Conspiracy theorists may not truly buy into their far-fetched ideas

Many people who respond to surveys and say they believe in conspiracy theories probably don’t actually believe they’re true, meaning attempts to gauge the prevalence of these beliefs may be skewed.

Such surveys are a primary way of gauging the prevalence of conspiracy theories, but they rarely ask respondents whether their answers are sincere. Robert Ross Researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, surveyed 1,044 adults nationwide through market research company YouGov.