Believers in common animal ancestor more likely to be inclusive of humans
Belief in human evolution leads to more connectedness with groups different from one’s own, leading to less prejudicial attitudes, researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered. Their work appeared in the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.”
Lead author and Ph.D. candidate Stylianos Syropoulos and Associate Professor of Social Psychology Bernhard Leidner, Ph.D., collaborated with co-first author Uri Lifshin, Ph.D., at Reichman University in Israel and co-authors Jeff Greenberg, Ph.D., and graduate student Dylan Horner at the University of Arizona.
Their findings spanned 19 Eastern European countries, 25 Muslim countries and Israel, spread across eight studies of different regions. They analyzed data from the American General Social Survey, the Pew Research Center and three online crowdsourced samples.
The work took into account education levels, political ideology, religion, cultural identity, and scientific knowledge.
Syropoulos described the concept of ‘moral expansionism,’ envisioned as a series of concentric circles around us, with the closest circles containing entities we care about the most. Circles further out represent entities to which we ascribe decreasing moral worth. Those who believe in a common animal ancestor give greater worth to the outlying circles.
Leidner noted that belief in a common animal ancestor mitigates the tendency to dehumanize groups not in their immediate moral circle, through animistic dehumanization. This can lead to justification of maltreatment or violence against people and animals. Conversely, viewing animals more positively is linked with viewing people more positively, he said.
The researchers surveyed large representative populations from as many countries and religions – Christian Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish — as possible, via online and mobile phone.
Belief in evolution among Christian Orthodox resulted in less prejudice toward different and/or outlying groups such as gypsies, Jews, and Muslims. Not included in the survey results were ultra-orthodox religious group in the Israeli study, which are low- to non-users of the survey technology and are perceived as non-believers in evolution.
Organized religion predates the theory of evolution by thousands of years. Syropoulos noted that as long as a particular sect, denomination or religion acknowledges but does not outright criticize a belief or ostracize people for holding the belief, it can psychologically reinforce mechanisms that are known to lead to prosociality and altruism.
Next steps in the research may include surveying how evolution is taught in the classroom. Leidner said colleagues in other countries are seeking funding for such studies which would require participation of three to five countries.
Syropoulos noted that believers in evolution are more likely to see themselves as similar to animals as extensions of humans, less likely to form societal divisions. Their research determined that in Israel, this led to increased support for peace with Palestinians and greater acceptance of outgroups.
Leidner noted that the social inequality among groups may not be apparent to some. “If I think we’re all the same, maybe I would tend to overlook that there are important differences along the fault lines of group difference, [with] inequalities that should be fixed. … If you don’t detect them, why would you fix them?”
Conversely, he added, depending on a person’s background, upbringing and entrenched values could lead to more acceptance of inequality. “If I think we have evolved from animals and are now human, maybe that heightens [the concept] that other people are less evolved.”
Another future direction may be differentiating between a focus on competition – survival of the fittest – and the focus on a common ancestor. Syropoulos said one path could lead to more aggressive and competitive attitudes and could lead to more prosocial attitudes, as this remains to be seen.
Christina P. O’Neill is a freelance writer and former custom publications editor for The Warren Group, based in Peabody, MA. Prior to that, she served as editor of the Worcester Business Journal, based in Worcester, MA, focusing on health care and finance.