The Effect of College Students’ Boredom Proneness on Phubbing: The Chain-Mediating Effects of Fear of Missing Out and Online Vigilance

Abstract

Purpose. Phubbing not only affects the impression formation and communication quality of both sides of communication but also damages the quality of peer relationships among college students, reduces the happiness of interpersonal objects, and has a negative impact on the physical and mental development of college students. The boredom proneness of college students is an important influencing factor of phubbing, and we aim to investigate the mechanism of its internal influence on phubbing. Design and Methods. A short version of the boredom proneness scale, fear of missing out scale, online vigilance scale, and phubbing scale was used to survey 357 Chinese college students. Bootstrap method using SPSS Process macro developed by Hayes was used to test the chain-mediating effect of fear of missing out and online vigilance in the relationship between college students’ boredom proneness and phubbing. Results. Boredom proneness, fear of missing out, online vigilance, and phubbing were significantly and positively correlated with each other ( p < 0.05 ). The test of mediated effects showed that college students’ boredom proneness not only predicted phubbing but also there were three indirect paths: the separate mediated effect of fear of missing out; the separate mediated effect of online vigilance; and the chain mediated effect of fear of missing out and online vigilance. The effect of the three mediators accounted for 31.82% of the total effect. Practice Implications. College students’ boredom proneness can directly and positively affect phubbing and also affect phubbing through the chain-mediating effects of fear of missing out and online vigilance. The prevention of phubbing among college students should not only reduce boredom proneness but also reduce the level of fear of missing out and online vigilance.