29% of Americans Are Afraid of Dying

Every year Chapman University surveys the American public about its fears, asking a representative sample of the population how afraid it is of a long list of unfortunate events, types of people, insects, animals, natural disasters, and even the paranormal. The latest survey included 95 potentially fearful things. Here are some of the more interesting fear comparisons...

• Of the 95 different fears measured, the American public is least afraid of animals. Only 5 percent of the public reports being afraid/very afraid of animals.
• 43% of the public is afraid/very afraid of white supremacists. This fear ranks 23rd among the 95 fears measured in the 2020-21 survey. Many more people are afraid of white supremacists than Black Lives Matter (15%).
• 20% of people are afraid/very afraid of murder hornets. 
• A substantial 12% of the public is afraid/very afraid of needles. Could this explain vaccine hesitancy?
• Fear of strangers grips more than one in ten Americans (11%). Perhaps these fearful people are also the ones who are afraid/very afraid of immigrants (6%).
• 9% are afraid/very afraid of whites no longer being the majority in the U.S.
• Nearly one-third of the public (31%) is afraid/very afraid of heights. About half as many (16%) are afraid of small, enclosed spaces.
• Half of Americans (49%) are afraid/very afraid of climate change.  
• Only 29% of Americans are afraid/very afraid of dying. The fear of dying ranks 53rd on the list—just  above the fear of public speaking. 

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears, America's Top Fears 2020/2021

The 10 Things Americans Fear the Most

Every year Chapman University surveys the American public, probing our greatest fears. Students at the university analyze the findings and determine which events Americans are most afraid of. Here are the latest results—the 10 greatest fears of Americans, according to the 2020-2021 survey (the University fielded the survey at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021)...

Percent who say they are afraid/very afraid, 2020-21

1. Corrupt government officials: 79.6%

2. People I love dying: 58.5% 

3: A loved one contracting coronavirus: 58.0% 

4. People I love becoming seriously ill: 57.3% 

5. Widespread civil unrest: 56.5% 

6. A pandemic or a major epidemic: 55.8% 

7. Economic/financial collapse: 54.8% 

8. Cyber-terrorism: 51.0%

9. Pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes: 50.8%

10. Biological warfare: 49.3%

You might recall that a lot was happening in 2020. So, how did the fears of Americans change since the previous survey in 2019? Obviously, coronavirus was not one of the top 10 fears prior to the most recent survey, since no one had even heard of it. In 2019, fear of a pandemic ranked only 31st on the list of greatest fears, according to Chapman political science and philosophy student Roxy Amirazizi. In the latest survey, fear of a pandemic had climbed all the way up to 6th place. 

Fear of economic collapse and biological warfare made the top-10 list for the first time in 2020-21. 

Fear of a loved one dying rose from fifth to second place.

Fear of widespread civil unrest climbed from the 20th greatest fear in 2019 to number 5 in 2020-21. This is due, says Amirazizi, "to the general increase in protests and demonstrations throughout the past year, as well as the attacks on the Capitol that occurred during the time of the survey." Those who identify themselves as extremely liberal are much more likely to fear civil unrest (75.8 percent) than those who identify themselves as extremely conservative (43.2 percent).

Source: Chapman University, Roxy Amirazizi, Chapman University Survey of American Fears, America's Top Fears 2020/2021

Most Are Not Comfortable Flying

The majority of Americans currently do not feel comfortable flying, according to a Gallup survey. Gallup asked people aged 18 or older who had flown in the past year whether they are "currently comfortable" taking a flight. The 52 percent majority said no. Here are the numbers by age...

Not comfortable flying at all
Aged 18 to 34: 33%
Aged 35 to 54: 51%
Aged 55 or older: 69%

These numbers are bad news for the airline industry. Americans aged 55 or older—those most afraid to fly—account for 44 percent of all household spending on air fares, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey. "Differences in comfort level by age group might be expected given that older adults are more vulnerable to severe illness from Covid-19," says Gallup. "But the extent of those differences is especially noteworthy given that baby boomers and retirees are important market segments for leisure travel."

Half of 35-to-54-year-olds are afraid to fly as well. This age group accounts for another 40 percent of household spending on airline fares. The 18-to-34 age group is the one least afraid to fly, but it accounts for just 16 percent of spending on air travel.

Source: Gallup, 52% of U.S. Air Travelers Now Uncomfortable Flying; and Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2018 Consumer Expenditure Survey

Growing Fear of Mass Shootings

The percentage of Americans who are afraid of mass shootings has more than doubled in the past few years, according to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears.

In 2015, only 16.4 percent of the public was afraid/very afraid of a mass shooting—about equal to the percentage who were afraid of needles and germs and ranking a lowly 56th among the public's top fears. The 2018 survey finds a much larger 41.5 percent of the public afraid of a mass shooting. Fear of mass shootings now ranks 28th on the list of America's biggest fears—just above fear of terrorism (39.8 percent).

Percent who are afraid/very afraid of a mass shooting
2018: 41.5%
2017: 28.1%
2016: 26.9%
2015: 16.4%

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears

Who's Afraid of Illegal Immigrants?

Although President Trump has attempted to instill in the American public a fear of undocumented immigrants, his efforts have failed to persuade most of us. In fact, a larger share of the public is afraid of Trump himself (59 percent) than of illegal immigrants (41 percent), according to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears...

Fear of illegal immigrants
59.3% are not afraid
19.3% are slightly afraid
12.2% are afraid
  9.3% are very afraid

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears, Fear of Immigration

Americans Are More Afraid, Survey Finds

Americans are increasingly afraid. This is one of the most striking findings from the 2018 Chapman University Survey of American Fears. This year as in past years, the number one fear—mentioned by the largest share of the public—is fear of corrupt government officials. But the percentage of Americans who say government corruption scares them has climbed, rising from 61 to 74 percent between 2016 and 2018.

Corruption is not the only thing Americans are increasingly frightened about, Chapman University reports. Many things are scaring them more. In fact, all of the top 10 fears in 2018 scare more than half the public. In 2016, most of the top 10 fears scared only about one-third of the public.

Top 10 fears of 2018 (percent saying they are afraid)
1. Corrupt government officials: 74%
2. Pollution of oceans rivers, and lakes: 62%
3. Pollution of drinking water: 61%
4. Not enough money for the future: 57%
5. Someone you love will become seriously ill: 57%
6. People you love dying: 56%
7. Air pollution: 55%
8. Extinction of plant and animal species: 54%
9. Global warming and climate change: 53%
10. High medical bills: 53%

Another trend Chapman University sees in the list of fears is the rise of environmental concerns. Five of the top 10 fears of 2018 are environmental. In 2016, the number of environmental concerns in the top 10 list was zero.

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears, America's Top Fears 2018

Fear of Extremists

Are you afraid of extremists, and if so which ones scare you the most? That's what the Chapman University Survey of American Fears explored with the question, "How afraid are you that the following groups are a threat to national security?"

The number-one feared group was Islamic extremists, with 61 percent of the public "afraid" or "very afraid" of their threat to national security. Number two on the list was white supremacists, feared by 51 percent. Some of the other groups feared by the public were extreme anti-immigrationists (34 percent), extreme anti-abortionists (31 percent), extreme environmentalists (21 percent), and extreme animal rightists (14 percent).

Politics are a big determinant of extremist fears. Fully 83 percent of strong Republicans fear Islamic extremists, much greater than the 42 percent who fear them among strong Democrats. Fully 74 percent of strong Democrats fear white supremacists versus only 36 percent of strong Republicans.

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears 2017, Fear of Extremism and the Threat to National Security

Environmental Fears Climb into Top 10

Environmental fears, for the first time, rank among Americans' top-10 fears, according to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears 2017. Fear of global warming/climate change is 8th on the list of 80 fears, with 48 percent of the public saying it is "afraid" or "very afraid." Water and air pollution also appear on the top-10 list. Environmental fears were heightened when the survey was fielded in May 2017, the Chapman analysis explains, because the Trump administration was threatening to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Fear of corrupt government officials is the number-one fear of 2017, as it was in 2016. Trumpcare is the second-biggest fear in 2017, frightening 55 percent of Americans. A smaller 34 percent fear Obamacare, which ranks 29th on the list of fears.

Top-10 fears, 2017 (percent "afraid" or "very afraid")
1. Corrupt government officials: 74.5%
2. American Healthcare Act/Trumpcare: 55.3%
3. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes: 53.1%
4. Pollution of drinking water: 50.4%
5. Not having enough money for future: 50.2%
6. High medical bills: 48.4%
7. U.S. will be involved in another world war: 48.4%
8. Global warming and climate change: 48.0%
9. North Korea using weapons: 47.5%
10. Air pollution: 44.9%

Source: Chapman University Survey of American Fears 2017, America's Top Fears 2017