Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Multifactorial Analysis Of Acceptance Of Evolution, Ryan D.P. Dunk, Andrew J. Petto, Jason R. Wiles, Benjamin C. Campbell

Anthropology Faculty Articles

Background: Despite decades of education reform efforts, the percent of the general US population accepting biological evolution as the explanation for the diversity of life has remained relatively unchanged over the past 35 years. Previous work has shown the importance of both educational and non-educational (sociodemographic and psychological) factors on acceptance of evolution, but has often looked at such factors in isolation. Our study is among the first attempts to model quantitatively how the unique influences of evolutionary content knowledge, religiosity, epistemological sophistication, and an understanding of the nature of science collectively predict an individual’s acceptance or rejection of …