What Are You Afraid Of?

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For the past several years Chapman University in California has conducted a revealing annual survey titled the Chapman University Survey of American Fears. The study identifies what Americans fear so much that they lie in bed, wide awake, unable to fall asleep. The latest survey, referred to as Wave 9, was administered in the spring of 2023. This most recent information is added to previous years and tracks our tendencies, as well as recognizes current fears. The results were published in the fall of 2023.

Undergraduate research fellow Samuel Andrus compiled the results collected by Chapman’s Henley Lab and Babbie Center. In the random sample of 1,014 adults from across the United States, the nearly 100 fears cited in Wave 9 ranged from the collective, like government, the environment, and war, to the personal, such as a loved one dying. Here are the results:

Top 10 2023 Fears

(Ranked by the percentage of Americans surveyed who reported being “afraid” or “very afraid.”)

1. Corrupt government officials: 60.1%
2. Economic/financial collapse: 54.7%
3. Russia using nuclear weapons: 52.5%
4. The U.S. becoming involved in another world war: 52.3%
5. People I love becoming seriously ill: 50.6%
6. People I love dying: 50.4%
7. Pollution of drinking water: 50.0%
8. Biological warfare: 49.5%
9. Cyber-terrorism: 49.3%
10. Not having enough money for the future: 48.0%

Andrus concluded that the above fears center on five themes: government corruption (number 1), economic worries (numbers 2 and 10), war and terror (numbers 3, 4, 8, and 9), concern for the welfare of loved ones (numbers 4 and 5), and polluted drinking water (number 7).

This most recent wave is similar to the top fears of 2022 with the exception of the current number 9 spot, cyber-terrorism, which was previously the fear of pollution in oceans, rivers and lakes. Andrus also discovered a positive finding: an overall decrease in percentages from previous years. For instance, in the 2020/21 survey, the leading fear, corrupt government officials, made 79.6% of participants “afraid” or “very afraid.” In that survey, only the number-10 fear had a percentage lower than 50%. In the following year, 2022, the leading fear (corrupt government officials) dropped more than 10%. However the other top 10 fears were above 50% and two were over 60%.

Wave 9 provides us with more good news: Only the number-one fear (see above) was over 60%, but only by a little. All other fears were less than 55% and the last four were at 50% or lower. What this points to is a decrease in Americans being “afraid” or “very afraid” of these top fears.

A deeper look into the 5 fear themes

In Adrus’s telling research, we can see how fears have lessened over the past few years:

• Government Corruption. Fear of corrupt government officials has been the number-one American fear since 2015. At its height, in 2020/21, it scored 79.6%. In 2022 it dropped significantly to 62.1%. And in Wave 9 it has decreased further, to 60.1%. Andrus tracks the high 2020/21 survey number to the 2020 election and aftermath when the nation experienced an increased fear about the safety of America’s democracy. Calls of election fraud and the January 6 insurrection contributed to the fear of corrupt government officials. In 2023, however, at 60.1%, this fear is at its lowest point since 2015.
• Economic Concerns. This fear has appeared in the top 10 since the first Chapman Survey in 2013. In 2023 it increased slightly over 2022. In 2023, high inflation, high interest rates, and the economic impact of the pandemic, including layoffs, weighed heavily on citizens. These factors caused many to understandably be afraid for their financial futures.
• War and Terrorism. The fear of Russia using nuclear weapons was added to the survey in 2022 and continues in Wave 9 to be the number-3 fear of Americans. However, it decreased from 59.6% in 2022 to 52.5% in 2023. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threat that Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons in the conflict explain this fear. In 2023 it also explained the fear of becoming involved in another world war (number 4). Conspiracy theories about the use of biological weapons in Ukraine informs the fear of biological warfare (number 8). Biological warfare made the top-10 fears list in 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although absent in 2022, cyber-terrorism returned in 2023, in the number 9 spot. This fear continues to fall in ranking after appearing at number 7 in 2019 and number 8 in 2020/21 to number 9 (49.3%). The fear of cyber-terrorism concerning China and Russia is affiliated with fear of another world war.
• Fear of illness or death of loved ones. The fear of loved ones becoming seriously ill dropped from number 2 in 2022 to number 5 in 2023, and decreased nearly 10 percentage points (60.2% to 50.6%). Andrus concluded that a growing number of Americans received Covid-19 vaccinations since the initial outbreak which could explain the lessening of this fear. Dovetailing with these numbers, the fear of loved ones dying also dropped, from number 4 in 2022 to number 6 in 2023—and it too experienced a significant decrease in percentage points, from 58.1% to 50.4%.
• Environmental concerns/polluted drinking water. In 2017, four out of the top 10 fears were related to the environment. These concerns peaked in 2018 and 2019 when five out of the top 10 concerns were environmental in nature. In Wave 9, only one environmental concern—the fear of polluted drinking water—made the list. At 50%, this fear decreased 4.5% from the previous year. According to Andrus, explanations for the environment falling off the top-10 list were: Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, the economy, pandemic-related health concerns, and an intense political climate. The fear of polluted drinking water indicates concern about polluted water systems in places such as Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi, which directly affect Americans. (Fear of global warming and climate change have not made an appearance in the top-10 fears list since 2019.)

Wave 9 of this survey gives us a clearer view of what's troubling Americans. It’s especially encouraging to learn that overall, our fears have lessened, sometimes significantly, over the past three years.