I think it's simply human nature. Conspiracy theorists have an overly active part of the brain which 10,000 years ago kept us alive by trying to connect things that were heretofore unrelated. The problem now is these theories become dangerous to society as a whole.

Well governments are pulling in a huge number of immigrants and refugees with 0 democratic mandate. They are partecipating in a number of remote wars for unknown reasons and again 0 democratic mandate. These are facts.
Media and government are spinning and lying on a number of issues since many years and it does not take much to find out. So little wonder people do believe strange stuff when the official version (sometimes a conspiracy theory itself) does not add up

I don't believe that there was a poll, I think the whole article is a conspiracy!

Well, you show aliens in your image. Given the vast number of stars in our galaxy alone, 1. You should be ridiculed for NOT believing in alien life. 2. Given the vast number of ufo's photographed in our skies, the ufo's depicted in pre-human cave art, and the vast number of sightings by pilots, combining that data with item No. 1, one MUST reach the logical conclusion, that beings with vastly more advanced physics than ours, have no trouble whatsoever, in visiting our planet and keeping the human race under long-term observation.

I am curious just how they (whoever "they" are) determined what is a conspiracy? Whether something is trendy and supported by the (largely ignorant) press, or based in fact?
CAGW (as it is being pushed by some) has many learned detractors, and with Prof. Michael (The Dog Ate My Homework!) Mann and his crew as the high priest, seems to me to qualify as a conspiracy itself.

Having a "close encounter" of my own, plus a few other not-so-close, I guess I'm a "fringer." But, I'm also proud of it. I've seen a few things that most people have not seen. By the way, do you know who came up with the term "conspiracy theory?" The CIA.

Climate change as a "hoax" is misleading. The lack of attention to dessert humidification is very telling. Also, the United States is a representative republic, not a pure democracy. This is VERY different. Greece was a pure democracy but with very few voters.

This is a rather silly study, in that such a broad variety of "conspiracy" theories have been lumped together as an opaque continuum, that it negates any type of actual credibility that can be associated with such a study.
Just as an example, the concept of believing that alien life could exist elsewhere in the galaxy and universe is a "conspiracy" theory is laughable, if not bizarre.
If anything, it points to the biases (if not absurd ignorance) inherent with this purported "study".
One could say this study is its own conspiracy brought to fruition . . . but I digress.

Perhaps the greatest triumph in the war on the imperative to think for one's self and question authority has to be convincing the public that terms like 'conspiracy theory' are equivalent to 'outrageously wackadoodle fantasy'. 'Consipiracy' simply means a secret plan by two or more people to do something illegal or harmful. You would have to be a true simpleton to not believe that conspiracies our reality I have been a reality and will continue to be a reality. 'Theory' simply means a contemplative rational explanation for the cause or mechanism of some observed phenomena or occurrence.

@Douglas Bennett Rogers, my strawberry shortcake is quite moist enough, thank you very much! I certainly don't need climate-change scientists doing studies on it! (Altho, I'm sure they'd recommend using far less whipped cream!) ☺☻☺