FoMO and cyberstalking in adults: the mediating roles of early maladaptive schemas and phubbing

IntroductionIt is noticeable that cyberstalking behavior, which has become widespread in recent years and has many negative effects, has been investigated to a limited extent. This study aimed to analyse the mediating role of early maladaptive schemas of abandonment and insufficient self-control and phubbing in the relationship between FoMO and cyberstalking among adult individuals.MethodsThe study group comprised 540 adults aged 18, 48 (71.1% female and 28.9% male). We adopted Pearson correlation analysis and PROCESS Macro Model 80 in regression analysis to explore the relationships among cyberstalking, FoMO, early maladaptive schemas and phubbing.ResultsThe results showed that there were significant relationships between the study variables. Also, results show that early maladaptive schemas of abandonment and insufficient self-control and phubbing mediate the relationship between FoMO and cyberstalking.DiscussionThese findings suggest that the abandonment schema may be associated with FoMO-related cyberstalking through a theoretically informed pathway that may reflect attachment-related vulnerabilities, whereas the insufficient self-control schema may reflect a possible self-regulation-related dimension that may be associated with FoMO-related digital behaviors of this process. The inclusion of phubbing in the model further indicates that FoMO-related attentional and relational dysregulation may be linked to monitoring-oriented online behaviors. In this regard, these findings may provide a theoretical perspective for future studies examining attachment-related schema sensitivities, self-regulation processes, and mindful technology use in relation to FoMO-related digital behaviors.