A study done by researchers at the University of Michigan has recently found that more Americans are now accepting evolution.
According to Jon D. Miller, the lead author and part of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, acceptance of Darwin’s theory of evolution has surged in the last five years. It became the most common position for Americans in 2016.
Education has made Americans accept evolution
Researchers concluded that it was an increase in education that made people more accepting of evolution. People who had taken science courses at college and those who had graduated college were more likely to accept the theory. People who had at least one college degree were more likely to accept evolution.
Mark Ackerman, a researcher at Michigan Medicine, the U-M school of information and Michigan Engineering, adds that Americans who had a college degree in 2018 had doubled from 1988.
The researchers used various surveys to reach their conclusion. Some of them were carried out by NASA to test the civic literacy of adults. Others were conducted by The National Science Foundations and the National Science Board. In all these surveys, participants were asked if they believed human beings evolved from other animal species.
Researchers found that an equal number of Americans between 1985 and 2007 either believed or disbelieved evolution. In the last ten years, Americans who accept evolution have increased from 40% to 54%.
Another survey in 2005 led by Miller surveyed 34 developed countries. Researchers found that Turkey was the only country ranked below America. About 27% of Turkey’s citizens accepted evolution.
Religious fundamentalism is a significant reason for disbelieving in evolution
The researchers also investigated the causes for disbelieving in evolution. They found that most people who did not believe in evolution were religious fundamentalists. While there are fewer religious fundamentalists in America today, researchers found that 30% of Americans still were. However, about 32% of religious fundamentalists accepted evolution in 2019. This percentage is in comparison to 8% in 1988.
They also found that the idea of evolution is increasingly used as a political tool. For instance, 34% of conservative Republicans accept evolution. On the other hand, 83% of liberal democrats accept it. Miller adds that religious fundamentalism will likely hinder evolution acceptance.
