Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution

Georgios Stylos; Elli Gkaltemi; Theodoros Chatzimitakos; Athanasia Kasouni; Konstantinos T. Kotsis

doi:10.29333/ijese/17806

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Georgios Stylos ¹ ^* , Elli Gkaltemi ¹ , Theodoros Chatzimitakos ¹ , Athanasia Kasouni ¹ , Konstantinos T. Kotsis ¹

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¹ Department of Primary Education, University of Ioannina, GREECE^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to explore the relationship between religiosity and the acceptance of the theory of evolution (ToE) among Greek primary school teachers. A total of 282 in-service primary teachers participated by completing a questionnaire including two scales: the measure of acceptance of the theory of evolution (MATE) and the religiosity scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two distinct constructs: religiosity and acceptance of the ToE. The findings indicate a significant negative correlation between these two variables. Specifically, teachers with higher levels of religiosity tend to demonstrate lower acceptance of evolutionary theory, whereas those with lower religiosity are more inclined to embrace it. Notably, while most teachers (66.31%) exhibited high to very high acceptance of evolution, a substantial minority (33.69%) expressed moderate to very low acceptance, underscoring persistent attitudinal divides. These findings have important implications for science education in Greece, where addressing the influence of teachers’ religious beliefs is crucial to supporting the effective teaching of evolution in the classroom.

Keywords

Greece
MATE scale
primary school teachers
religiosity
theory of evolution

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 22, Issue 1, 2026, Article No: e2608

https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

Publication date: 27 Jan 2026

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How to cite this article

APA

Stylos, G., Gkaltemi, E., Chatzimitakos, T., Kasouni, A., & Kotsis, K. T. (2026). Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 22(1), e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

Vancouver

Stylos G, Gkaltemi E, Chatzimitakos T, Kasouni A, Kotsis KT. Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2026;22(1):e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

AMA

Stylos G, Gkaltemi E, Chatzimitakos T, Kasouni A, Kotsis KT. Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2026;22(1), e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

Chicago

Stylos, Georgios, Elli Gkaltemi, Theodoros Chatzimitakos, Athanasia Kasouni, and Konstantinos T. Kotsis. "Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2026 22 no. 1 (2026): e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

Harvard

Stylos, G., Gkaltemi, E., Chatzimitakos, T., Kasouni, A., and Kotsis, K. T. (2026). Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 22(1), e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806

MLA

Stylos, Georgios et al. "Religiosity and evolution: Exploring Greek primary teachers’ attitudes toward theory of evolution". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 22, no. 1, 2026, e2608. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/17806