In the 2016 Chapman Survey of American Fears public speaking was ranked 33rd out of 79 fears

On October 11, 2016 Chapman University released results from their third annual Survey of American Fears. There was a press release titled What do Americans Fear Most? Chapman University’s Third Annual Survey of American Fears Released, and another blog post titled America’s Top Fears 2016. The main part of the survey asked 1,511 U. S. adults “How afraid are you of the following...” for 79 different fears. Possible answers were:

A]  Not Afraid

B]  Slightly Afraid

C]  Afraid

D} Very Afraid

or E] Refused (did not answer)

According to their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web page, the margin of error was plus or minus three percent. For the sum of percentages for Afraid and Very Afraid there was a list of America’s Top Fears. The ten most common fears were:

1.   Corrupt (federal) government officials  60.6% (58.9%)

2.   Terrorist attack  41.0 (40.1%)

3.   Not having enough money for the future  39.9% (39.4%)

4.   Terrorism  38.5% (37.8%)
 
5.   Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition  38.5% (37.2%)

6.   People I love dying  38.1% (37.5%)

7.   Economic/financial collapse  37.5% (36.6%)

8.   Identity theft  37.1% (36.4%)

9.   People I love becoming seriously ill  35.9% (35.4%)

10. The Affordable Health Care Act/Obamacare  35.5%

Comparison with the detailed survey results shows that the numbers listed above are slightly larger than the Valid Percents (shown in parentheses), because they actually have been rescaled via multiplying by a factor of 100/(100 - Percent Refused). Where is public speaking on the list? It is 25.9% (25.5%) and way down at 33rd out of 79 fears. That is even lower than the 26th out of 89 fears found in the previous 2015 survey. 

I looked more carefully at the detailed results and prepared a set of bar charts of the Top Forty most common fears.

The first bar chart shows results for Very Afraid. (Click on it for a larger, clearer view). The most common fear was Corrupt government officials (28.9%), followed by Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition (19.0%). There was a tie for third between Not having enough money for the future and Terrorist attack (17.9%). Fourth was The affordable health care act (aka Obamacare) (17.5%), and fifth was Terrorism (16.9%). Public speaking was ranked 37th  (9.1%).

A second bar chart shows results for Afraid. The most common fear was Corrupt government officials (30.0%), followed by Identity theft (23.4%), Economic/financial collapse (23.3%), People I love becoming seriously ill (23.2%), and Credit card fraud (22.6%). Public speaking was ranked 31st (16.4%).

The third bar chart shows results for Slightly Afraid. The most common fear was Losing my data, photos, or important documents in a disaster (40.5%), followed by Becoming the victim of a property crime (40.2%), and Being hit by a drunk driver (39.4%). There was a tie for fourth place between People I love becoming seriously ill and Break-ins (39.2%). Economic/financial collapse was fifth (39.1%). Public speaking was 24th (34.7%).

A fourth bar chart shows results for the sum of Very Afraid and Afraid. The most common fear was Corrupt government officials (58.9%), followed by Terrorist attack (40.1%) and Not having enough money for the future (39.4%). Terrorism (37.8%) was fourth, and People I love dying (37.5%) was fifth. Public speaking (25.5%) was 33rd.

A fifth bar chart shows the Bottom Forty for the sum of Very Afraid and Afraid. The least common fear was Others taking behind your back (6.7%). Clowns (7.7%) were second, Ghosts (8.8%) were third, and Strangers (9.7%) were fourth. For fifth (10.0%) there was a tie between Zombies and Your significant other cheating on you. 

The sixth bar chart shows results for the grand sum of Very Afraid, Afraid, and Slightly Afraid. The most common fear was Corrupt government officials (80.8%), followed by Economic/financial collapse (75.7%). For third there was a tie (74.9%) between Not having enough money for the future and Terrorist attack. Fourth was People I love becoming seriously ill (74.6%), and fifth was Identity theft (74.5%). Public speaking was 31st (60.2%).

The Chapman survey also included questions about other topics like the paranormal, conspiracies, and Islamaphobia. I plan to cover some of these in other blog posts.