Acceptance and understanding of biological evolution in a country with low religiousness

The level of acceptance and understanding of biological evolution in less religious countries, such as Japan, has attracted significant attention in evolution education research. This study surveyed first-year university students in Japan using internationally employed inventories to assess their acceptance and understanding of evolution (two surveys using different combinations of scales: MATE and CINS, GAENE and CANS). The results showed a similar level of acceptance of evolution as revealed by surveys in other countries. However, Japanese students, even those who have studied advanced biology in high school, have an extremely limited understanding of evolution compared to students in other countries. The influence of understanding evolution on acceptance of evolution was identified in both surveys; however, the correlation between the two variables was weak.