Accepting and understanding evolution in Italy: A case study from a selected public attending a Darwin Day celebration

Abstract

Background: Public acceptance and understanding of evolution is among the most investigated themes within studies of science and society. In the past decades, scientists and educators have explored acceptance and understanding of the Darwinian theories across a variety of publics, in order to identify possible causal explanations and barriers that make evolution so difficult to be grasped. Indeed, there are both socio-cultural and intuitive reasoning factors which have been widely investigated especially in the USA, a country that shows a widespread resistance. More recently data for Europe, Africa and the Middle East have been published, showing significant differences explained mainly by socio-cultural, religious and political factors. In this respect, the Italian society is still under-investigated. This paper presents and discusses the outcomes of a public survey performed during a Darwin Day celebration in Rome (Italy, February 2013). Methods: A written questionnaire was submitted to all the participants with the aim of testing attitudes and level of knowledge about evolution among an interested and informed public (N = 124). Results: The results show that acceptance of evolution is not an issue in such a selected sector of the lay public, although difficulties emerge in the comprehension of some basic principles. Conclusions: Overall, younger people perform better than respondents older than 65 years, reflecting how science education in Italy has progressed in the latest decades.