Riding the Wave: fear of sharks surpasses public speaking as sharks dominate the news Media Pitch

As you cover beach season stories, Chapman University’s 2023 Survey of American Fears offers a depth of data to the narrative. A trend has emerged: sharks are more feared than public speaking and other common anxieties.

Key insights from the survey, which ranked 97 fears among 1,014 Americans, include:

• 30.1% of Americans are scared or very scared of sharks, ranking 52nd overall.
• Fear of sharks surpasses that of public speaking (28.7%), reptiles (25.9%), and insects/spiders (25.3%).
• Gender differences are stark: 42% of women vs. 16.9% of men report being afraid or very scared of sharks. This consistent fear of sharks (unchanged from 2022’s 30%) highlights the power of sharks in the public imagination, as shark-related news and media stories make waves.

Faculty members Christopher Bader, Lemuel Day and Ann Gordon from Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences have been engaged in an unprecedented, ongoing study of fear in America.

The tenth year of the Chapman Survey of American Fears will be released this October, just in time for “scary season”.

About Chapman University

Founded in 1861, Chapman University is a nationally ranked private university in Orange, California, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. Chapman serves nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, with a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Students can choose from 123 areas of study within 11 colleges for a personalized education. Chapman is categorized by the Carnegie Classification as an R2 “high research activity” institution. Students at Chapman learn directly from distinguished world-class faculty including Nobel Prize winners, MacArthur fellows, published authors and Academy Award winners. The campus has produced a Rhodes Scholar, been named a top producer of Fulbright Scholars and hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society. Chapman also includes the Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine. The university features the No. 4 film school and No. 60 business school in the U.S. Learn more about Chapman University: www.chapman.edu.