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.
Another possible way to report the results is via the percentages for the Very Afraid level – those which scare the pants off people. I ranked the results for Very Afraid based on their detailed Methodology Report, and for comparison also listed those based on the sum for Very Afraid plus Afraid. For each question I calculated the Fear Score (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 rank for Very Afraid (V), the rank for the sum of Very Afraid plus Afraid (S), the question and question number, the percentage for Very Afraid, and the Fear Score.
V01) S01] Corrupt government officials Q21b, 44.3% 3.175
V02) S03] A loved one contacting the coronavirus (COVID-19) Q28b, 31.2% 2.739
V03) S02] People I love dying Q10d, 29.9% 2.744
V04) S04] People I love becoming seriously ill Q10b, 28.4% 2.732
V05) S14] Not having enough money for the future Q14a, 27.9% 2.539
V06) S06] A pandemic or a major epidemic Q16m, 27.3% 2.681
V07) S05] Widespread civil unrest Q16n, 26.6% 2.717
V08) S07] Economic/financial collapse Q16l, 25.8% 2.681
V09) S11] Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition Q21c, 24.8% 2.443
V10) S23] White supremacists Q19b, 24.7% 2.283
V11) S10] Biological warfare Q16r, 24.5% 2.547
V12) S27] A nuclear weapons attack Q16j, 23.8% 2.399
V13) S13] Global warming and climate change Q13f, 23.7% 2.452
V14) S15] The US becoming involved in another world war Q16o, 23.5% 2.523
V15) S12] A terrorist attack Q16s, 22.0% 2.546
V16) S09] Pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes Q13c, 21.9% 2.542
V17) S31] Terrorism Q18r, 21.7% 2.331
V18) S24] High medical bills Q14e, 21.6% 2.340
V19) S16] Government tracking of personal data Q15e, 21.5% 2.441
V20) S26] North Korea using nuclear weapons Q16t, 21.4% 2.388
V21) S36] Random/mass shooting Q18j, 21.0% 2.281
V22) S08] Cyber-terrorism Q15c, 20.6% 2.565
V23) S22] Iran using nuclear weapons Q16u, 20.5% 2.400
V24) S20] Government interference with the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine approval Q21d, 20.5% 2.400
V25) S29] Contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19) Q28a, 19.4% 2.201
V26) S35] Right wing extremists Q19g, 19.1% 2.001
V27) S17] Corporate tracking of personal data Q15d, 18.8% 2.397
V28) S19] Extinction of plant and animal species Q13d, 18.7% 2.365
V29) S21] Identity theft Q18o, 18.6% 2.476
V30) S30] A nuclear accident/meltdown Q16k, 18.6% 2.271
V31) S49] Not having enough money to pay my rent or mortgage Q14c, 18.5% 1.867
V32) S34] Catching the coronavirus Q14g, % 18.3% 2.305
V33) S42] The Proud Boys Q19d, 17.7% 1.756
V34) S18] Pollution of drinking water Q13b, 17.6% 2.375
V35) S44] Racial/hate crime Q18i, 17.1% 2.064
V36) S60] Sexual assault by a stranger Q18g, 16.7% 1.899
V37) S65] Abduction/kidnapping Q18n, 16.4% 1.838
V38) S37] Being hit by a drunk driver Q18e, 16.2% 2.313
V39) S57] Being unemployed Q14d, 16.2% 1.654
V40) S33] Becoming seriously ill Q10a, 16.1% 2.286
V41) S55] Murder by a stranger Q18c, 15.9% 2.009
V42) S50] Police brutality Q18f, 15.8% 1.949
V43) S38] The collapse of the electrical grid Q16i, 15.7% 2.269
V44) S25] Government use of drones within the US Q21a, 15.3% 2.355
V45) S28] Air pollution Q13a, 14.9% 2.354
V46) S32] Credit card fraud Q18p, 14.8% 2.331
V47) S58] Gang violence Q18m, 14.7% 1.985
V48) S47] Break-ins Q18k, 14.6% 2.163
V49) S39] A devastating wildfire Q16g, 14.4% 2.101
V50) S71] Sexual assault by someone you know Q18h, 14.4% 1.696
V51) S46] Heights Q17m, 14.1% 2.139
V52) S45] A devastating hurricane Q16b, 14.0% 2.008
V53) S43] A devastating earthquake Q16a, 13.9% 2.046
V54) S56] Left wing extremists Q19h, 13.9% 1.786
V55) S40] A devastating drought Q16f, 13.7% 2.135
V56) S64] Losing your job due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic Q28c, 13.4% 1.807
V57) S74] Murder by someone you know Q18d, 13.4% 1.709
V58) S52] Theft of property Q18l, 13.0% 2.176
V59) S53] Dying Q10c, 12.8% 2.072
V60) S67] Reptiles (snakes, lizards, etc.) Q17d, 12.8% 1.980
V61) S59] A devastating flood Q16d, 12.6% 1.964
V62) S68] Deep lakes and oceans Q17i, 12.6% 1.848
V63) S61] Mugging Q18a, 12.3% 2.028
V64) S51] Sharks Q17f, 12.2% 2.010
V65) S48] A devastating tornado Q16c, 11.7% 2.024
V66) S69] Stalking Q18b, 11.6% 1.772
V67) S54] Public speaking Q17n, 11.5% 2.023
V68) S63] Financial fraud Q18q, 11.4% 1.931
V69) S72] Antifa Q19a, 11.1% 1.513
V70) S79] Not being able to pay off the college debt of myself or a family member Q14b, 11.0% 1.010
V71) S41] Oil spills Q13e, 10.8% 2.122
V72) S76] Illegal immigration Q16q, 10.4% 1.746
V73) S66] A devastating blizzard/winter storm Q16e, 10.2% 1.878
V74) S62] Computers replacing people in the workforce Q15a, 9.5% 1.973
V75) S73] Walking alone at night Q17r, 9.3% 1.902
V76) S78] A large volcanic eruption Q16h, 8.8% 1.651
V77) S83] Black Lives Matter (BLM) Q19c, 8.6% 1.529
V78) S77] Murder hornets Q17l, 8.6% 1.768
V79) S70] Insects/arachnids (spiders, bees, etc.) Q17c, 8.0% 1.876
V80) S75] Germs Q17h, 7.3% 1.864
V81) S81] Small, enclosed spaces Q17o, 7.2% 1.698
V82) S85] Flying Q17j, 5.7% 1.515
V83) S82] Technology that I don’t understand Q15b, 5.0% 1.669
V84) S89] Zombies Q17p, 4.9% 1.318
V85) S90] Whites no longer being the majority in the US Q16p, 4.7% 1.350
V86) S80] Catching influenza (the seasonal flu) Q14f, 4.4% 1.657
V87) S88] Ghosts Q17k, 4.2% 1.379
V88) S84] Needles Q17b, 4.2% 1.474
V89) S86] Strangers Q17q, 3.7% 1.621
V90) S87] Being caught in an embarrassing moment on Zoom or video conference Q14h, 3.5% 1.075
V91) S91] Blood Q17a, 2.7% 1.354
V92) S92] Muslims Q19f, 2.7% 1.269
V93) S94] Clowns Q17g, 2.3% 1.220
V94) S93] Immigrants Q19e, 2.2% 1.217
V95) S95] Animals (dogs, rats, etc.) Q17e, 1.6% 1.332
At 11.5% fear of public speaking ranks #67 - slightly below that for #66 stalking and slightly above #68 financial fraud.
I was curious about whether the relative rankings shifted in going from Very Afraid to the sum of Very Afraid plus Afraid. A histogram for the differences is shown above. At a difference of 1 to 5 there are 23 changes versus – 1 to -5 where there are only 15 changes. But at larger differences things are more symmetrical.
The cartoon of a ‘pants down’ public speaker was modified from this one at Wikimedia Commons.
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