优蜜传媒

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Increased fear of terrorism would seem to be a natural human response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. But feeling fearful is a long way from being crippled by fear, and polling over the past week suggests that Americans' level of concern is still relatively restrained. On the one hand, polling has found up to seven in 10 Americans expressing at least some concern about terrorism affecting their own lives. Fear of terrorism is also higher than it was prior to the attacks. But, only between 12% and 31% of Americans say that they are highly concerned about terrorism or that they feel much less safe in their communities than they did before September 11.

Somewhat higher numbers of Americans indicate that they will alter their behavior to reduce their exposure to potential terrorism. Thirty percent of Americans told 优蜜传媒shortly after the attacks that they are now less willing to attend events with large crowds, 35% are less willing to enter skyscrapers, 43% are less willing to fly, and 48% are less willing to travel abroad.

Women, young adults and those living in the Eastern portion of the United States express the greatest amount of fear. Between one-third and one-half of parents report that their children have expressed concerns for their safety, and one poll found that older children are almost twice as likely to express concerns for their safety as are those under seven years of age.

One-Third or Less Are Highly Fearful

According to the most recent CNN/USA Today/优蜜传媒poll, conducted September 14-15, 51% of Americans are at least somewhat worried that they or someone in their family will become a victim of a terrorist attack, but of this number, only 18% are "very worried." As 优蜜传媒has noted in recent days, these numbers are up considerably compared to 17 months ago, when terrorism was far from uppermost in the minds of Americans. At that point, in April 2000, only 24% of Americans were at least somewhat worried about terrorism, with 4% very worried.

The pattern is the same in several other national surveys conducted in recent days. Sixty-three percent of Americans told Newsweek pollsters in a September 13-15 poll that to some degree they feel less safe at home and work than they did before. But of this number, only 12% feel "a lot less safe." An identical number, 63%, also told the Los Angeles Times that their "personal sense of safety and security" has been shaken by the attacks, but just 31% say it has been shaken "a great deal." Seventy-one percent of Americans responded in a September 15-16 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that they are concerned that "terrorists will commit acts of violence near where you live or work," but of this number only 27% are "very concerned."

Women and Young Adults Express Greater Fear

The CNN/USA Today/优蜜传媒poll conducted this past weekend shows a 9-percentage-point difference between men and women in terms of fear of terrorism: 23% of women said they were "very" worried about terrorist attacks compared to 14% of men.

优蜜传媒polling documented similar results in April 1995 -- immediately after the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed. In that poll, 17% of women said they were "very" worried about terrorist attacks, while only 11% of men felt this way. However, in the years between these two prominent acts of U.S. terrorism, there have been few gender differences on this measure.

Americans 65 and older -- who have lived through the most wars and international incidents -- are the least likely to be concerned about further terrorist attacks. Today, roughly one in four Americans aged 18-29 (23%) say they are "very" worried that future terrorism might impact them or their families, compared to just 11% of people aged 65 and older. About one in five Americans between the ages of 30 and 64 are very worried.

Level of Concern About Terrorism by Age (Percentage of Americans Saying "Very Worried")

September 14-15, 2001

Similarly, following the attack in Oklahoma City in 1995, about one in five 18- to 29-year-olds said they were "very" worried about similar acts of terrorism, compared to 14% of 30- to 49-year-olds, 9% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 10% of those 65 and older. However, as with the pattern by gender, 优蜜传媒polls conducted between 1995 and today show few age differences regarding fear of terrorism.

Easterners More Concerned About Terrorist Attacks, Midwesterners Less Concerned

Americans living in the Eastern part of the United States are slightly more likely than those living elsewhere in the country to say they are worried about becoming a victim of a terrorist attack. Twenty-seven percent of Easterners -- compared to 18% of all Americans -- currently say they are "very worried" about becoming a terrorist victim. This compares to 21% of people in the South, 15% of people in the West, and 10% of people in the Midwest. Overall, 60% of Easterners are very or somewhat worried, compared to 51% of the country as a whole. Results shows little difference in concern based on the size of the community in which the respondent lives, with roughly one in five Americans in urban, suburban, and rural areas saying they are "very" worried about further attacks.

Children Are Concerned About Their Safety as a Result of Terrorist Attacks

An ABC News/Washington Post survey conducted a few days after the September 11 attacks found that one-third of parents said their children have expressed concern about their own safety as a result of the terrorist attacks. Fifteen percent of parents said their children have cried, and 4% said they have had nightmares.

The ABC poll also found compelling differences between parents' reports of the emotional reactions of younger children and their reports about older children, particularly among those who have expressed concern about their own safety as a result of these attacks. Forty-four percent of children aged 7 or older were reported by their parents to have expressed concern about their own safety, compared to 23% of children below that age. At the same time, 19% of children aged 7 or older have cried about this situation, while only 8% of children under age 7 have done so.

The Pew Research Center recently asked parents of children between the ages 5 and 12 about their children's reaction, and found 46% saying their child has expressed fears about terrorism since last Tuesday's attacks.

Survey Methods

Gallup's latest results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,032 adults, 18 years and older, conducted September 14-15, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

How worried are you that you or someone in your family will become a victim of a terrorist attack -- very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried, or not worried at all?

		Very worried	Somewhat worried	Not too worried	Not worried at all	Know a victim (vol.)	No opinion
		%	%	%	%	%	%
2001 Sep 14-15		18	33	35	13	*	1
2001 Sep 11 ^		23	35	24	16	1	1
2000 Apr 7-9 †		4	20	41	34	--	1
1998 Aug 20 ^ ‡		10	22	38	29	--	1
1996 Jul 20-21 †		13	26	34	27	--	*
1996 Apr 9-10 ^^		13	22	33	32	--	*
1995 Apr 21-23 ^^		14	28	33	24	--	1
^	Based on one night poll of 619 national adults with a margin of error of ±4 pct. pts.
†	Asked of a half sample.
‡	WORDING: How worried are you that someone in your family will become a victim of a terrorist attack similar to the bombing in Oklahoma City?
^^	WORDING: How worried are you that you or someone in your family will become a victim of a terrorist attack similar to the bombing in Oklahoma City?

And how concerned are you that terrorists will commit acts of violence near where you live or work -- are you very concerned, somewhat concerned, or not concerned?

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not concerned	No opinion
NBC News/Wall Street Journal
2001 Sep 15-16	27%	44	28	1

As a result of Tuesday's attacks do you personally feel a lot less safe where you live and work, somewhat less safe, only a little less safe, or not at all less safe than you did before?

	Feel a lot less safe	Somewhat less safe	Only a little less safe	Not at all less	No opinion
Newsweek
2001 Sep 13-14	12%	24	27	36	1

.

Are you worried that you or a member of your immediate family might become the victim of a terrorist attack?

	Yes	No	No opinion
NBC News/Wall Street Journal
2001 Sep 15-16	45%	54	1

Would you say you personally are very concerned about a terrorist attack in the area where you live, or not?

	Yes	No	No opinion
CBS News/New York Times
2001 Sep 13-14	39%	59	2
2001 Sep 12 ^	36%	62	2
2001 Sep 11 ^	43%	56	1
^ CBS News

How much, if any, has the attack on the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon shaken your own personal sense of safety and security. Has it shaken it a great deal, a good amount, not too much, or not at all?

	Great deal	Good amount	Not too much	Not at all	No opinion
Los Angeles Times
2001 Sep 13-14	31%	32	26	10	1

Are you personally worried about traveling by commercial airplane because of the risk of terrorism, or do you think the risk is not that great?

	Yes	No	No opinion
ABC News/Washington Post
2001 Sep 13	59%	40	1

Have you personally canceled any specific plans to travel by air in the future because of the danger of terrorist attacks, or not?

	Yes, have	No, have not	No opinion
ABC News/Washington Post
2001 Sep 13	9%	91	*

(Has/have) your (child/children) expressed any fears about the terrorist attacks?

	Yes, have	No, have not	No opinion
Pew Research Center
2001 Sep 13-17	46%	54	0
Based on 331 parents of children aged 5-12