What are we so afraid of? Here's the expert to ask.

Christopher Bader is a sociologist at Chapman University in Orange, California, where he was principal investigator of the annual three times Chapman research on American fears. The survey asks adults about dozens of topics, such as nuclear war, pollution, volcanic eruptions and zombies, and then ranks the horrors in order of prevalence. Dr. Bader also studies religion and conspiracy theories, and he finds that these major issues often intersect. The most recent study was published in October 2023. In an interview that has been edited and condensed for clarity, he discussed the latest findings.

According to your latest research, what are we most afraid of right now as we head into 2024? Government corruption. Sixty percent of Americans fear corrupt government officials.

Like Watergate style stuff?

One of the things we learn is that there are many interpretations of what corruption means to different people. Obviously people interpret that differently because both progressives and conservatives fear government corruption and clearly have different ideas about what they are talking about.

At first glance, this may seem to reflect the partisan political climate. But hasn't that fear been around for a while?

Correct. That fear of government corruption is not some kind of artifact of Donald Trump; it has been around since before Trump.

Do you have a theory?

I have always found that fears come from insecurity. This can take many forms. Think of a person walking down the street and seeing another person. What they think is: who is that person, what do they want, are they dangerous?

When it comes to government, there is great uncertainty because the average person doesn't know how it works, but it has a huge effect on their lives.

In times of social change – major changes in the way the economy will work, whether it crashes or rises; major events such as terrorist attacks – all these events create uncertainty in the sense that you don't know what your world will look like a year from now. When people are insecure, we see their fears increase in all perspectives, not just fear of the government.

So our fears are driven by a more general insecurity seeking an outlet?

Absolutely right. It's not this one-on-one thing where I say, “I'm not sure who this clown is and that's why I'm afraid of clowns.” The uncertainty is more general.

To wait. Are you saying we're afraid of clowns?

Clowns are something that pops up quite regularly; about 6 percent of Americans say they are afraid of clowns.

So what else is in our top 10 fears from the latest research?

Economic or financial collapse; Russia uses nuclear weapons; the United States becomes involved in a new world war; people I love becoming seriously ill; people I love die; pollution from drinking water; biological warfare; Cyber ​​terrorism; and not having enough money in the future.

What this list looks like to me is what this list always looks like: always some things related to current events, like what's going on with Ukraine. Government corruption is always at the top of the list. Then you have these perennials, like people I love dying or getting seriously ill. So some current events, and then it's about death, illness and money.

Why this obsession with a corrupt government, since it seems so important in the investigation?

One thing I would definitely attribute this to is the dichotomy of the media. Since our research doesn't go back to 2013, I can't answer questions I'd like to: How does this compare to the 1970s or 1980s, before cable took over? Now we have all these partisan channels.

Is the media to blame?

The media gives us what we want: something to fear, the scary, the dark. That's what's going to get our attention. We also have a huge confirmation bias. If you are afraid of Trump or Hunter Biden, you will be drawn to information that reinforces the fear.

We are also interested in novelty. If someone scans the headlines and sees one headline about a bar fight and another about Jimmy the toe-eating serial killer, that person will click on Jimmy, even though the fight is more common.

I guess it would be an open question: if the media plays on our inherent nature, is that our fault or the media's fault?

Thanks to countless measures, the world is a better place than centuries ago: a longer lifespan, more material comfort. Why doesn't that make us more optimistic and less fearful?

Absolutely, with all kinds of measures we are safer and better off. But there's a term in sociology called relative deprivation, where you don't judge yourself by what someone was like 20 years ago or in the next town over. You judge yourself by who's around you – and if the other people in town have nicer cars than you, that's your marker.

In our previous conversations you have said that it is not fashionable or welcome to talk about the positive things or how good things are. Why not?

Talking about how good things are also suggests that nothing needs to change. That's a difficult conversation. For example, saying that there has been some progress on race relations may indicate that you are not aware of the recent rise in extremism or the need for much more progress. Discussing positive progress on any measure also goes against our tendency to be drawn to bad news and things that scare us. Unfortunately, we're just not good at nuance.

You have also drawn a link between fear and the erosion of religious beliefs.

The major organized religions are losing members quickly, and what religion can provide is security. The Bible is a rule book: Here's what's right, here's what's wrong, here's how to get to heaven, here's how to get to hell. It gives you a feeling of security. If you lose that, it can have a major effect on a societal level, making us afraid.

What are you personally most afraid of? for us?

Information tunneling and information silos. Algorithms. This isn't a conservative, liberal or progressive kind of thing; it happens to everyone. When I watch MSNBC all I see is the inverse of Fox. The algorithms quickly figure out what you want, and that's all people see. That is incredibly harmful. Every day all we see is a broadcast designed to tap into our fears.

What are you most afraid of?

For me, there is an idea of ​​fears and phobias, and the distinction is blurred. One of the things I'm afraid of is needles getting stuck in me. I'm that person who puts off having blood drawn for as long as possible.