DARWIN IS ALIVE, OR BELIEVING IN EVOLUTION: VCIOM: Russia Public Opinion Research Center

DARWIN IS ALIVE, OR BELIEVING IN EVOLUTION

Over the past fifteen years the share of those who support Darwin’s theory has increased. Most respondents still do not believe that science can answer this question.

08.02.2024

IN BRIEF

• 39% of Russians consider that science cannot give exact answers to the question about human origins (2009 — 37%, 2006 — 35%). ;

• 28% believe in the theory of evolution (+9 p.p. compared to 2009), 23%, in creationist theory (2009 — 23%). ;

• 60% of Russians are against excluding the theory of Darwin from school biology books (2009 — 52%, 2006 — 65%).;

• 62% think that both evolutionary theory and creationist theory should be taught at schools and universities (2009 — 58%).

MOSCOW, 8 February 2024. To mark the 215^th anniversary of Charles Darwin, Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on how Russian opinions on the human origins have changed.

Long live science!

The findings reveal that there is no common opinion in the Russian society as to where human came from. Most respondents believe that science is not capable of explaining the origins of humans (39%, 2009 — 37%, 2006 — 35%). The share of Darwinism’s supporters stating that human is a product of million years of evolution where the combination of mutations, natural selection and adaptation helped human evolve from apes slightly exceeds a quarter (28%, 2009 — 19%, 2006 — 24%).

The share of those who hold a creationist viewpoint implying that God created humans and any other creatures on Earth is slightly lower (23%, 2009 — 23%, 2006 — 24%).

Supporters of Darwinism tend to be young (59% of the 18-24-year-olds; 40% of the 25-34-year-olds), often atheists (56%), and actively use the Internet (38%).
As to those who are in favor of a creationist version of human origins, most of them are women (26% vs. 20% of men), persons aged 60+(29%), those who have secondary education (29%), Muslims (56%), and residents of North Caucasus federal district (46%).
44% of respondents aged 45 and older are confident that science cannot explain the origins of humans. Those who think so are often residents of Northwestern (47%) and Siberian (49%) federal districts and those who hesitate between faith and disbelief (60%).
3% of Russians believe that humans came from space aliens (5% of men vs 25 of women); 16% couldn’t say what religion/belief they belong to.

To teach or not to teach

There is a proposal to exclude Darwin’s theory of evolution from school curriculum. Thirty percent of Russians support this idea, which is an all-time high (2006 and 2009, 20%). They are primarily Russians aged 45 and older (36-37%), rural area residents (41%), and those who follow Islam (44%), and hold a creationist view (47%).

Six out of ten respondents do not support the idea to exclude the evolution theory from school textbooks (60%, 2009 — 52%, 2006 — 65%). This percentage is the highest among those who hold an evolutionary view — 89 (78-75% among young respondents). The opinion is also shared by those who live in both capitals (73%), million-plus cities (76%), and who are non-believers (82%).

Sixty-two percent of respondents consider that both theories should be taught at schools and universities (+4 p.p. compared to 2009). Every fifth respondent supports teaching only evolutionary theory (Darwinism) — 21% (+5 p.p. compared to 2009). A further 7% think that only creationist theory should be taught.

Those who think that both versions should be taught are often respondents under 25 (70%), those who consider themselves believers but do not belong to any confession (79%), and those who do not believe that science can answer the question about human origins (71%).
Those who think that only evolutionary theory should be taught are 51% of atheists and 45% of supporters of Darwinism.
Those who think that only creationist theory should be taught are those who support creationism (24%) and Russians who adhere to Muslim religion (25%).

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 4 February, 2024. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. Data were weighted for social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of February 4, 2024: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7916; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0179; response rate (RR)*** = 0.0764. Calculations are based on the corporate standard: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

There is an ongoing discussion on human origins. Which viewpoint is closer to yours? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2006	2009	2024
The modern science is not capable of answering this question	35	37	39
Human evolved naturally from monkeys	24	19	28
Human was created by God / supreme forces	24	23	23
Human came from space aliens	5	3	3
It is of little interest to me	7	8	1
Other	0	0	2
Don’t know	5	10	4

There is an ongoing discussion on human origins. Which viewpoint is closer to yours? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
The modern science is not capable of answering this question	39	40	39	21	36	37	44	44
Human evolved naturally from monkeys	28	28	28	59	40	29	20	17
Human was created by God / supreme forces	23	20	26	12	15	23	25	29
Human came from space aliens	3	5	2	3	2	3	5	3
It is of little interest to me	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	0
Other	2	2	2	3	1	3	2	2
Don’t know	4	4	2	2	5	4	3	5

There is an ongoing discussion on human origins. Which viewpoint is closer to yours? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	What religion or belief do you follow?*
	Total	Orthodox Christianity	Muslim	Believer, not belonging to any confession	Non-believer	Hesitating between faith and disbelief	Other	Don’t know
The modern science is not capable of answering this question	39	40	10	46	37	60	34	26
Human evolved naturally from monkeys	28	24	13	30	56	22	28	24
Human was created by God / supreme forces	23	27	56	12	0	6	18	8
Human came from space aliens	3	3	6	2	2	8	4	16
It is of little interest to me	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	4
Other	2	1	1	4	2	3	12	6
Don’t know	4	4	14	6	3	0	4	16

* Other answers to this question are excluded due to insufficient data for analysis: Catholic Christianity, Protestantism (Pentecostalism, Adventism, Lutheranism, etc.), Judaism, Buddhism.

Today the theory of natural selection by Darwin implying that humans evolved from monkeys is included in the biology school books. There is a proposal to exclude this section from school textbooks. Do you support of oppose the idea to exclude Darwin’ s theory from school textbooks? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2006	2009	2024
I definitely support it	7	7	14
Likely to support it	13	13	16
Likely to oppose it	41	34	27
Definitely oppose it	24	18	33
Don’t know	15	28	10

Today the theory of natural selection by Darwin implying that humans evolved from monkeys is included in the biology school books. There is a proposal to exclude this section from school textbooks. Do you support of oppose the idea to exclude Darwin’s theory from school textbooks? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
I definitely support it	14	17	11	6	7	11	20	16
Likely to support it	16	14	18	13	10	15	16	21
Likely to oppose it	27	25	30	24	28	30	32	23
Definitely oppose it	33	34	31	54	47	35	26	22
Don’t know	10	10	10	3	8	9	6	18

In what way should the human origins be taught at school, at universities? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2006	2009	2024
Only evolutionary theory (Darwinism) should be taught	17	16	21
Only creationist theory of human origins should be taught	9	7	7
Both theories should be taught	63	58	62
Don’t know	11	19	10

In what way should the human origins be taught at school, at universities? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
Only evolutionary theory (Darwinism) should be taught	21	21	21	26	25	24	17	19
Only creationist theory of human origins should be taught	7	8	6	2	4	6	10	8
Both theories should be taught	62	58	65	70	65	63	65	54
Don’t know	10	13	8	2	6	7	8	19

Before 2017, surveys were conducted through household face-to-face interviews (“Express” project); stratified multi-stage quota-based sample; quotas based on socio-demographic parameters, representative of the Russian population aged 18+ by settlement type, sex, gender, education. Sample size, unless otherwise stated, is 1,600 respondents.