The Earth and anatomically modern humans were created by God less than 10,000 years ago, four in 10 Americans believe, according to a new Gallup poll.
About half of Americans believe humans evolved over millions of years, with most of those people saying that God guided the process, Live Science reported.
A young Earth creationist view, claiming that life was created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, is more likely to be believed by religious, less educated, and older respondents, according to the poll.
Although the percentage of people who believe humans evolved without God has more than doubled, the percentage of people who believe in creationism has changed little over the decades.
A decrease has occurred in the percentage of people who believe in God-guided evolution.
Supernatural beliefs are consistently held at high levels by Americans, Live Science reported.
With three-quarters believing in the virgin birth of Jesus, about 80 percent of Americans believe in miracles, according to a 2013 Pew survey.
"At the same time, while most Americans have a healthy respect for science, many could use a refresher course in the basics," according to Live Science. "For instance, a 2014 National Science Foundation study found that only three out of four Americans know that the Earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa, and a large percentage didn't know the Earth's core was hot. Large percentages didn't know that the father's sperm determines a baby's sex."
A random sample of 1,028 landline and cellphone users were called up as part of the Values and Beliefs Survey, questioning which of three descriptions most closely matched their beliefs.
"That humans have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process; that humans have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process; or that God created human beings pretty much in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years or so," Live Science reported.
While 31 percent said God guided the evolutionary process, about 42 percent supported the creationist view. Only 19 percent adopted the view that evolution operated without any involvement from God.
