What Do Americans Fear?

from Science Daily:
___
The third annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2016) has been released by researchers. The survey asked respondents about 65 fears across a broad range of categories including fears about the government, crime, the environment, the future, technology, health, natural disasters, as well as fears of public speaking, spiders, heights, ghosts and many other personal anxieties. In addition to the set of fears examined in previous waves, the survey team took a closer look at two fear related phenomena: Americans' beliefs in conspiracy theories and fear of Muslims, sometimes referred to as "Islamophobia."

The 2016 survey shows that the top 10 things Americans fear the most are:


1) Corruption of government officials (same top fear as 2015)

2) Terrorist attacks

3) Not having enough money for the future

4) Being a victim of terror

5) Government restrictions on firearms and ammunition (new)

6) People I love dying

7) Economic or financial collapse

8) Identity theft

9) People I love becoming seriously ill

10) The Affordable Health Care Act/"Obamacare"

"The 2016 survey data shows us the top fears have shifted from last year's, which were heavily based in economic and 'big brother' type issues to include more health and financial fears this year," said Christopher Bader, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Chapman University, who led the team effort. "People often fear what they cannot control," continued Dr. Bader, "and we find continued evidence of that in our top fears."

"We found clear evidence that the United States is a strongly conspiratorial society," said Dr. Bader. "We see a degree of paranoia in the responses."
___
More information on the study is here. The full report from Chapman University can be found here.