For weeks now, as COVID-19 restrictions across the country begin to ease (or, in some cases, even where they haven't), national and local news outlets have relentlessly reported on a seeming torrent of people streaming into public spaces. The coverage points to a common sense understanding: Spending two months sheltering in place with little-to-no human contact has produced an overpowering need for people to gather together outside their homes.

According to an exclusive new study, however, that media coverage belies a deeper truth: Anxiety over health and safety in public spaces still greatly outweighs the desire to leave home, and that disparity has only gotten larger as the pandemic has unfolded. The results — from a survey of roughly 1,000 people in mid-May by sports and events analytics firm Performance Research, in partnership with Full Circle Research Co. — point to just how steep a climb the entertainment industry has in front of it to win back public perception that it's safe to attend, and spend money on, public events again.