What scares people these days and where does your phobia rank?

4 min readMay 29, 2024

What are the most common fears and phobias that people have today?

Most of us can relate to having a healthy fear of sharks or getting sweaty palms at the idea of being stuck in a tiny space. It’s also pretty socially acceptable for someone to opt out of bungee jumping, or for a fellow aeroplane passenger to need a few deep breaths to calm themselves before takeoff.

Then of course there’s the fear of public speaking — which we all fear more than death, right? Maybe not… This claim seems to link back to a publication from 1977 called The Book of Lists, which in turn cites the London Times… which in turn references the 1973 Burskin Report.

This claims that 41 per cent of people feared speaking before a group, whereas only 19 per cent feared death.

While this report is outdated (and has a questionable interpretation of data!), somehow the narrative that people fear public speaking more than death has stuck.

Heck, even Jerry Seinfeld joked that people would prefer to be in the casket than deliver a eulogy. So if a comedian says it, it’s fact, right?

Well sure, it makes for a good laugh (tell us you haven’t got that bass line in your head right now) but the truth is, participants in that study weren’t asked to rate what they feared MOST. They were just asked to pick items from a list representing situations in which they had some degree of fear.

So sure, lots of people said they were afraid of public speaking, but it doesn’t mean they feared it MORE than death.

Okay, Seinfeld’s research for his comedy routine didn’t include reading the fine print of the 1973 Burskin Report. We’ll let that one go and move on to what other research is saying about common fears and phobias.

In 2020 and 2021, Chapman University in California did a survey asking American adults about their fears.

Researchers found that the fear of public speaking didn’t even enter the top 10. Turns out the number one fear was of corrupt government officials.

Widespread civil unrest and white supremacists were high up on the list too. Perhaps these results were somewhat correlated with who the President was at the time?

The second biggest fear was “people I love dying” (one we can all have empathy for) but one’s own death and public speaking were all the way down at numbers 53 and 54 respectively.

In Australia, a survey conducted in 2015 showed a similarly low ranking for public speaking, with social phobias and agoraphobia topping the list.

C’mon Aussies, pull yourselves together. Just get out of the house, go to the pub and talk to people!

While it’s clear from the surveys that public speaking doesn’t top the list of fears, we need to take into account the intensity of the fear.

Perhaps the fear of public speaking might be more about the fear of humiliation or potential shame that comes along with it.

What if I say something stupid? What if my mouth goes dry and I forget how to speak? Is my fly undone? The shame is real people.

So what gets your knickers in a knot? The fear of zombies or ghosts? Perhaps the fear of accidentally eating a feather?

Or does the thought of high medical bills and confusing technology keep you up at night?

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What scares people these days and where does your phobia rank?

Written by The Wholesome Show