out on social interactions and/or experiencing stress due to worrying about missing accurate information, individuals might employ various coping strategies in order to deal with these stressors. To explore whether this is the case when individuals experience FOMI-stress and/or FOMO-stress, several multiple regression analyses were conducted.
The coping strategies scales do not correlate well with the FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress scales (see Table 1). Similarly the multiple regression analyses yielded no significant results. As such, the data suggests that these coping strategies are unrelated to FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress. This means that the whether individuals apply these coping strategies, does not go together with FOMI-stress or FOMO-stress.
4. Discussion
In this day and age, individuals use their device (smartphones) for more than just keeping in touch with others. Individuals also use their device to manage appointments or look up information. The aim of the present study was to find out if the potential stress that stems from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) is not only related to the fear of missing social interactions (FOMO), but also related to the fear of missing accurate information (FOMI). By switching off your device, you might experience stress due to not having access to your messages (FOM-stress), you might worry about missing social interactions (FOMO-stress) and you might also worry about missing accurate information (FOMI-(FOMO-stress). As no research has yet been conducted about the relation between FOM-stress and FOMI-stress, the present study explores this possible relation. Interventions designed to combat FOMO
23 and FOMO-stress prescribe that individuals switch off their devices (Hunt, Marx, Lipson & Young. 2018; Rogers & Barber, 2019). However, because of the possible relation between FOM-stress and FOMI-stress, these interventions might cause more harm than good, since not having access to your device and worrying about missing accurate information may also be potential sources of stress.
In order to investigate the sources of the different kinds of stress and underlying relationships between these stressors, several research questions have been posited. Is FOM-stress more strongly related to FOMO-stress than to FOMI-stress? Is FOMI related to what individuals consider important to derive from e-group participation? Is FOMO related to what individuals consider important to derive from e-group participation? Is what individuals consider to be important to derive from e-group participation related to the personal need to belong and/or related to the personal need for accurate information?
4.1. Stress that comes from not having access to your device
According to Scott and Woods (2018), there is a cognitive process underlying the fear of missing. This cognitive process is activated when individuals worry about missing incoming messages when they do not have access to their device. This cognitive process could be activated when individuals worry about missing social interactions as well as worry about missing accurate information.
The results of the present study suggest that stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) is indeed also related to the stress that comes from of missing information (FOMI-stress) and not merely related to the stress that comes from missing social interactions (FOMO-stress). It was predicted that the stress that comes from FOMO would be more strongly related to the stress that comes from not having access to your device than the stress that comes from FOMI would. The present study suggests that these relationships are approximately equal in strength. This is an unexpected finding, given that earlier research suggests that individuals consider it more important to belong than to be correct (Abel, Buff & Burr, 2016; Asch, 1956). Earlier reserach would imply that the stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) would be more strongly related to the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions (FOMO-stress) than to the stress that comes from missing accurate information (FOMI-stress). However, the present study suggests that FOM-stress is nearly equally strongly related to the stress that comes from missing accurate information.
24 4.2. Stress from the fear of missing accurate information (FOMI)
The present study suggests that there is a relation between FOMI and stress. The stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) is related to the stress that comes from missing accurate information (FOMI-stress). It was predicted and found that the stress that comes from missing accurate information is related to the fear of missing accurate information (FOMI). It was also predicted and found that FOMI is related to both the personal need for accurate information and the importance individuals place on deriving accurate information from their e-group participation. These results suggest that the stress due to not having access to your device is indeed also related to the stress that comes from missing information.
4.3. Stress from the fear of missing out on social interactions (FOMO)
In line with earlier research (Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018; Franchina, Vanden Abeele, Van Rooij, Lo Coco & De Marez, 2018; Hop & Delver, 2012; Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan & Gladwel, 2013), the present study suggests that the stress that comes from not having access to your device (FOM-stress) is related to the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions (FOMO-stress). This FOMO-stress is related to the fear of missing out on social interactions.
The present study suggests that FOMO is not related to what individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation. This result is unexpected because one would assume that individuals who consider it more important to derive a feeling of
belongingness from their e-group participation would experience more FOMO than individuals who consider it less important. While the data show that FOMO is unrelated to what individuals consider important to derive from e-group participation, the extra analysis shows that there is a direct and positive relation between FOMO and the personal need to belong (and not between FOMO and the personal need for accurate information). This means that the more FOMO individuals experience, the higher their personal need to belong is.
4.4. What individuals consider important to derive from their e-group participation in relation to personal needs.
It was predicted and found that the importance to derive accurate information from e-group participation is related to the personal need for accurate information. It was also predicted and found that the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation is indeed related to the personal need to belong. Remarkably, the data suggest that the importance to derive a feeling of belongingness from e-group participation is more strongly
25 related to the personal need for accurate information than to the personal need to
belong. This might imply that individuals with a high personal need for accurate information also consider it important to derive accurate information from their e-group participation and also consider it important to derive a feeling of belongingness from their e-group
participation. However, individuals with a high personal need to belong only consider it important to derive a feeling of belongingness their from e-group participation.
4.5. The choice of coping strategies
The present study explored whether individuals applied certain coping strategies when dealing with FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress. These analyses yielded no significant results. This means that on the basis of this exploration, the frequency of when individuals apply these coping strategies (switching off device, switching off notifications and limiting e-group participation) has nothing to do with the amount of FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress they experience.
4.6. Implications
Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) states that individuals have a need to belong and a need for accurate information in order to determine their personal worth. Earlier studies in the context of e-group participation have mostly focused on the fear of missing out on social interactions and the stress that stems from this and have not taken FOMI into consideration. Based on earlier studies that individuals want to be accepted (Baumeister & Leary, 1995, as described in Forsyth, 2014) and that being accepted is more important than being correct (Abel, Buff & Burr, 2016; Asch, 1956), it was predicted that the stress that may come from not having access to your device would be more strongly related to the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions than to the stress that comes from missing accurate information. The present study suggests, however, that the stress that comes from not having access to your device is about equally strongly related to both the stress that comes from missing accurate information and the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions. The present study shows that maintaining social interactions is important, but that keeping up with accurate information is also important.
The most common suggested solution for FOMO is to switch off your device so that you are not bombarded by incoming messages about missed social opportunities (Hunt, Marx, Lipson & Young. 2018; Rogers & Barber, 2019). This solution ignores the fact that nowadays individuals use their devices for more than just maintaining social interactions. By removing access to the device, the access to accurate information is also removed. The results of the present study suggest that when individuals have no access to their device,
26 individuals experience stress that is related to the stress that comes from missing out on social interactions as well as to the stress that comes from missing accurate information. With these new insights, it seems that switching off the device might cause more harm than good. This means that switching off your device is probably not a viable solution, for stress in the context of smartphone usage, and that other options should be studied and tested.
4.7. Limitations of the present study
The present study features limitations that should be mentioned. First of all, the sample consists of students. While this study was focused on stress among students, the results of the present study cannot be generalized to the general population. In the age group of the participants (18 to 29 years of age), approximately 90% uses social media, while among individuals who are 50 or older only 50% reported using social media (Perrin, 2015). Therefore, individuals in other age groups might look at participation in e-groups differently than students and thus use their device or smartphone (if they own one) for different purposes. Furthermore, in the questionnaire of the present study, individuals were asked about the importance of exchanging information. It was not well specified what sort of information is exchanged. Individuals might have a preference on what sort of information they consider important or irrelevant. For example, someone might find it more important to keep track of deadlines and appointments, but does not care about information about the stock exchange. Lastly, one of the coping scales (limiting e-group participation) had a low internal consistency (α < .60). This means that this part of the research does not measure this coping strategy in a reliable manner.
4.8. Suggestions for future research
Although the present study does offer insights, not every aspect of FOMI-stress and FOMI has been studied. Future research should include FOMI-stress and FOMI when studying FOM-stress and e-group participation, however. Furthermore, future research should study nonstudents when it comes to e-group participation as FOMO is prevalent among millennials (aged between 18 and 34) who are not necessarily students. Similarly, future research should study an older age group in order to determine if this older age group handles the incoming messages or lack of access to a device in a different manner. Future research should also test what sort of accurate information matters more to individuals and what sort of accurate information matters less. Furthermore, given that FOM-stress is related to FOMI-stress as well as to FOMO-FOMI-stress, current FOMO-interventions should not be recommending that individuals turn off their devices. Instead of suggesting that switching off your device is a good idea, future research should test interventions that take FOMI-stress and FOMI into
27 consideration. Lastly, the exploration into coping strategies suggested that there is no
relation between certain coping strategies and FOMI-stress or FOMO-stress. Future
research should further explore coping strategies when it comes to FOMI-stress and FOMO-stress with better designed and more reliable measurements.
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30 Appendix A: Social media advertisement
Advertentie Social Media
Bent u een MBO, HBO, of WO student tussen de 16 en 35 jaar? Bent u altijd al nieuwsgierig geweest naar uw deelname aan e-groepen en wat dit betekent voor uw welbevinden? Dan zijn wij op zoek naar u! Klik op de link, vul de 10-minuten durende vragenlijst in, en maak kans op een mooie cadeaubon ter waarde van 15 euro!
https://leidenuniv.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cTMV48jHstTRyzr
Mocht het aanklikken van de link niet werken, kopieer dan de volledige URL in de adresbalk van uw browser en druk op Enter.
Heeft u vragen over dit onderzoek voordat u wilt beginnen? Dan kunt u contact opnemen met ons door een e-mail te sturen naar masterthesisul2019@gmail.com
31 Appendix B: Information letter
Informatie brief Beste student(e),
In het kader van onze master Psychologie, aan de Universiteit Leiden, doen wij onderzoek naar deelname aan e-groepen onder studenten in het middelbaar en hoger onderwijs. Hierbij willen wij u vragen een korte vragenlijst in te vullen. Hieronder vindt u meer informatie over het onderzoek.
Aanleiding van het onderzoek
Wij zijn geïnteresseerd in uw deelname in e-groepen, bijvoorbeeld WhatsApp en Facebook. Wat vindt u belangrijk in e-groepen? Wat zou u niet willen missen in uw e-groepen? Wordt u soms onrustig van uw e-groepen? Waar wordt u blij van in uw e-groepen?
Belang van deelname aan het onderzoek
Wanneer u deelneemt aan het onderzoek, kunnen wij een zo veelzijdig mogelijk beeld schetsen van de relatie tussen deelname aan e-groepen en het welbevinden van studenten.
De vragenlijst
Het invullen van de vragenlijst neemt ongeveer 10 minuten in beslag. Na het volledig invullen van de vragenlijst kunt u kans maken op één van de 10 cadeaubonnen, elk ter waarde van 15 euro, die onder de 100 deelnemers verloot zullen worden. Als u wilt meedoen aan de verloting vult u aan het einde van de vragenlijst uw e-mailadres in. Als u een korte samenvatting van de onderzoeksresultaten van ons wilt ontvangen vult u ook uw e-mailadres in. Wanneer wij uw ingevulde vragenlijst ontvangen, is uw e-mailadres reeds losgekoppeld van uw overige antwoorden op de vragenlijst. Dat doen wij door u te verzoeken uw e-mailadres, indien u dat zelf wilt, aan het eind van de vragenlijst afzonderlijk in te vullen, los van uw antwoorden op de overige vragen. Na de loting en de verzending van de cadeaubonnen en/of de samenvatting van de onderzoeksresultaten zullen alle (afzonderlijk opgeslagen) e-mailadressen door ons vernietigd worden.
Dit onderzoek is goedgekeurd door de Commissie Ethiek van het Instituut Psychologie, Universiteit Leiden. Wij wijzen u erop dat deelname geheel vrijwillig is en u op elk moment uw invulling van de vragenlijst kunt beëindigen zonder verdere gevolgen.
Let op, bij het afsluiten en opnieuw opstarten van de vragenlijst is het niet mogelijk verder te gaan waar u gebleven was. Wij verzoeken u dan ook de vragenlijst in één keer in te vullen. Vragen?
Heeft u vragen over dit onderzoek? Dan kunt u contact opnemen met ons door een e-mail te sturen naar masterthesisul2019@gmail.com
Mocht u eventueel rechtstreeks contact willen opnemen met de universitaire projectleider dr. A. P. Wit, dan kunt u een e-mail sturen naar wit@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Met vriendelijke groet, Daphne van den Heuvel Ismail Khalid
32 Appendix C: Informed consent form
Toestemmingsverklaring
Voor deelname aan het wetenschappelijk onderzoek
“deelname aan e-groepen en het welbevinden van studenten” Ik bevestig hierbij:
dat ik een student ben tussen de 16 en 35 jaar oud
dat ik voldoende geïnformeerd ben omtrent bovenvermelde studie dat ik vrijwillig deelneem aan deze studie
dat ik voldoende tijd gehad heb om een beslissing te nemen aangaande mijn deelname
dat ik er van op de hoogte ben dat mijn gegevens anoniem verwerkt zullen worden in deze studie
dat de gegevens van de door mij ingevulde vragenlijst uitsluitend gebruikt mogen worden voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek, waarbij ik als individu niet herkenbaar zal zijn
dat ik op elk moment de vragenlijst kan afsluiten zonder verdere negatieve gevolgen Indien akkoord, bevestig hieronder
Hierbij ga ik akkoord met deelname aan het onderzoek Ja
33 Appendix D: Questionnaire Deel A: Personalia Ik ben een... man. vrouw.
zeg ik liever niet. Ik ben ____ jaar oud.
Dit onderzoek richt zich op het welzijn van studenten. Ben jij een student?
Ja Nee
Deel B: Wat vindt u belangrijk in groepen?
Mensen vinden verschillende dingen binnen groepen belangrijk. Wat vindt u belangrijk in groepen waar u deel van uitmaakt? LET OP: het gaat hier om zowel online als offline groepen.
Binnen mijn groepen vind ik het belangrijk dat...
Nooit Meestal niet soms niet / soms wel Meestal wel Altijd
1 ...informatie die ik deel gewaardeerd wordt.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
2 ...de anderen mij er sociaal bij betrekken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
3 ...er duidelijke informatie is over wat we willen bereiken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
4 ...er duidelijke informatie is over hoe we dat willen bereiken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
5 ...we regelmatig onderling sociaal contact hebben.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
6 … de anderen om mij geven. ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
7 ...we regelmatig onderling informatie uitwisselen.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
8 ...de anderen mij kunnen steunen wanneer ik dat nodig heb.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
9 ...mijn eventuele vragen om informatie niet genegeerd worden.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
10 ...ik informatie kan checken bij de anderen.
34
11 … de anderen mij accepteren om
wat ik doe.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
12 ...ik word uitgenodigd voor sociale activiteiten.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
13 ....ik aan de informatie kan komen die ik nodig heb.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
14 … de anderen mij niet afwijzen
om wie ik ben.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
Deel C: Uw deelname aan e-groepen.
Vanaf nu gaan we specifiek in op uw deelname aan e-groepen. Geef hieronder aan
aan hoeveel e-groepen u deelneemt bestaande uit twee personen of meer,
INCLUSIEF uzelf. Hierbij kunt u bijvoorbeeld denken aan WhatsApp groepen, losse
Whatsapp contacten, Facebookgroepen, E-mail groepen, online game groepen,
chatgroepen, Discord, etc.
we zijn geinteresseerd in uw deelname aan e-groepen van twee personen of meer
inclusief uzelf.
1. Aan hoeveel e-groepen, van twee personen of meer, neemt u deel?
Geef hieronder aan hoeveel uur u de afgelopen 3 dagen in totaal besteed heeft aan
al deze e-groepen tezamen? Wanneer dit minder dan 1 uur is, schrijf dan een 1 op.
LET OP: 3 dagen bestaat in totaal uit 72 uur.
2. Hoeveel uur heeft u de afgelopen 3 dagen in totaal besteed aan al deze
e-groepen tezamen?
Deel D: Waar hecht u waarde aan binnen e-groepen?
Sommige mensen hechten vooral waarde aan het sociale aspect in e-groepen. Andere mensen hechten vooral waarde aan het informatieve aspect in e-groepen. Hoe zit dat bij u?
Binnen mijn e-groepen hecht ik waarde aan...
Helemaal niet Meestal niet soms niet / soms wel Meestal wel Helemaal wel 1 ...sociale binding. ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ 2 ...informatie-uitwisseling. ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ 3 ...vriendschappen. ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
4 ...dat we allemaal over accurate informatie beschikken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
35 6 ....het bespreken
van studie/werk-gerelateerde zaken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
Deel E: Mis ik iets?
Sommige dingen in uw e-groepen vindt u misschien erger om te missen dan andere dingen. Wat is voor u belangrijk om niet te missen?
Binnen mijn e-groepen vind ik het belangrijk dat...
Nooit Meestal niet soms niet / soms wel Meestal wel Altijd
1 ...het niet aan me voorbij gaat wanneer de anderen het moeilijk hebben.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
2 ...ik op de hoogte ben van details van wat we met elkaar afspreken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
3 ...ik meedoe wanneer de anderen iets sociaals organiseren.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
4 ...ik word geïnformeerd over wijzigingen van wat we met elkaar afspreken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
5 ...ik kan zien wanneer de anderen plezier hebben.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
6 … ik meedoe wanneer de anderen informatie uitwisselen.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
7 ...ik op de hoogte van van sociale plannen van de anderen.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
8 ...ik uitleg kan krijgen wanneer ik iets niet snap.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
9 ...ik de „onderonsjes‟ van de anderen begrijp.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
10 ...ik weet over welke informatie de anderen beschikken.
▢ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▢
Deel F: Onrust / stress
Sommige mensen worden wel eens onrustig/gestrest van hun e-groepen. Andere hebben hier minder last van. Hoe zit dat bij u?
Ik voel me onrustig/gestrest wanneer… Nooit Meestal niet soms niet / soms wel Meestal wel Altijd
