The effect of random terrorist attacks. 4 in 10 Americans now fear crowds

Thirty-eight percent of Americans are less willing to attend events that involve large crowds because they fear terrorist attacks, a Gallup poll done after the string of terrorist attacks in Britain shows.

The poll, conducted June 7-11, shows that the fear of terrorist threats has increased since July 2011, the last time the question was asked. Back then, 27 percent of Americans said they avoid large crowds out of concern for terrorist attacks.

The percentage in 2017 is also the highest recorded since Gallup began asking the question after 9/11.

The high percentage of Americans avoiding large events comes after the May 22 terrorist attack on concertgoers in Manchester, England, and the June 3 attack at a crowded bridge and restaurants in London.

Immediately after the terrorist attack in September 2001, 30 percent of Americans expressed reluctance to attend crowded events.

According to the poll, Americans are also reluctant to go overseas, fly an airplane or go into a skyscraper.

• Forty-six percent of U.S. adults say they are less willing to travel overseas, up eight percentage points since 2011.
• Nearly a third (32%) say they are less willing to fly on an airplane, up from 24% in July 2011.
• Twenty-six percent say they are less willing to go into skyscrapers as a result of events relating to terrorism in recent years; this is the highest percentage recorded since September 2002.

But Gallup warns that the high figures should be taken with a grain of salt as it is not clear if Americans who said that are reluctant to travel overseas actually planned to do so, but change their mind in light of the recent events.

Americans’ views on terrorist attacks

The Gallup poll shows that 60 percent of Americans think that a terrorist attack occurring in the U.S., in the next several weeks is very or somewhat likely, a sharp rise since the last times the question was asked, in August 2011, when 38 percent of Americans thought so and in June 2015, when 45 percent thought so.

However, if two years ago 51 percent of Americans worried that a member of their family will be killed in an terrorist attack, this year the percentage dropped to 42 percent.

The poll shows that Republicans fear terrorist attacks more than Democrats.

While 57 percent of Republicans worry that they or a member of their family might become a victim of terrorism, only 35 percent of Democrats fear the same thing.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they are less willing to travel overseas, attend crowded events, fly on airplanes and go into skyscrapers.

• Nearly six in 10 Republicans (57%) say they are less willing to travel overseas due to terrorism, compared with 40% of Democrats.
• Republicans are also more inclined to avoid large events, with 48% saying they are less willing to attend these, compared with 34% of Democrats.
• The percentage of Republicans saying they are less willing to attend large events has doubled from the 24% who said the same in July 2011.

However, Americans largely trust in the government’s ability to protect them from terrorism, with seven in 10 saying they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in authorities to do so.