The purpose of this study was to verify the mediating effect of emotion regulation difficulty, the moderating effect of self-concept clarity, and the moderating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation in the effect of fear of missing out of exces...
The purpose of this study was to verify the mediating effect of emotion regulation difficulty, the moderating effect of self-concept clarity, and the moderating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation in the effect of fear of missing out of excessive SNS users in early adulthood on relationship addiction tendency. To this end, an online survey was conducted on 300 early adult adults between the ages of 19 and 35, of which 240 data corresponding to the criteria of weak and high-risk groups (26 points or higher) in the Korean SNS Addiction Index (KSAI) were used for the final analysis.
The main results are as follows.
First, there was a significant correlation between fear of missing out, difficulties in emotion regulation, and relationship addiction tendency. fear of missing out and difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with relationship addiction tendency, and self-concept clarity was negatively correlated with them.
Second, in the effect of fear of missing out on relationship addiction tendency, the mediating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation was significantly confirmed. It was found that fear of missing out increases the difficulties in emotion regulation, and this difficulty in emotional regulation increases the relationship addiction tendency.
Third, the moderating effect of self-concept clarity was significant in the effect of fear of missing out on difficulties in emotion regulation. The lower the clarity of the self-concept, the greater the influence of the fear of missing out on the difficulties in emotion regulation.
Fourth, the controlled mediating effect of self-concept clarity was partially confirmed in the process of influencing the relationship addiction tendency through difficulties in emotion regulation. The mediating effect was significant when self-concept clarity was low or at an average level, but it was not significant at a high level, suggesting that self-concept clarity can buffer the emotional path between fear of missing out and relationship addiction tendency.
This study provides basic data to understand the relational difficulties and addictive interpersonal relationships of early adult SNS overuse groups by integrating how fear of missing out, difficulties in emotion regulation, and self-concept clarity are linked to relationship addiction trends in the framework of self-determination theory.