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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