Conflation between knowledge and acceptance may contribute to the knowledge gap between Judeo-Christian and non-religious people

Abstract

This paper presents findings from two related studies investigating the relationship between evolution knowledge and various influencing factors, notably religious affiliation, religiosity, and evolution acceptance. Utilizing a nationwide survey study and a focused classroom study, we explored the differences in evolution knowledge agreement among individuals with different religious identifications. The nationwide study sampled 827 respondents from the United States, comprising those who identified with a Judeo-Christian religion and those who identified as agnostic/atheistic. Agnostic/atheistic respondents demonstrated notably higher evolution knowledge agreement compared to their Judeo-Christian counterparts. Structural equation modeling confirmed that evolution knowledge agreement significantly predicted acceptance within both groups. Aiming to further investigate this phenomenon, the classroom study involved non-major introductory biology students in a religiously homogeneous institution. Altering survey question wording to mitigate potential conflict revealed a substantial increase in measured evolution knowledge agreement among highly religious Christian students simply by prefacing questions with “according to science.” This finding suggests that the gap between their endorsement of evolution knowledge and acceptance may be partly due to respondents intentionally or unintentionally masking their true understanding to align with their religious beliefs. Overall, this study presents evidence suggesting that evolution knowledge may be conflated with acceptance, highlighting the importance of nuanced approaches to addressing evolution acceptance within diverse communities.