Abstract:

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between fear of missing out (FoMO) and internet addiction. 389 university students voluntarily participated in the study. Fear of Missing Out Scale, Young Internet Addiction Test Short Form, Cognitive Flexibility Scale, and Personal Information Form were used to collect the data for the research. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the relationships between the variables. The mediating role of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between participants' fear of missing out and internet addiction was tested with the structural equation model. According to the findings, positive correlations were found between the fear of missing out and internet addiction, and negative correlations with cognitive flexibility. A negative correlation was found between cognitive flexibility and internet addiction. Moreover, cognitive flexibility mediates the relationship between the fear of missing out and internet addiction. As a result of the bootstrapping analysis for larger samples, the model of the research was confirmed. As a result, as the fear of missing out on university students’ increases, cognitive flexibility levels decrease; as cognitive flexibility decreases, internet addiction levels increase.

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