Top 40 fears of British women and men from a survey by OVO Energy

Halloween is tomorrow, so let's scare people by discussing lots of fears! Yesterday Ovo Energy issued a press release titled Top 40 bizarre British fears revealed. They had surveyed 2,000 people, and then reported separate Top 40 lists for women and men. 

Just five fears were ranked exactly the same by women and men:

Spiders (#1)
Going underwater (#2)
Ageing (#11)
Blood (#26)
Birds of prey (#37)

Here is the full Top 40 List for women (including the corresponding rankings for men):

Spiders (#1, #1)
Going underwater (#2, #2)
Being trapped in a lift (#3, #17)
Underground tunnels (#4, #12)
Being pulled up for karaoke (#4, not on list)
Heights (#6, #3)
Wasps (#7, #10)
Debt (#8, #9)
Being singled out during stand-up comedy (#9, #13)
The dentist (#10, #7)
Ageing (#11, #11)
Being lonely (#12, not on list)
Take-off/landing in a plane (#13, #15)
Basements (#14, #27)
Rough sea (#15, #18)
Energy bills/prices (#16, #14)
The dark (#17, #23)
Rollercoasters (#18, not on list)
Mice (#19, #29)
Moths (#20, #30)
Driving in a storm (#21, #25)
Dogs off the lead #22, not on list)
Vomit (#23, #20)
Motorways (#24, not on list)
The tube (#25, #21)
Blood (#26, #26)
People who stare (#27, not on list)
Thunder and lightning (#28, #34)
Masks (#29, not on list)
Breaking up with partner (#30, #19)
Multi-storey car parks (#31, not on list)
Public toilets (#32, #35)
Octopus (#34, not on list)
Psychics/mediums (#35, #39)
Flushing toilets on planes (#36, not on list)
Birds of prey (#37, #37)
Simulation rides (#38, not on list)
Old embarrassing photos of yourself (#39, not on list)
Attics (#40, not on list)

15 fears listed by both sexes were ranked higher by women than men. Also, there were 11 fears listed by women that were not listed by men in their Top 40. Conversely, men had the following 14 fears that the women didn’t even list in their Top 40:

Public speaking (#5)
Lifelong injury (#6)
Balding/receding (#8)
Bankruptcy (#16)
Crying in public (#22)
Being best man (#24)
Basements (#27)
Holding a baby (#28)
Clowns (#31)
Getting married (#32)
Daughter getting a boyfriend (#33)
Seeing an ex-girlfriend (#36)
Ghosts (#38)
The mother-in-law (#40)

Note that clowns were only listed by women, and ghosts were only listed by men. Curiously neither zombies nor daleks were listed by either sex. 

Why would a smaller energy firm do such a survey? They really were interesting in where Energy bills/prices (#16 for women, #14 for men) ranked. An article in the Sunday Express on November 13, 2013 discussed Switching on to smaller energy firms. Another article at This is MONEY on April 9, 2014 described An energy price war at last? Ovo is first firm to pledge (annual) bills below £1,000 as small firms throw down gauntlet to the Big Six.

Ovo Energy also reported the following list of Top 5 Scariest Situations:

1. Taking your driving test
2. Becoming a parent for the first time
3. Going on a first date
4. Asking the boss for a pay rise
5. Meeting your partner’s parents for the first time.

The Halloween Scene came from here at Openclipart.