4 Minutes
A new nationally representative survey from Chapman University reveals that government corruption has been the top fear among Americans for a decade. The annual poll paints a portrait of anxieties that mix political distrust, health worries, and modern technological threats—offering a snapshot of what keeps people awake at night in the United States.
What the survey measured and the headline numbers
Chapman University’s Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences has run its fear survey for 11 years. This year’s results put government corruption at the top: roughly 69% of respondents said they were "afraid" or "very afraid" of corruption in government. That’s the highest-ranked fear for the tenth year running.
Top worries: a list that blends politics, health, and technology
Beyond corruption, respondents named a range of concerns that reflect both traditional risks and new anxieties tied to digital life and geopolitics. In order of prevalence, the other top fears included:
- People I love becoming seriously ill
- Economic or financial collapse
- Cyber-terrorism
- People I love dying
- The U.S. becoming involved in another world war
- Pollution of drinking water
- Russia using nuclear weapons
- Pollution of oceans, lakes, and rivers
- Government tracking of private data
At the bottom of the list were fears that ranked surprisingly low: homelessness, flying, and sharks. The full survey includes dozens of items, offering a broad view of collective risk perception in the United States.
Why perception and reality don't always match
Survey researchers emphasize that cataloguing fears helps people put them in perspective. "Understanding what we’re afraid of isn’t about stoking anxiety, it’s about putting those fears into context," said Christopher Bader, chair and professor of Sociology at Chapman University. He notes that vivid, highly publicized events can feel commonplace even when they are statistically rare.
This gap between perception and reality is well known in psychology: the availability heuristic makes dramatic or repeated stories—mass shootings, cyberattacks, political scandals—feel more likely than they are. The survey points out one stark example: 44% of Americans reported fear of random or mass shootings, while just 19% said they feared seasonal flu, despite the flu causing many thousands of deaths in some years (public health estimates in recent severe seasons have been tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S.).
What this means for public discourse and personal resilience
Fear can be adaptive—motivating precautions, civic engagement, and policy change. But unchecked anxiety can also be exploited or lead to poor decisions. The researchers suggest two practical counters: education and social connection. Accurate information helps people judge relative risks, while community ties reduce the sense of isolation that amplifies dread.
"I think a lot of people become more fearful because they feel alone," said Maddie Southern, a Chapman University senior who helped compile the data. Seeing shared concerns can build resilience and spark collective responses, whether to public-health threats or to demands for political transparency.
Putting the fears into a broader context
For science communicators and policymakers, the survey highlights where communication and policy can have outsized effects. Clear, evidence-based messaging about public-health risks, robust cybersecurity practices, and transparent governance can reduce fear by addressing both the root causes and the perception of threat. In a media landscape dominated by dramatic headlines, context matters—quantitative risk, historical trends, and practical steps people can take should be part of the conversation.
Ultimately, the Chapman fear survey is a reminder that collective anxieties shift slowly but meaningfully over time. Tracking those shifts helps scientists, journalists, and leaders design better responses to the real harms behind our fears—while helping citizens separate headline drama from everyday risk.
Source: gizmodo
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