Perceived consequences of evolution: College students perceive negative personal and social impact in evolutionary theory
Perceived consequences of evolution: College students perceive negative personal and social impact in evolutionary theory
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DOI：
10.1002/sce.10105
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发表时间：
2003-03-01
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
Schindel, J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brem, SK;Ranney, M;Schindel, J
进化科学对个人和社会都有影响，从我们解释人类行为的方式到我们对灵性的看法和我们存在的目的。流行的进化论描绘了一个自相矛盾的理论，一个知识和人类联系的来源，但也是对我们的人性和自由的威胁。使用定量和定性的方法，我们研究了来自不同种族和宗教背景的受过大学教育的成年人（n = 135）如何看待进化理论对个人和社会的影响。我们确定了一个连续的观点，从强大的创造论者到强大的进化论者。运用“知识生态学”模式（Demastes，Good，&皮布尔斯，《科学教育》，79，637 - 666，1995; Nardi & O 'Day，《信息生态学：使用技术与心脏，麻省理工学院出版社，剑桥，马萨诸塞州，1999年），我们检查了参与者的信念之间的关系，他们对进化理论的社会和个人影响的看法，他们先前对进化论的接触和知识，以及他们对进化论教学的看法。进化论者和神创论者在他们之前对进化论的接触以及他们对教学某些方面的看法上有所不同，但在感知影响方面表现出惊人的相似之处。所有群体都以一种可能被认为是不可取的方式看待接受进化原则的后果：自私和种族主义增加，灵性下降，目的感和自决感下降。从科学教育的角度来看，这种片面的解释是麻烦的，因为它违背了现有的证据和进化科学的理论，我们认为促进更平衡的介绍和进化理论的评价的方法。(C)2003 Wiley Periodicals，Inc.
Evolutionary science has consequences for individuals and society, ranging from the way we interpret human behavior to our notions of spirituality and the purpose of our existence. Popular portrayals of evolution depict a paradoxical theory, a source of knowledge and human connections, but also a threat to our humanity and freedom. Using quantitative and qualitative methodology, we examined how college-educated adults (n = 135) from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds perceive the impact of evolutionary theory on individuals and society. We identified a continuum of perspectives, ranging from strong creationist to strong evolutionist. Using the model of "knowledge as an ecology" (Demastes, Good, & Peebles, Science Education, 79,637-666,1995; Nardi & O'Day, Information ecologies: Using technology with heart, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999), we examined the relationships among participants' beliefs, their perceptions regarding the social and personal impact of evolutionary theory, their prior exposure to and knowledge of evolutionary theory, and their opinions regarding the teaching of evolution. Evolutionists and creationists differed in their prior exposure to evolutionary theory, and their opinions about some aspects of teaching, but showed striking similarities regarding perceived impact. All groups viewed the consequences of accepting evolutionary principles in a way that might be considered undesirable: increased selfishness and racism, decreased spirituality, and a decreased sense of purpose and self-determination. From a science education perspective, this one-sided interpretation is troublesome because it runs counter to the available evidence and theories in evolutionary science, and we consider ways of fostering more balanced presentation and appraisal of evolutionary theory. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.