What Do Americans Fear Most? The Answer Is Probably Going To Knock You For A Loop

Plus A Look At Last Night's Michigan Primary Results

Lots of studies have found that among Americans common fears and anxieties in both men and women include concerns about personal safety and security, health-related worries, financial concerns, fear of failure or rejection, and anxiety about the future. I checked out the most recent (2023) findings from the Chapman University Survey of American Fears. These fears are ranked by percentage of people who reported being “afraid” or “very afraid.”

• Corrupt government officials- 60.1%

• Economic/financial collapse- 54.7%

• Russia using nuclear weapons- 52.5%

• The U.S. becoming involved in another World War 52.3%

• People I love becoming seriously ill- 50.6%

• People I love dying- 50.4%

• Pollution of drinking water- 50,0%

• Biological warfare- 49.5%

• Cyber-terrorism- 49.3%

• Not having enough money for the future- 48.0%

I was surprised to see so many people obsessing over societal concerns rather than personal ones. I’m thinking that people might focus on societal or global issues because immediate personal problems often seem harder to control. A fear like government corruption can feel overwhelming compared to something you have more direct influence over. Besides, the constant drumbeat— bombardment— from news and social media constantly expose us to negative information on a larger scale, amplifying the perception of things like crime, corruption, or global instability, which probably leads to greater fear about them. But there’s more to it than that. As far back as I can remember, psychologists have been talking about how people facing unmanageable anxieties in their personal lives— unresolved relationship issues, work stress, health issues for example— channel that anxiety into broader concerns. Since societal issues can feel less personally controllable, it may reduce the pressure to take immediate action. Other people use projection as a defense mechanism to project their anxieties or insecurities onto larger entities like the government, other countries, or society as a whole.

Ever hear of terror management theory? It’s a social psychology framework that looks at how people cope with the existential fear of death. One way this can manifest is through a heightened sense of concern about societal problems or threats, offering a way to create a feeling of greater-- albeit false-- personal significance.

Yesterday, Jason Lange, writing for Reuters, reported on the new Ipsos poll Reuters had commissioned. “Worries about political extremism or threats to democracy have emerged as a top concern for U.S. voters,” he wrote. It’s an issue that gives Biden “a slight advantage over” over Señor Trumpanzee. 21% of respondents said “political extremism or threats to democracy” was the biggest problem facing the U.S., a share that was marginally higher than those who picked the economy— 19%— and immigration— 18%. Wow, and all the fear-mongering Trump, the Republicans and right-wing media have turned up to 11 non-stop, all day and all night!

Democrats and independents considered extremism by far the No. 1 issue while Republicans overwhelmingly chose immigration. That makes sense based on the brainwashing media consumed by Republicans.

During and since his presidency, Trump has kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism of U.S. institutions, claiming the four criminal prosecutions he faces are politically motivated and holding to his false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread fraud.

That rhetoric was central to his message to supporters ahead of their Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Overall, 34% of respondents said Biden had a better approach for handling extremism, compared to 31% who said Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

The poll helps show the extent to which Biden's re-election bid could rely on voters being motivated by their opposition to Trump rather than enthusiasm over Biden's candidacy.

Biden's approval rating in the poll, 37%, was close to the lowest level of his presidency and down a percentage point from a month earlier. Nine-out-of-ten Democrats approved of his performance and the same share of Republicans disapproved, while independents were slightly skewed toward disapproval.

But 44% of Democrats said extremism was their top issue, compared to 10% who said the economy, their second most-picked concern. Prior Reuters/Ipsos polls did not include political extremism as an option for respondents to select as the country's biggest problem.

Biden's re-election campaign has focused its messaging on the dangers to democracy posed by Trump, whose many legal problems include criminal charges tied to his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Other Reuters/Ipsos polls have shown Biden's supporters are more motivated by their opposition to Trump than by their support for the president.

Yesterday, over 1.1 million people voted in the Michigan primary and Trump won overwhelmingly (68.2%), although there is still a significant number of Republicans who don’t want him— around one-third, over 300,000. Far fewer Democrats voted— just 761,934. Biden’s biggest opponent was a movement to vote “uncommitted” as a protest against his support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. (I live in California and I voted against him for the same reason.) The uncommitted vote was 10 times what they were aiming for— just over 100,000 (13.3%). Biden still walked away with all the delegates and 81.1%. (Trump lost 2 delegates to Haley.) In Dearborn, the most Arab city in the state (and the country), Biden only got 40% of the vote; “Uncommitted” beat him with 56%. “Uncommitted” did best in Wayne County (Detroit and Dearborn) and Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor… and home of the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University and Concordia University)— 17% in each county.