🔥 "FOMO: the fear of missing out on everything… even if there was nothing to miss"
How a psychological scale helps us understand what drives us to check our phones every 8 minutes
In 2013, a group of researchers led by Andrew Przybylski did something we all would have liked to do: measure FOMO.
Yes, that uncomfortable and prickly feeling you get when it seems like something more interesting is happening elsewhere than in your reality.
The result? A 10-question scale, which is now used worldwide to measure how vulnerable we are to the thought:
“What if I’m missing out on something important?”
🎯 How the FOMO scale works
The FOMO Scale is simple: ten statements to which you respond from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (very true).
Here are some real examples from the tool:
“I worry when I find out my friends had fun without me.”
“When I don’t know what others are doing, I feel uncomfortable.”
“I find it hard to concentrate if I know something is happening elsewhere.”
Average score above 4?
You have a serious case of FOMO. You don’t miss a post, a WhatsApp group, an Instagram story — not even those from people you don’t remember following.
🧠 What science tells us about FOMO
Here comes the interesting part. This scale is not just a fun test: it's a real indicator of mental well-being (or distress).
In the last ten years, hundreds of studies have used this scale and found very strong correlations with:
Psychological variable Correlation with FOMO
Positive anxiety (↑)
Positive depression (↑)
Positive social media addiction (↑)
Negative life satisfaction (↓)
Negative sleep quality (↓)
In simple terms: the more you live chasing what you might be missing, the less you can enjoy what you already have.
📱 But what does it have to do with finance, trading, or crypto?
Everything.
The FOMO mechanism is the same that drives you to buy an asset when 'it's rising and everyone is talking about it'.
It's the same thing that keeps you glued to charts or tweets, for fear of 'being late' or 'missing out'.
And the worst part? The higher the FOMO, the less you can make clear decisions.
In practice, FOMO is an emotion disguised as information.
It makes something that stems from the panic of being excluded seem rational.
🛠️ What to do with this awareness?
1. Take the test: honestly reflect on the questions of the scale. Where do you place yourself?
2. Connect the dots: note when FOMO influences your choices — social, emotional, financial.
3. Practice detachment: the more you cultivate attention, gratitude, and intentionality, the less power FOMO will have over you.
🔚 In conclusion
The FOMO scale does not just measure a fleeting annoyance. It measures a flaw in our sense of emotional stability.
And until we learn to recognize it, we risk chasing after everything… except ourselves.
