Abstract

        In this monograph answers may be found to some key questions: How significant are terrorism-related fears? What segments of the population are most prone to them? How are these fears inter-related? How is education and religious commitment related to a person having had each kind of fear?

        Overall, 9% of Canadians (11% of women) have had strong fears of being in crowds, 8% of travelling away from home, 4% of using public transportation, and 3% of being in meeting places. Some 3% fear something terrible might happen, also called agora fears.

        Fears vary little across the country. Fear of crowds is most common in Nova Scotia, 13% (17% among women), and lowest in Quebec, 8% (10% among women). Among the metro areas for which we have data, fear of crowds is most common in St Catharines and Oshawa, 15% each.

        All fears tend to fall with age. Fear of travelling away from home, for example, is most common among teens, 11%, and falls to 4% among those in their 70s, and 80 plus. Separated and divorced Canadians tend to be more prone to having had strong fears than those of other marital statuses.

        Proneness to fears is lower among those with a post-secondary degree or diploma than among those with lower levels of education. This is one of the strongest predictors of a person having fears in our analytical results.

        All fears decrease strongly with the perceived satisfaction with life in general - 6% of those very satisfied have had strong fears of being in crowds (women, 7%), while 23% of those dissatisfied have had such fears (women, 25%).

        Non-Christian faiths as a group are less prone to having had any of the fears than any of the Christian faith traditions, or the non-religious. Three of the five fears are more likely among the non-worshippers; the other two do not vary by worship frequency.

        The most prominent variables associated with most of the fears in the subgroups examined are sex and education. Age and sleep tend to be negatively associated with the likelihood of fears, marijuana use positively associated, and religious commitment and faith affiliation unrelated.

        This study also includes tables of five degrees of religious commitment of women, men, and all Canadians: the detailed subgroups. Women who worship weekly and depend on spirituality daily "a lot", for example, are 19% of all women (men, 13%), and 7% of women (and men) aged 20 to 24.

        This committed group, for example, is 33% of women aged 75 to 79 (men, 25%); 24% of married women (men, 17%); 18% of divorced women (men, 7%); 19% of Roman Catholic women (men, 11%); 45% of conservative Christian women (men, 38%); and 29% of Muslim women (men, 33%).