The Relationship Between Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) Levels and Cyberloafing Behaviors of Teacher Candidates

The aim of this study is to determine teacher candidates’ level of fear of missing out (FoMO) and cyberloafing behaviors which they perform in the computer lab and examine the relationship between them. The study is a quantitative research based on the descriptive survey model. In this context, personal information form, “Fear of Missing Out Scale” which is adapted Turkish by Gökler, Aydın, Ünal Metintaş (2016) and “Cyberloafing Activities Scale” which is an updated scale by Yaşar (2013) have been used to collect data. These data collection tools have been entered an online form and data has been collected in this way. Convenience sampling method has been used for sampling. The population of the study consists of undergraduate teacher candidates studying at Faculty of Education of Anadolu University, Firat University and Necmettin Erbakan University. 62 male and 79 female, a total of 141 students from these universities who voluntarily filled out the online form constituted the sample. Independent samples t-test, one-way anova, simple/bivariate correlation and simple linear regression tests have been performed on the obtained data. According to the results of the study, teacher candidates levels of fear of missing out are moderate and not differentiated by gender. Besides, cyberloafing levels of teacher candidates are on the moderate and differentiated by gender. The cyberloafing and fear of missing out levels of the teacher candidates are not differentiated according to the university they study. In addition, there is a significant relationship between teacher candidates levels of fear of missing out and their social cyberloafing (cyberloafing for socialization) behaviors. Fear of missing out is a significant predictor of cyberloafing behavior for socialization.