Beliefs About Human Evolution
Public Beliefs About Human Evolution
Controversy over evolution has been a mainstay of American public life throughout much of the 20th century. The Pew Research survey asked about evolution using a set of two questions. Respondents were first asked whether “humans and other living things have evolved over time” or “have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.” Those who say that humans and other living things have evolved are asked a follow-up question about the processes they believe account for evolution.
Processes Guiding Human Evolution
In the most recent survey, 65% of adults say that humans and other living things have evolved, while 31% say humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. Roughly half of those who say that humans have evolved over time believe that evolution has occurred from natural processes, such as natural selection (35% of all adults), while a somewhat smaller share (24% of all adults) believe a supreme being guided the evolution of humans and other living things. Another 5% of all adults are unsure how evolution occurred.
Among the public as a whole, beliefs about human evolution have been roughly stable since first asked in a 2009 Pew Research survey.37 As we show below, there are a number of differences among subgroups of the population in beliefs about evolution, as has also been the case in past surveys.
