Gut Feelings Play Roll in Evolution Acceptance

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Most people, especially those in a scientific community, like to weigh the facts before siding with a theory – except when it comes to evolution, according to a recent study.

Ohio State University researchers found that gut feelings seem to trump authoritative evidences when it comes to making decisions about creationism and evolution.

"The whole idea behind acceptance of evolution has been the assumption that if people understood it – if they really knew it – they would see the logic and accept it," David Haury, co-author and associate professor of education at Ohio State University, said in a news release .

The study, which was published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching , looked at 124 teachers in Korea. Researchers asked the participants a number of questions measuring their reception of evolution, level of knowledge of evolution and their intuitive feelings about these ideas. Other factors, including level of education and religion, were also considered.

Apparently, researchers found that participants' knowledge didn't impact their feelings on evolution nearly as much as one would assume. Haury and his team called these findings "intuitive cognitions."

"What we found is that intuitive cognition has a significant impact on what people end up accepting, no matter how much they know," Haury said in a new release.

The findings also show that it might not be accurate to view science and religion as opposing viewpoints when thinking about evolution. The study suggested that educators consider this in lessons on evolution and allow students to be conscious of their brains' dual processing. Knowing that sometimes what's in their "gut" is in conflict with what's in their "head" may help students judge ideas on their own values, according to reports .