Rare Under 40 poll: There’s one thing that scares young people even more than nuclear war, Ebola or ISIS

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Jay Croft is a communications consultant and freelance writer/editor living in Atlanta. Follow Jay on Twitter and check out his blog.

During the Cold War, previous generations of Americans were mostly afraid of nuclear Armageddon in a battle with the Soviet Union.

Now, in the Information Age, with the constant digital transmission of personal data seemingly floating around in cyberspace, just waiting to be stolen or abused.

And if a culture's fears reflect the general anxiety of an era, then it's no surprise more young Americans are afraid of being hacked or losing their data and privacy than just about anything — even nuclear war or an Ebola outbreak, according to an exclusive Rare poll.

>>Read about all of the findings of the Rare Under 40 poll

It's easy to see why we worry. News stories frequently report that hackers have accessed private information from hospitals and retailers. Celebrities' private photos and data have been leaked and posted all over the Internet without their consent. And government statistics show an increase in complaints about identity theft while the rates of other crimes have gone down.

Last fall, Gallup reported more Americans fear hacking than any other crime, including murder.

“Young people are less concerned about ISIS and more concerned with hypothetical events such as nuclear disaster,” said Doug Kaplan, managing partner of Gravis Marketing, the nonpartisan market research firm that conducted the Rare Under 40 poll.

Our exclusive Rare Under 40 poll asked Americans to rank common sources of dread. The results show that young people are most afraid of being hacked or losing their data — 52 percent. However, Americans over 40 are most afraid of foreign powers, such as ISIS, China, Russia or North Korea — 55 percent. Coming in dead last for both age groups? The rapture.

While both age groups mostly agree on what they are and aren’t afraid of, more Americans over 40 say they fear gay marriage in all 50 states — 31 percent of the older generations vs. 21 percent of those under 40.

Over the next several days, we'll explore 24 questions in-depth, taking a close look at the difference between age groups while also weighing key demographic differences such as political party, race and education. It's also an opportunity to revisit the previous Rare Under 40 poll, which found young people hold surprising views on Obama, marijuana, God and more.

Read more at rare.us.