Self-determination and FOMO
As a result of the self-regulatory component of the self-determination theory, individuals are likely to monitor their behaviors due to situational and chronic deficits in psychological need satisfactions (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2007; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Przybylski, Rigby, Ryan & Weinstein, 2009). Looking through the perspective of the self-determination theory, the phenomenon FOMO can be considered as a self-regulatory mechanism which is used to satisfy the psychological needs.
There are three psychological needs explained by self-determination theory: competence, autonomy and relatedness. These three needs can be satisfied by social media engagement in the following ways: The social media platforms can be used by individuals to compete with their peers, ex. Sharing posts about individual accomplishments, autonomy is expressed by sharing posts according to one’s will and interests, and relatedness can be satisfied by sharing posts with other individuals and viewing their content on social media platforms. Therefore, individuals with high self-determination psychological needs would engage in social media activities more frequently in order to satiate their needs.