A decade ago, a few days before Halloween, a team of sociologists at Chapman University published the first "Survey of American Fears," a poll of more than 1,000 Americans about the things that give them the willies. The "American Fears" survey quickly became an annual media event, a social science version of Groundhog Day. Most years, Chapman posts its latest top-10 fears list a few days before Halloween.
And, most years, a few news organizations run brief stories about the survey's findings, highlighting the latest on what is or isn't spooking America. Corruption, cancer, clowns; over the years a diverse buffet of scary ideas, broad or personal, real or imagined, have made at least one of Chapman's "American Fears" lists. But this year's survey—released Wednesday, Oct.
23, close to the scariest holiday, Halloween, and less than two weeks before a presidential election that's been widely described in politically apocalyptic terms—offers something bigger than any specific fear from any specific year. Americans, researchers say, are more afraid today than at any time in recent history. Trends from a decade of "American Fears" surveys, the expanding number of issues that evoke "yup, that scares the heck out of me" responses, the sometimes irrational reasons for feeling that way—all point to a culture in the grasp of deep, paralyzing dread.
"Fear is taking a larger and larger role in American life," said Christopher Bader, a sociology professor at Chapman who has been invo.