Вестник Московского университета
Серия XXIII
Антропология
Серия XXIII
Антропология
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Campbell Benjamin, e-mail: campbelb@uwm.edu.
Recent research indicates that less than half of American agree with the idea that modern humans are the result of evolutionary processes that shape the biological world. Most attribute the lack of belief in evolution in the U.S. to religious fundamentalism. In fact, acceptance of evolution has been shown to vary inversely with the importance of religion across countries, but these results have not controlled for other factors such as economic development and education. To explore the role of religion in the acceptance of evolutionary more deeply, we surveyed visitors to the Milwaukee Public Museum during summer 2013. Information was collected on education levels, religious affiliation and practice, and familiarity with concepts of human evolution. Acceptance of evolution was assessed using the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) instrument, a twenty-item Likert-scaled questionnaire. Based on a total of 259 questionnaires, we found that neither religious denomination nor frequency of church attendance were related to educational attainment. Now was religious denomination related to knowledge of evolutionary terms. Christian affiliation was associated with lower acceptance of evolution, with nondenominational Christians showing the lowest level of acceptance. In a multivariate model, knowledge of evolutionary terms was predicted by both education and religious denomination. Acceptance of evolution was predicted by education, religious denomination, frequency of church attendance and knowledge of evolutionary terms. Our results are consistent with previous findings in U.S. samples demonstrating religious denomination, religiosity and education as predictors of evolutionary acceptance among adults. In addition, they confirm our hypothesis that religion and education represent largely distinct pathways in the acceptance of evolution. The major impact of religious denomination is on the acceptance, not knowledge of, evolution. These results focus attention on understanding what processes allow religious fundamentalists to block the conversion of knowledge about evolution into evolutionary belief. In addition, they raise a larger cultural question about the predictors of evolution acceptance in countries where evolution is more accepted. Is education level the only predictor or do factors such political conservatism and personality differences play the role that religious fundamentalism plays in the U.S.?
acceptance of evolution, religion, education
Цит.: Campbell Benjamin, Barone Lindsay PREDICTORS OF ACCEPTANCE OF EVOLUTION IN MILWAUKEE, WI, USA // Вестник Московского университета. Серия XXIII. Антропология, 2014; 3/2014; с. 105-106
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