Surveying University Students’ Recognition of “Preservation of Species and Race”

Abstract

The “species benefit fallacy” or “group selection fallacy” claims that selection operates at a higher level than the individual, i.e., at the level of the group or species. Accordingly, individuals engaging in reproductive behaviors that preserve their species are selected for. However, current research in evolutionary biology does not support this idea, and instead suggests that individuals behave optimally to transmit their own genes to the next generation. Recent educational research has implied that even university students retain the misconception that organisms reproduce to preserve their own species. Thus, this study used a questionnaire to determine whether students at universities harbor this misunderstanding (five universities, n = 629). Two major findings were made. First, more than half of the students surveyed had the above misconception. Second, neither having taken biology class in high schools nor evolutionary biology class in universities affected the degree of their misconception. A higher number of students who had completed at least one biology course in high school or university claimed to know “kin selection” and “altruistic behavior” well. To correct their misconception, teachers should aim to improve teaching methods in biology classes that address these concepts.