In a 1984 New York Times article with a list of ten fears, did death come third (after public speaking)? No.

On my bookshelf I have a copy of the 2011 second edition of Andy Lopata and Peter Roper’s book  titled …and death came third (The definitive guide to networking and speaking in public). The back cover says that:

“In 1984 a New York Times Survey on Social Anxiety placed death third in the list of people’s biggest fears. The top two responses were walking into a room full of strangers and speaking in public.”

Similarly the first paragraph of the introduction claimed:

“In 1984 a New York Times study on Social Anxiety asked people what they most feared. Death came third. The top two fears were walking into a room of strangers and public speaking.”

Recently I searched the New York Times to find that study. There was only one 1984 article on social anxiety including a survey.  It was an article on December 18, 1984 by Daniel Goleman titled Social Anxiety: New Focus Leads to Insights and Therapy. Just below the title was a small box titled Situations Causing The Most Anxiety with a bar chart listing percentages for ten fears and the following explanatory text:

“In surveys of several hundred men and women, these situations were reported as producing the most anxiety. The research was done by Warren Jones at the University of Tulsa and Dan Russell at the University of Ohio College of Medicine.”
 

My version of that bar chart is shown above. Death wasn’t third - or anywhere else on that list. The fears (and percentages) are: A party with strangers (74%), Giving a speech (70%), Asked personal questions in public (66%), Meeting a date’s parents and First day on a new job (59%), Victim of a practical joke (56%), Talking with someone in authority  (53%), Job interview (46%), Formal dinner party (44%), and Blind date (42%).

Either Mr. Lopata or Mr. Roper could have checked a microfilm copy of the original article before concocting their book title. Apparently they relied instead on fallible secondhand information or memory. When I first found a database version several years ago, there just was the text - but not the bar chart graphic with those numbers.   

On March 2, 2013 I had blogged about how I read it in a book, so it must be true. That post discussed an incorrect version of Jerry Seinfeld’s comparison of the fears of public speaking and death - where death supposedly also came third (rather than second).