Vol. 4, Issue 3, Part A (2018)

Abstract
Fear is quite a prevailing factor in not just youngsters but elders as well. It causes impairment in one’s daily functioning and may also affect their confidence and self-image. Hence, this study aims to investigate the attitudes of people of varying age groups towards their fear(s), to determine whether there is a gender difference in the attitudes of people towards their fear(s) and to examine the impact of people's fear(s) on their daily lives. The study was conducted on 400 people of which 200 were females and 200 were males of varying age groups between 15 to 55 years (Average age of males: 25 years and average females: 20 years with a total mean of 23) from Chennai. A self-developed questionnaire consisting of 17 items was used to measure attitudes towards fear. Participants were invited to participate in an online survey via GoogleForms™ that was distributed through social media platforms such as WhatsApp™, Facebook™, Twitter™ and Amino™. Descriptive analysis and percentage analysis were completed for comparison and to observe the general trends as indicated by the collected data. From the results, it was found that the impact, fear has on individuals is negative in both males and females but the intensity of the impact of fear was higher in females than males. It was also found that females had a more positive attitude towards their fears than males did.