When the time period ‘FOMO’, the ‘concern of lacking out’, went mainstream round 2010, one other phrase popped as much as counter it.
Though some folks claimed to have FOMO about issues they noticed on social media, others appeared to relish ‘JOMO’, the ‘pleasure of lacking out’.
They’d insist they loved, and even most popular, their very own firm, and will use the solitude as a possibility for mindfulness, self-reflection and self-improvement.
However a brand new research by Washington State University has discovered that JOMO might not be fairly as joy-filled as folks declare.
In actual fact, the research discovered that many individuals who expertise JOMO additionally undergo from social anxiousness.
Avoiding social interplay
Lead creator and psychology professor Chris Barry mentioned some respondents loved lacking out on issues, not as a result of it provided alternatives for introspection and self-improvement, however as a result of it meant they did not need to work together with others.
“On the whole, lots of people like being related,” he mentioned WSU Insider.
“When making an attempt to evaluate JOMO, we discovered that some folks have been having fun with lacking out, not for the solitude or a Zen-like calming expertise of with the ability to regroup, however extra to keep away from social interplay.”
Researchers surveyed two teams of adults, every containing 500 folks, recruited via Amazon’s crowd-sourcing platform MTurk.
Respondents have been requested a variety of inquiries to measure their JOMO, together with prompts about spending time alone, self-reflection and social disconnection.
In researchers’ evaluation of the primary group, they discovered that respondents who skilled a excessive stage of JOMO additionally skilled excessive ranges of social anxiousness.
Researchers additionally discovered a connection between heightened JOMO and introversion, social media use and life satisfaction.
To additional examine, the researchers determined to investigate a second group to search out respondents who skilled JOMO within the absence of social anxiousness.
To their shock, they discovered that solely 10 % of individuals who skilled JOMO didn’t have excessive ranges of tension.
That very same 10 %, whereas not socially anxious, nonetheless reported reasonable emotions of loneliness and social isolation.
‘Motives matter’
Professor Barry mentioned JOMO might be both optimistic or destructive – relying on an individual’s causes for self-isolation.
“The motives matter,” he mentioned.
“Why are folks lacking out? If it is as a result of they should recharge, that is perhaps factor. In the event that they’re making an attempt to keep away from one thing, that’s most likely not wholesome in the long term.”
In case you’d nonetheless prefer to take consolation within the feeling of JOMO, then read about the best ways to do soin line with a professor in social and well being psychology from the College of Durham, Fuschia Sirois.
“After we settle for and are happy with what we now have and who we’re,” she wrote, “we might be much less prone to make unhealthy social comparisons and extra prone to expertise JOMO.”
