Discovery Health Channel Phobia Study
http://health.discovery.com/centers/mental/phobias/assessment/whats.html
http://health.discovery.com/centers/mental/phobias/facts.html

What do people fear? In August 2000, Discovery Health Channel commissioned Penn, Schoen, & Berland to conduct a nationally representative telephone survey of 1000 Americans to answer that question. Students will find the following results interesting.

The top ten fears (men and women combined) were the following:

            1.         Fear of snakes

            2.         Fear of being buried alive

            3.         Fear of heights

            4.         Fear of being bound or tied up

            5.         Fear of drowning

            6.         Fear of public speaking

            7.         Fear of hell

            8.         Fear of cancer

            9.         Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes

            10.       Fear of fire

Top five fears of men?

            1.         Fear of being buried alive

            2.         Fear of heights

            3.         Fear of snakes

            4.         Fear of drowning

            5.         Fear of public speaking

Top five fears of women?

            1.         Fear of snakes

            2.         Fear of being bound or tied up

            3.         Fear of being buried alive

            4.         Fear of heights

            5.         Fear of public speaking

The greatest difference between men and women was in the fear of being bound or tied up (women 27 percent versus men 2 percent). Results also indicated that we fear giving a speech (36 percent) more than meeting new people (12 percent), embarrassing ourselves in a sport (44 percent) more than asking someone for a date (35 percent), being stranded in the ocean (62 percent) more than being stranded in the desert (24 percent), and the IRS (57 percent) more than God (30 percent). The things we fear equally are rats and dentists (58 percent), elevators and flying (52 percent), and public speaking and being alone in the woods (40 percent). While the pollsters found the level of fear in American society to be high, they also reported that few seek treatment. Among those who say they have a phobia or extreme fear, only 11 percent indicated that they sought professional help.
(Myers, D, Psychology, NY: Worth Publishers: Lecture Guide Chapter 16)

PSY102
General Psychology II
Linda Bradford PhD, Instructor