> It's funny when you look back how suckered in Americans were vs Russians.
Another possible interpretation of your data would be that Americans were better informed of the risks, and so were afraid. Russians, on the other hand, lived in a society with very tight control on all media, and so anything that might cause unrest was censored.
There's more evidence for this interpretation than for yours. In particular, note that in the US we had access to numerous non-government sources of information and analysis, most of which agreed that nuclear war was a real risk.
Another possible interpretation of your data would be that Americans were better informed of the risks, and so were afraid. Russians, on the other hand, lived in a society with very tight control on all media, and so anything that might cause unrest was censored.
There's more evidence for this interpretation than for yours. In particular, note that in the US we had access to numerous non-government sources of information and analysis, most of which agreed that nuclear war was a real risk.