Chapter 11 Quiz: Fear of Missing Out
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Przybylski et al. (2013) defined FOMO as:
A) A temporary emotional response to missing a specific social event B) A pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent C) An addiction to social media driven by the need for external validation D) A cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate others' enjoyment of social events
2. According to self-determination theory as applied to FOMO research, FOMO is primarily driven by:
A) Excessive social media use during adolescence B) Personality traits such as neuroticism and introversion C) Unmet needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness D) Biological predispositions toward social anxiety
3. The evolutionary basis of social exclusion anxiety suggests that exclusion from the group was, for ancestral humans:
A) A temporary inconvenience that motivated prosocial behavior B) A potentially life-threatening situation, as the lone individual could not survive C) Less significant than resource competition within the group D) Primarily experienced by females, who depended more on group cooperation
4. Eisenberger's neuroimaging research on social exclusion found that being excluded activates:
A) The reward centers associated with anticipatory pleasure B) The amygdala's fear-conditioning pathways C) The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the same region involved in processing physical pain D) The prefrontal cortex's executive control networks
5. The Cyberball paradigm is notable because it demonstrates that social exclusion distress occurs:
A) Only when the excluded person has a prior relationship with the excluders B) Even in minimal, abstract scenarios with strangers, and even when participants know they are playing against computers C) Primarily in populations with pre-existing social anxiety disorders D) Only when participants believe the exclusion is permanent
6. The "highlight reel effect" refers to:
A) The way algorithms prioritize popular content over chronologically recent content B) The tendency of social media platforms to show only verified, accurate information C) The systematic bias in shared social media content toward positive, curated experiences D) A specific Instagram feature that shows users' most-liked posts from the past year
7. Research on image-editing filters on social media platforms has found that:
A) Users quickly adapt to filtered images and no longer experience comparison effects B) Knowing intellectually that images are filtered fully neutralizes their emotional impact C) Exposure to filtered peer images produces body dissatisfaction even when users know images are edited D) Filter use is associated with increased authenticity and self-expression
8. Leon Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory distinguishes between upward and downward comparison. Upward comparison typically produces:
A) Increased motivation and aspirational behavior B) Negative affect including envy, inadequacy, and dissatisfaction C) Positive affect including gratitude and self-satisfaction D) No consistent emotional effect; individual differences determine the response
9. The Verduyn et al. (2015) distinction between passive and active social media use found that:
A) Both forms of use are equally associated with negative wellbeing outcomes B) Active use is more strongly associated with negative wellbeing because it exposes users to criticism C) Passive use predicts increased envy and decreased wellbeing, while active use shows different or no such effects D) The distinction is not meaningful; total time on platform is the only relevant variable
10. The FOMO research finding that is most difficult to explain by reverse causality (people who are already depressed use social media more) is:
A) Cross-sectional correlations between Instagram use and self-reported depression B) Experimental studies that randomly assign participants to limited vs. normal social media use C) Longitudinal surveys tracking social media use and mental health over time D) Qualitative interviews with heavy social media users describing their emotional experiences
11. Instagram launched its Stories feature in:
A) 2012, as part of the platform's original design B) 2014, in response to user requests for temporary content C) 2016, copying the format from Snapchat D) 2018, after acquiring the technology from a smaller startup
12. The twenty-four-hour expiration on social media Stories content primarily functions psychologically as:
A) A privacy protection mechanism that prevents permanent archiving of personal content B) A temporal urgency trigger that creates FOMO around the content itself C) A technical limitation related to server storage costs D) A quality control mechanism ensuring only recent, relevant content is shown
13. At Velocity Media, Dr. Aisha Johnson's ethics memo flagged the Stories expiration feature as:
A) Technically unnecessary and therefore a deliberate FOMO mechanism B) A legitimate freshness mechanism with no psychological downsides C) An intellectual property concern related to Snapchat's existing patents D) A potential data privacy violation under European regulations
14. FOMO and sleep disruption are connected through two pathways. Which of the following correctly identifies both pathways?
A) Biological: increased cortisol from social anxiety; Social: peer pressure to stay up late B) Behavioral: FOMO motivates late-night checking; Physiological: blue light suppresses melatonin production C) Cognitive: rumination about social situations; Emotional: anxiety prevents relaxation D) Direct: FOMO causes insomnia; Indirect: poor sleep worsens FOMO the next day
15. Woods and Scott (2016) found that problematic social media use in adolescents was associated with:
A) Increased social connection that partially offset the negative effects on sleep B) Poor sleep quality, poor mental health, and low self-esteem C) No significant effects on sleep once socioeconomic status was controlled D) Increased morning energy due to the stimulating nature of social content
16. The key distinction between chronological and algorithmic social media feeds, with respect to FOMO, is that algorithmic feeds:
A) Show more content from close friends and less from acquaintances, reducing comparison pressure B) Systematically surface emotionally arousing content — including FOMO-producing content — because it drives engagement C) Are better at matching users with content they consciously want to see D) Reduce FOMO by filtering out party and event content from users who were not invited
17. The "JOMO" countermovement, popularized by Anil Dash, proposes:
A) Blocking all social media notifications permanently using technical tools B) An affirmative stance of being fully present in one's own experience rather than monitoring others' C) A digital detox protocol requiring complete social media abstinence for thirty days D) A collective campaign to pressure platforms to remove Stories and ephemeral content features
18. One key limitation of JOMO as a response to FOMO is that:
A) It is psychologically impossible to consistently enjoy being left out of social events B) Social media platforms have technical mechanisms that detect and override users' JOMO intentions C) For many adolescents, opting out of social media means opting out of social participation itself D) Research shows that JOMO practitioners experience higher FOMO when they return to social media
19. Hunt et al. (2018) conducted a randomized experiment limiting social media use to thirty minutes per day. They found:
A) No significant difference in mental health outcomes compared to unrestricted use B) Significant reductions in depression and loneliness in the limited-use group C) Increased anxiety in the limited-use group due to FOMO about the content they were missing D) Improved mental health only for participants who were already heavy social media users
20. The "asymmetry of power" described in Section 11.9 refers to the difference between:
A) The political power of social media companies vs. government regulators B) The psychological sophistication of platform designers vs. the limited resources of individual users C) The economic resources of platform companies vs. the financial costs imposed on users D) The global reach of social media platforms vs. the local nature of users' social lives
21. According to the chapter, the reason that knowing about the highlight reel does not protect users from its emotional impact is:
A) Most users do not actually believe that others' lives are as good as presented B) The social comparison process operates automatically and precedes deliberate cognition C) Adolescents lack the cognitive development to apply abstract media literacy knowledge D) The highlight reel effect only operates on users who already have low self-esteem
22. Meta's internal research (leaked in 2021) found that Instagram made body image worse for approximately what percentage of teenage girls who already felt bad about their bodies?
A) 8% B) 17% C) 32% D) 51%
Answer Key
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