What Americans fear most in 2025

Team Fear is at it again. For the past 11 years, this dedicated group of researchers with a very cool nickname has conducted the annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears. This year, they surveyed 1,015 adult Americans on what they fear most, from sharks to heights to identity theft. 

Wondering which fear took the first slot? For the 10th consecutive year, corrupt government officials topped the list. Fears of a loved one becoming seriously ill, economic or financial collapse, and cyber-terrorism followed. Here’s the full list of what Americans fear most in 2025:

1. Corrupt government officials (with 69.1 percent of participants saying they’re afraid or very afraid of this)
2. People I love becoming seriously ill (reporting at 58.9 percent)
3. Economic or financial collapse (58.2 percent)
4. Cyberterrorism (55.9 percent)
5. People I love dying & U.S. becoming involved in another world war (both tied at 55.3 percent)
6. Pollution of drinking water (54.5 percent)
7. Russia using nuclear weapons (53.7 percent)
8. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes (53.5 percent)
9. Government tracking of personal data (52.7 percent)

“Understanding what we’re afraid of isn’t about stoking anxiety, it’s about putting those fears into context,” Dr. Christopher Bader, a sociologist at Chapman University in California and the lead researcher on the study, said in a statement. 

There can often be a disconnect between the things we fear and reality, he explained. For instance, fear of crime has steadily increased despite the crime rate actually going down.

One aspect of the annual survey is to draw attention to how people can better manage their fears. Drawing on decades of research, Team Fear suggests: limiting media exposure so you aren’t constantly bombarded with upsetting news, researching your fears so you can better understand them, recognizing manipulative speech and advertising designed to exploit fear, and building your community. Fear, like anxiety, often feeds on isolation, so the stronger your community, the better.

 

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