Evolution now accepted by majority of Americans

Date:
August 20, 2021
Source:
University of Michigan
Summary:
The level of public acceptance of evolution in the United States
is now solidly above the halfway mark, according to a new study
based on a series of national public opinion surveys conducted
over the last 35 years.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The level of public acceptance of evolution in the United States is now
solidly above the halfway mark, according to a new study based on a series
of national public opinion surveys conducted over the last 35 years.


========================================================================== "From 1985 to 2010, there was a statistical dead heat between acceptance
and rejection of evolution," said lead researcher Jon D. Miller of
the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. "But acceptance then surged, becoming the majority position in 2016."
Examining data over 35 years, the study consistently identified aspects
of education -- civic science literacy, taking college courses in science
and having a college degree -- as the strongest factors leading to the acceptance of evolution.

"Almost twice as many Americans held a college degree in 2018 as in 1988,"
said co-author Mark Ackerman, a researcher at Michigan Engineering,
the U-M School of Information and Michigan Medicine. "It's hard to earn
a college degree without acquiring at least a little respect for the
success of science." The researchers analyzed a collection of biennial
surveys from the National Science Board, several national surveys funded
by units of the National Science Foundations, and a series focused on
adult civic literacy funded by NASA.

Beginning in 1985, these national samples of U.S. adults were asked
to agree or disagree with this statement: "Human beings, as we know
them today, developed from earlier species of animals." The series of
surveys showed that Americans were evenly divided on the question of
evolution from 1985 to 2007. According to a 2005 study of the acceptance
of evolution in 34 developed nations, led by Miller, only Turkey, at 27%, scored lower than the United States. But over the last decade, until
2019, the percentage of American adults who agreed with this statement increased from 40% to 54%.

The current study consistently identified religious fundamentalism
as the strongest factor leading to the rejection of evolution. While
their numbers declined slightly in the last decade, approximately 30%
of Americans continue to be religious fundamentalists as defined in
the study. But even those who scored highest on the scale of religious fundamentalism shifted toward acceptance of evolution, rising from 8%
in 1988 to 32% in 2019.

Miller predicted that religious fundamentalism would continue to impede
the public acceptance of evolution.

"Such beliefs are not only tenacious but also, increasingly, politicized,"
he said, citing a widening gap between Republican and Democratic
acceptance of evolution.

As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared
to 83% of liberal Democrats.

The study is published in the journal Public Understanding of Science.

Besides Miller and Ackerman, the authors are Eugenie Scott and Glenn
Branch of the National Center for Science Education; Bele'n Laspra of
the University of Oviedo in Spain; and Carmelo Polino of the University
of Oviedo and Centre Redes in Argentina; and Jordan Huffaker of U-M.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Michigan. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jon D. Miller, Eugenie C. Scott, Mark S. Ackerman, Bele'n Laspra,
Glenn
Branch, Carmelo Polino, Jordan S. Huffaker. Public acceptance of
evolution in the United States, 1985-2020. Public Understanding
of Science, 2021; 096366252110359 DOI: 10.1177/09636625211035919 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210820111042.htm

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