This is What Most Scares Americans

What sort of fright most keeps you up at night? A new survey out this week shows that for many Americans, it’s the fear of a corrupt government.

On Tuesday, researchers at Chapman University released the latest iteration of their annual and nationally representative survey on Americans’ top fears. Number one on the list was government corruption. Other high-ranking fears included loved ones becoming severely ill, the government spying on our personal data, and the threat of nuclear war from Russia.

The biggest and smallest fears

Chapman University researchers at the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences have run the fear survey for 11 years now. For a decade straight, government corruption has reigned supreme on the list. This year, about 69% of respondents said they were afraid or very afraid about corruption in the government.

The other fears on the top ten, in order, are:

• People I love becoming seriously ill
• Economic/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 the oceans, lakes, and rivers
• Government tracking of private data

Meanwhile, some of the lowest ranked fears included homeless people, flying, and sharks. The full list of fears—with dozens of items—can be seen here.

Just how scared should you be?

The researchers say it’s important to keep track of the things that most frighten us in our lives, while still maintaining a healthy perspective on them.

“Understanding what we’re afraid of isn’t about stoking anxiety, it’s about putting those fears into context,” said lead study researcher Christopher Bader, chair and professor of Sociology at Chapman University, in a statement from the university. “Often, the events that capture the most media and social media attention are rare and unusual. But because they’re highlighted so vividly and so often, they can feel like daily threats. Recognizing that difference helps us regain perspective and power over our own emotions.”

It’s perfectly reasonable for many people to be worried about government corruption, for instance, perhaps moreso than ever. But on the other hand, the researchers point out that fear of crime has generally increased over time, despite the fact that overall crime rates have been steadily dropping for decades.

Other fears probably deserve more consideration than they currently get from the general public. Twice as many Americans are afraid of random/mass shootings (44%) than they are of the seasonal flu (19%), for example, though the flu is significantly more deadly (hundreds of Americans died from these shootings in 2023, while that winter’s flu season claimed an estimated 28,000 lives, including thousands of people under the age of 50).

Education can help us avoid being manipulated by our fears, the researchers say, while staying social can keep our anxiety in check.

“I think a lot of people become more fearful because they feel alone,” said Maddie Southern, a Chapman University senior student who helped compile this year’s data. “Seeing that so many others share these fears can build community and resilience, especially during times that are politically and economically challenging.”