MOSCOW, 8 February 2024. To mark the 215th 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%).
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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.
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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?* | |||||||
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.