Driven by fatigue and fear: the push-pull mechanism of information overload on reflective smartphone disengagement

Objective: Information overload can exhaust cognitive and psychological resources, prompting individuals to adopt reflective smartphone disengagement as a protective strategy. Yet, users often experience fatigue while fearing missing out on important updates, trapping them in a psychological dilemma between connection and disconnection. Grounded in protection motivation theory, this study investigates the dual-pathway mechanism linking information overload to reflective smartphone disengagement, specifically testing social media fatigue and fear of missing out as mediators, and self-efficacy as a moderator. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2,508 participants in Sichuan Province, China. SPSS 26.0 was used for descriptive statistics, and Mplus 8.3 for mediation and moderation analyses. Results: The findings demonstrated a significant positive correlation between information overload and reflective smartphone disengagement. Social media fatigue significantly mediated this relationship. The positive associations linking information overload, social media fatigue, and reflective smartphone disengagement were weaker at higher levels of self-efficacy. Conclusion: Facing information overload, students experience social media fatigue and fear of missing out, which reduces their likelihood of reflective disengagement. Moreover, protective behaviours relate to personal beliefs. Students with lower self-efficacy are highly motivated to eliminate threats directly, frequently adopting reflective smartphone disengagement as a protective strategy.