Before Fighting, Know your Enemy: What do we Measure With our Scales of Conspiracism?

To measure conspiracism, researchers have created various scales. Generally, these scales aim to measure the adherence to more or less specific conspiracy beliefs or the presence of a conspiracy mentality among the respondents. The information from the studies carried out in terms of understanding of the conspiracy phenomenon (fundamental research), and their consequences for application (applied research), are totally dependent on the validity of the measures used. In particular, it is essential to have confidence in the validity of these measures if we want to fight effectively against conspiracism. However, it must be said that they are not without criticism.The present contribution identifies some problems associated with the different measures of conspiracism used in our studies, considers the implications of these measurement issues for the results reported in the scientific literature, and proposes concrete solutions leading to research perspectives.