One-third of Americans reject human evolution

Jessica Durando | USA TODAY

While nearly two-thirds of Americans say humans have evolved over time, a third of U.S. adults disagree, according to new survey results from the Pew Research Center.

The Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project report released Monday found that 33% think "humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time." Sixty percent agreed with evolution.

Among those who agree with human evolution, about half attribute it to "natural processes such as natural selection." Whereas, 24% of adults say "a supreme being guided the evolution of living things."

The survey also found disagreement across political and religious lines.

Among white evangelical Protestants, 64% say that humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. The survey found that half of black Protestants responded the same way. Whereas 78% of white mainline Protestants say that humans and other living things have evolved over time.

Seventy-six percent of the religiously unaffiliated, 68% of white non-Hispanic Catholics and 53% of Hispanic Catholics agreed with evolution.

Republicans are less likely to say humans evolved compared to Democrats or independents, Less than half of conservatives or 43% agreed with evolution compared to 67% of liberals and 65% of independents.

The survey is based on telephone interviews conducted March 21-April 8, 2013, with a national sample of 1,983 adults. The margin of error for the results is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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