This manuscript is devoted to the study of the combined effect of a viable f (R) = R + α R n model and the electromagnetic field on the instability range of gravitational collapse. We assume the presence of a charged anisotropic fluid that dissipates energy via heat flow and discuss how the electromagnetic field, density inhomogeneity, shear, and phase transition of astrophysical bodies can be incorporated by a locally anisotropic background. The dynamical equations help to investigate the evolution of self-gravitating objects and lead to the conclusion that the adiabatic index depends upon the electromagnetic background, mass, and radius of the spherical objects.