America may be nearing a critical tipping point where our fears, particularly of vulnerable groups such as Muslims and immigrants, are breaking down the sense of social trust that enables nations and communities to work together for the common good, research indicates. A new set of studies surveying fears in 2014 and 2015 offer insights into how much we are afraid of one another.

Don’t call them oddballs. More than two-thirds of Americans have paranormal beliefs, and the interest in otherworldly possibilities beyond the realm of traditional religions is only expected to increase, sociologists Christopher Bader and F. Carson Mencken of Baylor University and Joseph Baker of East Tennessee State University report in their new book “Paranormal America.” “What we can say with certainty is that we live in a paranormal America.”