Why do we often hear about the 2014 Chapman Survey of American Fears, but not about the other four done in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018?

That is because a very popular Washington Post article on October 30, 2014 titled Americas’s top fears: public speaking, heights and bugs reported that in the 2014 survey public speaking was the number one fear out of twelve fears (based on what people were Very Afraid or Afraid of). It’s a startling statistic that public speaking coaches cite over and over. But, as shown above, it is far different than what the following four surveys found. In the 2015 survey public speaking ranked #26 out of 88 fears, in the 2016 one it ranked #33 of 79 fears, in the 2017 one it ranked #52 of 80 fears, and in the 2018 one it ranked #59 out of 94 fears. Any time you read or hear just the 2014 survey discussed as being ‘recent’, you should ask about the other four.   

For example, a blog post by Amy Boone at Ethos3 on July 24, 2019 titled Summoning the courage to speak stated:

“We talk a lot about fear of public speaking at Ethos3 because, well, lots of people are afraid of it. It is nearly always in the top 5 on any given list of fears. Citing research from Chapman University, The Washington Post has even published it at the top of the list in recent years with over 25% of people surveyed saying they are afraid of public speaking.”

That top ranking in the 2014 survey came because it only considered 12 ‘phobias’ although there were questions about 61 fears, worries, or concerns. You can find detailed results if you look at Chapman’s Fear Survey FAQ page. You will see those questions were asked in seven different ways: Safety (6 questions) – How safe do you feel? Internet-related Fears (5 questions) – How concerned are you about the following internet-related problem? Environmental Attitudes & Concerns (12 questions) - Indicate the extent to which you feel concerned about the following environmental issue. Disasters (14 questions) - How worried are you that the following natural/manmade disasters or event could occur in the United States in the next 25 years? Governmental Concerns (4 questions) – How worried are you about the following? Fear of Criminal Victimization (8 questions) – How afraid are you of being victimized in the following way? Phobias (12 questions) – How afraid are you of the following?

As shown above in a bar chart for the 2014 survey, the percentages from four questions for worries about Governmental Concerns suggest those would be larger fears than public speaking. In the 2015 and following surveys all the questions were asked consistently.

Another bar chart  for all five surveys compares ranking for four questions: Corrupt Government Officials, Obamacare (or Trumpcare), Identity Theft, and Public Speaking. The other three fears all outranked Public Speaking. Corrupt Government Officials ranked #1 in all the following surveys. Comparing the averages, Corrupt Government Officials was feared by 66.7% versus just 25.1% for Public Speaking. I previously discussed the surveys in a September 19, 2019 blog post titled Stop playing – do serious digging before you come up with an opening statement.