A ludicrously overstated claim that Chapman University found 91% of Americans fear public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article by Jannik Linder at Gitnux on July 17, 2024 titled Statistics reveal widespread public speaking fear among individuals globally which contains a claim that:

 

“91% of Americans fear public speaking, according to a Chapman University study.”

 

But that is nonsense. Annually (except for 2020) from 2014 to 2023 Chapman University did their Chapman Survey of American Fears. They asked a random sample of U. S. adults about their fears at four levels: Not Afraid, Slightly Afraid, Afraid, and Very Afraid. In their press releases they reported the sum of percentages for Very Afraid and Afraid, as is shown above on a bar chart. Those nine values ranged from 23.3% (2017) to 34% (2022) with a mean of 27.9%. The claimed 91% is more than three times too high!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if we added the percent for Slightly Afraid? On October 23, 2023 I blogged about What do American adults fear at some level? Results for the Grand Sum of Very Afraid + Afraid + Slightly Afraid levels (everything but the kitchen sink) in the ninth 2023 Chapman Survey of American Fears. Public speaking was ranked #44 at 65.0%. Results for all nine surveys are shown above in a second bar chart. They range from 57.9% (2017) to 69.2% (2022) with a mean of 62%. Compared with the mean, that 91% is 29% too high!

  

Another problem with this article is that although there is a long list of references they only contains links to home pages, like one for Chapman University.

 

In this article there also is a claim that:

 

“77% of people have anxiety about public speaking.”

 

On October 12, 2020 I blogged about Do 77% of Americans fear public speaking? No! That percentage described stage fright in Swedes who also had social anxiety disorder.

 

There is a second article, also by Jannik Linder at Gitnux and from July 17, 2024 titled New findings reveal staggering public speaking fears statistics impact globally. It doesn’t have the 91% claim, but does say:  

 

“Public speaking is the number one fear for 25.3% of people.”

 

If you look at my first bar chart, then you will see that this percentage really is a result from the 2014 Chapman Survey of American Fears!