Monday, September 27, 2021

In the 2020/2021 Chapman Survey of American Fears, public speaking was only ranked #67 (11.5%) out of 95 fears at the Very Afraid level


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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