It’s a spooky time of year in the United States — a time when jack-o’-lanterns glare from front porches and creepy masks cover the adorable faces of children. But these seasonal adornments don’t tell the real story about what Americans fear most, according to a new survey.
Americans’ biggest fears are related to government and technology, not ghosts and goblins, according to the Survey of American Fear by researchers at Chapman University in California. For the survey, the researchers polled a representative sample of approximately 1,500 Americans and found that the majority of Americans (58 percent) are either “afraid” or “very afraid” of the corruption of government officials. Cyberterrorism was also high on the list, with 44.8 percent of those surveyed saying they feared these kinds of attacks.
