--- title: Here are Americans' Greatest Fears description: In a recent survey of fears in the U.S., Chapman University researchers found that corruption of government officials is Americans' number one fear in 2015. canonical: https://time.com/4073702/heres-what-americans-are-most-afraid-of/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-14T19:09:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:00.662Z og:title: Here's What Americans Are Most Afraid Of og:description: It's not what you think og:url: https://time.com/4073702/heres-what-americans-are-most-afraid-of/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Americans Are Most Afraid Of twitter:description: It's not what you think twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's What Americans Are Most Afraid Of > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Fear and Paranoia in America: From Germans to Jihadists [Watch (HLS stream): Fear and Paranoia in America: From Germans to Jihadists](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zxtFhn2K.m3u8) (4:24)  _Published 2010-10-28. On the eve of the midterm elections, politicians and the media are trading on a long-standing culture of fear in America_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 14, 2015 7:09 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 14, 2015 7:09 PM UTC Corruption of government officials is currently Americans’ number one fear, according to a [recent survey](https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2015/10/13/americas-top-fears-2015/) by researchers at Chapman University. The researchers asked a random sample of 1,541 adults to rate the level of fear for 88 different fear options across a variety of domains (like crime and natural disasters). Based on their findings, here were the top 10 fears for 2015: * Corruption of government officials (58.0%) * Cyber-terrorism (44.8%) * Corporate tracking of personal information (44.6%) * Terrorist attacks (44.4%) * Government tracking of personal information (41.4%) * Bio-warfare (40.9%) * Identity theft (39.6%) * Economic collapse (39.2%) * Running out of money in the future (37.4%) * Credit card fraud (36.9%) Interestingly, the researchers also found that half of all Americans [believe in something paranormal](https://blogs.chapman.edu/happenings/2015/10/14/what-do-americans-fear/), with 40% reporting they believe places are haunted by spirits, and over one fourth believing the living and dead can communicate. Also in the survey, 20% of people reported that aliens visited Earth in the past and that dreams can predict the future. ## Transcript >> The face of terror is not the true face of Islam. That is not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. >> Just days after September 11, 2001, President Bush stepped forward to quell fears of rampant Islamic radicalism. Will the leading Republicans say the same thing today? >> This is an insensitive move on the part of those Muslims who want to build that Mosque in this location. This feels like a stab in the heart of, collectively, Americans who still have that lingering pain from 9 / 11. >> This is purely and simply, I think, an anti- American act of triumphalism on the part of a radical Islamist-- >> The proposed Islamic Community Center and mosque near ground zero has triggered a fear in the US that could be perceived as Islamophobic. Part of that fear has to do with popular opposition to the Obama administration, but another part has to do with something that runs much deeper in American society. Reactionary, sometimes violent populist movements have been animated over the years by a recurring set of feelings, suspicion of the other, hostility to change, and the fear of losing one's place in society. The World Wars amplified this xenophobia. During World War I, all unnaturalized Germans older than 14 were declared alien enemies and denied their constitutional rights. Hundreds were rounded up and thrown into prison. Sauerkraut became liberty cabbage, Beethoven and Wagner were banned. Less than three decades later, worse was to follow. >> When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, our West Coast became a potential combat zone. Living in that zone were more than a hundred thousand persons of Japanese ancestry. We knew that some among them were potentially dangerous. Most were loyal. Military authorities therefore determined that all of them, citizens and aliens alike would have to move. >> 120, 000 Japanese- Americans were relocated to 10 internment camps during World War II. Opinion polls at the time showed that much of the American public supported the move. As World War II ended, the next great peril facing the American people seemed obvious, communism. >> An American takes for granted the freedom to come and go, and to do as he pleases. Our greatest American privilege, thing we can be most thankful for, is our freedom from fear. >> Novels, movies and other popular culture echoed the prevailing atmosphere of paranoia. >> They want real issues, not the phony issue. It's the issue of communism, corruption-- >> Politicians like Joseph McCarthy launched investigations that seemed tantamount at times to witch hunts. In 1964, political scholar, Richard Hofstadter described what he called the paranoid style in American politics. In his words, a sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness and conspiratorial fantasy. This deep- seated paranoia has played a part in many political movements in recent times. >> The national debate-- >> Amplified by a hyperactive media. >> Its demeaning to the 3, 000 innocent victims that lost their lives. >> Nine years after 9 / 11, on the eve of the midterm elections, Islamophobia is worse than it has ever been in the US. From a widespread myth that President Obama is a Muslim, to inflated fear of the Sharia Law taking root in the US. Some politicians have traded on this paranoia for their political game. >> They want to build a monstrous 13- story mosque at ground zero. This ground is sacred. >> Now they want to build a mosque by ground zero, and Obama supports it. >> Still, others have defended Muslims and Islam in America, appealing to the better angels of American history rather than its demons. It remains to be seen whether the present hysteria is just a symptom of current politics that will die down after the midterms, or whether the fear and prejudices of the moment are here to stay. 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