g-Think | Issue 16 | g-Think Survey Results: The Fear Factor

g-Think asked our survey responders what they feared the most. Coming out on top was climate change, followed by the war in Iraq. Here’s the list in order of the Fear Factor:

Climate Change
War in Iraq
Terrorism in the U.S.
Political corruption
China’s rapid growth
Economy
Nuclear proliferation
Epidemics
Corporate power

While occupying only 5th place on the fear scale, a large 91% of respondents are concerned that China’s rise may threaten the environment.

In terms of China’s threat to the U.S. economy, 58% of responders are either extremely or moderately concerned. (see g-Think article The Fear of China)

The term “carbon footprint” has been in the media a lot lately. It’s also beginning to appear in advertisements for consumer products. When asked what “carbon footprint” means, only 62% of responders actually got it right: “carbon foot” is a measure of the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. 26% think it is a measure of the waste we produce in our daily lives. 11% are not sure what it means.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the term “carbon footprint” a large 82% of responders feel that a product’s carbon footprint should be stated on that product. That way a product’s true cost to the environment can be easily known and compared with other products.

In terms of actual personal actions taken to address climate change (the biggest fear concern among our responders), 18% said they are taking “many actions,” while 64% said that are taking “some actions.” Of course, these actions are not quantified here.

In the aftermath of 9/11 the government instituted a color coding system to advise citizens of the threat level to national security from terrorist or potential terrorist activities. The color coding system came in for a lot of criticism and has been modified several times. As time has gone on the color coding system has received less media attention and therefore retreated in the public’s perception. When asked if they knew what the national threat level was today, only 35% said they did. The remaining 65% had no idea.

The national threat level system didn’t score too highly on the legitimacy scale either with only 40% feeling it’s legitimate and even then they are skeptical about how it is used. A third of responders do not believe in it and feel it’s used for political purposes. (see g-Think article The True Colors of Terror)