Changing Museum Visitors’ Conceptions of Evolution

Table 9 Intercorrelations between sociocultural, personal, and contextual variables and the closed-ended explanations from the three reasoning patterns

Sociocultural personal and contextual variables	ER evolution term	ER Selection	ER common descent	IR need-based adaptation	IR desire-based change	IR proximate cause	CR intentional design
Religiosity	−0.25*	−0.18	−0.23	0.01	0.00	0.28*	0.32
Compatibility of own religion with evolution	0.34**	0.38**	0.39**	0.22	−0.23	−0.13	−0.39**
Acceptance of evolutionary origins	0.87***	0.57***	0.74***	0.41***	−0.11	−0.40**	−0.52***
Importance of scientists’ studying evolution	0.34**	0.24	0.34**	0.17	−0.31	−0.34**	−0.37**
Importance of self understanding evolution	0.51***	0.37**	0.52***	0.24	−0.28*	−0.43***	−0.56***
Own knowledge of evolution	0.36**	0.24	0.19	0.27*	−0.06	−0.19	−0.28*
Time spent at exhibit	0.24	0.18	0.11	0.11	−0.15	−0.33**	−0.32**
Interest in the organisms in the exhibit	0.51***	0.41***	0.47***	0.23	−0.03	−0.07	−0.30*
Age	0.17	0.14	0.11	0.00	−0.23	−0.21	−0.33**

Pearson’s r was used for interval data comparisons, including summated scale scores; Spearman’s rho was used for ordinal data comparisons
ER evolutionary reasoning, IR intuitive reasoning, CR creationist reasoning
*p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001

ISSN: 1936-6434