Sunday, September 26, 2021

Fear of public speaking was only ranked #54 out of 95 fears in the 2020/2021 Chapman Survey of American Fears


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From 2014 to 2019 Chapman University produced an annual survey of American fears. They didn’t do one in 2020. They just produced results from a seventh survey with 95 questions, described as Wave 7 (2020/2021). It was done between January 5 and 15 of 2021 on a sample of 1035 U.S. adults, so it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0%. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They asked how afraid people were, with four possible answers of Very Afraid, Afraid, Slightly Afraid, or Not Afraid. For some questions there were a few non-responses listed a Web Blank. As usual, they reported their results via a blog post listing the ranks based on the sum of percentages for Very Afraid plus Afraid. I checked the results against those in their detailed Methodology Report. Also, I calculated the Fear Score for each question (on a scale from 1 to 4, where 1= Not Afraid, 2=Slightly Afraid, 3=Afraid, and 4=Very Afraid), as I described in a blog post about the 2015 survey. The following list shows the question, question number, their reported percentage, (the percentage sum from the Methodology Report), and the Fear Score.

 

1] Corrupt government officials Q21b, 79.6% (79.4%) 3.175

2] People I love dying Q10d, 58.5% (58.5%) 2.744

3] A loved one contacting the coronavirus (COVID-19) Q28b, 58.0% (57.8%) 2.739

4] People I love becoming seriously ill Q10b, 57.3% (57.3%) 2.732

5] Widespread civil unrest Q16n, 56.5% (56.5%) 2.717

6] A pandemic or a major epidemic Q16m, 55.8% (55.8%) 2.681

7] Economic/financial collapse Q16l, 54.8% (54.8%) 2.681

8] Cyber-terrorism Q15c, 51.0% (51.0%) 2.565

9] Pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes Q13c, 50.8% (50.2%) 2.542

10] Biological warfare Q16r, 49.3% (49.3%) 2.547

11] Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition Q21c, 48.9% (48.7%) 2.443

12] A terrorist attack Q16s, 48.8% (48.8%) 2.546

13] Global warming and climate change Q13f, 48.7% (48.6%) 2.452

14] Not having enough money for the future Q14a 48.6% (48.6%) 2.539

15] The US becoming involved in another world war Q16o, 48.3% (48.3%) 2.523

16] Government tracking of personal data Q15e, 45.6% (45.6%) 2.441

17] Corporate tracking of personal data Q15d, 44.9% (44.9%) 2.397

18] Pollution of drinking water Q13b, 44.6% (44.4%) 2.375

19] Extinction of plant and animal species Q13d, 44.4% (44.4%) 2.365

20] Government interference with the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine approval Q21d, 44.2% (44.0%) 2.400

21] Identity theft Q18o, 43.8% (43.8%) 2.476

22] Iran using nuclear weapons Q16u, 43.4% (43.4%) 2.400

23] White supremacists Q19b, 43.4% (43.2%) 2.283

24] High medical bills Q14e, 42.8% (42.8%) 2.340

25] Government use of drones within the US Q21a, 42.7% (42.7%) 2.355

26] North Korea using nuclear weapons Q16t, 42.5% (42.5%) 2.388

27] A nuclear weapons attack Q16j, 42.3% (42.2%) 2.399

28] Air pollution Q13a, 41.3% (41.3%) 2.354

29] Contacting the coronavirus (COVID-19) Q28a, 41.0% (37.8%) 2.201

30] A nuclear accident/meltdown Q16k, 38.7% (38.7%) 2.271

31] Terrorism Q18r, 38.7% (38.7%) 2.331

32] Credit card fraud Q18p, 38.5% (38.4%) 2.331

33] Becoming seriously ill Q10a, 38.3% (38.1%) 2.286

34] Catching the coronavirus Q14g, 38.0% (38.0%) 2.305

35] Right wing extremists Q19g, 37.2% (37.2%) 2.001

36] Random/mass shooting Q18j, 36.7% (36.5%) 2.281

37] Being hit by a drunk driver Q18e, 36.5% (36.5%) 2.313

38] The collapse of the electrical grid Q16i, 36.1% (36.0%) 2.269

39] A devastating wildfire Q16g, 34.1% (34.1%) 2.101

40] A devastating drought Q16f, 32.9% (32.9%) 2.135

41] Oil spills Q13e, 32.75 (32.7%) 2.122

42] The Proud Boys Q19d, 32.3% (32.3%) 1.756

43] A devastating earthquake Q16a, 32.0% (32.0%) 2.046

44] Racial/hate crime Q18i, 31.5% (31.5%) 2.064

45] A devastating hurricane Q16b, 31.4% (31.3%) 2.008

46] Heights Q17m, 31.2% (31.2%) 2.139

47] Break-ins Q18k, 31.0% (30.8%) 2.163

48] A devastating tornado Q16c, 31.0% (31.0%) 2.024

49] Not having enough money to pay my rent or mortgage Q14c, 30.7% (30.7%) 1.867

50] Police brutality Q18f, 30.1% (30.1%) 1.949

51] Sharks Q17f, 29.5% (29.5%) 2.010

52] Theft of property Q18l, 29.4% (29.4%) 2.176

53] Dying Q10c, 29.3% (29.3%) 2.072

54] Public speaking Q17n, 29.0% (29.0%) 2.023

55] Murder by a stranger Q18c, 28.9% (28.9%) 2.009

56] Left wing extremists Q19h, 28.9% (28.9%) 1.786

57] Being unemployed Q14d, 28.9% (28.9%) 1.654

58] Gang violence Q18m, 28.4% (28.4%) 1.985

59] A devastating flood Q16d, 28.3% (28.3%) 1.964

60] Sexual assault by a stranger Q18g, 27.6% (27.6%) 1.899

61] Mugging Q18a, 27.5% (27.4%) 2.028

62] Computers replacing people in the workforce Q15a, 27.5% (27.5%) 1.973

63] Financial fraud (such as a Ponzi SCheme, embezzlement, etc.) Q18q, 26.3% (26.3%) 1.931

64] Losing your job due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic Q28c, 26.3% (26.3%) 1.807

65] Abduction/kidnapping Q18n, 25.6% (25.5%) 1.838

66] A devastating blizzard/winter storm Q16e, 25.3% (25.2%) 1.878

67] Reptiles (snakes, lizards, etc.) Q17d, 24.7% (24.7%) 1.980

68] Deep lakes and oceans Q17i, 24.7% (24.5%) 1.848

69] Stalking Q18b, 23.3% (23.3%) 1.772

70] Insects/arachnids (spiders, bees, etc.) Q17c, 22.8% (22.7%) 1.876

71] Sexual assault by someone you know Q18h, 22.4% (22.4%) 1.696

72] Antifa Q19a, 22.1% (22.1%) 1.513

73] Walking alone at night Q17r, 22.1% (22.1%) 1.902

74] Murder by someone you know Q18d, 21.8% (21.6%) 1.709

75] Germs Q17h, 21.7% (21.7%) 1.864

76] Illegal immigration Q16q, 21.5% (21.4%) 1.746

77] Murder hornets Q17l, 20.1% (20.1%) 1.768

78] A large volcanic eruption Q16h, 18.9% (18.9%) 1.651

79] Not being able to pay off the college debt of myself or a family member Q14b, 18.3% (18.3%) 1.010

80] Catching influenza (the seasonal flu) Q14f, 16.7% (16.7%) 1.657

81] Small, enclosed spaces Q17o, 16.2% (16.2%) 1.698

82] Technology that I don’t understand Q15b, 15.9% (15.9%) 1.669

83] Black Lives Matter (BLM) Q19c, 14.7% (14.7%) 1.529

84] Needles Q17b, 11.9% (11.9%) 1.474

85] Flying Q17j, 11.5% (11.5%) 1.515

86] Strangers Q17q, 11.4% (11.4%) 1.621

87] Being caught in an embarrassing moment on Zoom or video conference Q14h, 9.8% (9.8%) 1.075

88] Ghosts Q17k, 9.3% (9.3%) 1.379

89] Zombies Q17p, 9.3% (9.3%) 1.318

90] Whites no longer being the majority in the US Q16p, 8.7% (8.7%) 1.350

91] Blood Q17a, 8.7% (8.1%) 1.354

92] Muslims Q19f, 6.8% (6.8%) 1.269

93] Immigrants Q19e, 5.8% (5.8%) 1.217

94] Clowns Q17g, 5.6% (5.6%) 1.220

95] Animals (dogs, rats, etc.) Q17e, 4.6% (4.6%) 1.332

 

Most of the percentages agree with the Methodology Report, but others are slightly higher and include the Web Blank. #29 Contacting the coronavirus (COVID-19) Q28a, 41.0% and #34 Catching the coronavirus Q14g, 38.0% really asked the same thing.

 

At 29.0% fear of public speaking ranks #54 - slightly below that for #51 sharks and #52 theft of property (both 29.5%), and #53 dying (29.3%).

 

There is some curious data for Q14, Q19, and Q28a. For Q28a the Methodology Report shows Missing System of 82 (7.9%) instead of a Web Blank, and has the Valid Percent column rescaled based on a total of 953 rather than 1035. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above in a table, for Q14b, Q14c, Q14d, and Q14h there are significant percentages shown for Doesn’t apply to me, but no rescaling to produce Valid Percent. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above in another table, for Q19 there also are significant percentages shown for I don’t know who/what this is, but again no rescaling to produce Valid Percent.

 

In most cases the Fear Scores rank similarly to the sum for Very Afraid plus Afraid, except for the results shown above in those two tables.

 

The cartoon of a public speaker was modified from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 


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