Conspiracy Mindset Test (CMT)

The Conspiracy Mindset Test (CMT) is a tool designed to gauge how much you’re drawn to conspiratorial thinking—that itch that says things aren’t what they seem. Drawing from the research of Karen M. Douglas and colleagues (2019), it measures four key dimensions: skepticism (doubting official stories), pattern-seeking (spotting hidden connections), mistrust (suspecting power), and belief strength (how much you buy the theories). Built with a psychological backbone, the CMT shows how deep you’re in the conspiracy rabbit hole.

Douglas’s work, published as “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories” in Current Directions in Psychological Science, unpacked why people latch onto these ideas—think control, uncertainty, or just needing answers. The CMT tests skepticism (rejecting “they say”), pattern-seeking (linking dots others miss), mistrust (eyeing the elites), and belief strength (from “maybe” to “definitely”). Together, they sketch your conspiracy mindset, from mild curiosity to tinfoil-hat territory.

You’ll tackle about 40 items—stuff like “I question what the news tells me” or “I’m sure big events are staged.” Scored 0 to 100, low means you trust the system, high means you’re hunting for the truth. Douglas’s field suggests an average around 35.4—conspiracy leanings are common but vary by personality and context.

Skepticism measures how much you doubt the “official” line. Pattern-seeking tracks your knack for finding meaning in chaos. Mistrust gauges your suspicion of authority. Belief strength shows how sold you are on conspiracy ideas. Results break down by category, revealing your conspiracy DNA.

The CMT doesn’t care if you’re right or wrong; it’s a mirror. It quantifies how much you lean into the shadows and why, nudging you to think about your worldview. Whether you’re a normie, a truther, or somewhere in between, it ties you to the psychology of suspicion.