Aha Bitcoin

Psychological Traits of Crypto Owners (Study)

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Cryptocurrency Ownership Correlations

I. Key Themes and Ideas

  • Growth and Risk of Cryptocurrency:Cryptocurrency is an increasingly popular, unregulated form of digital currency, "not produced, controlled, or supported by any central bank or government entity."
  • It's known for its "unregulated trading and anonymous transactions," contributing to market volatility, fraud, and failures.
  • Despite these risks, many people invest, viewing it as a way to make quick money.
  • Governments are concerned about its potential to "bankrupt individuals and disrupt worldwide financial markets" and its links to crime.
  • Distrust and Anti-Establishment Attitudes:The development of cryptocurrency stemmed from "a strong distrust for mainstream, traditional currencies and financial institutions."
  • This distrust extends to other institutions and authorities, linking it to "conspiracy thinking, low levels of analytic and scientific reasoning, anti-science attitudes, the 'need for chaos,' and nonmainstream political orientations."
  • Diverse Political Landscape of Crypto Owners:Crypto investors display a heterogeneous collection of ideologies, not easily categorized on a simple left-right spectrum.
  • There is evidence of libertarian, populist, anarchist, alt-right, and even far-right/white supremacist attitudes among crypto investors. "some scholars have noted streaks of libertarianism [28], populism [27], and anarchism [29] among investors. However, other studies have reported evidence of alt-right attitudes, far-right extremism, and white supremacist views."
  • Psychological Profile of Crypto Owners:Crypto investors are more likely to experience negative emotions like anxiety, depression, impulsivity, and stress.
  • They also exhibit higher levels of "nonnormative and 'dark' personality traits," such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism.
  • Information Environment and Media Use:Cryptocurrency ownership is "strongly associated with getting news about current events, public issues, and politics from alternative social media sources"
  • They are more likely to use platforms like Telegram, Reddit, Truth Social, and blogs, compared to mainstream news.

    • II. Key Findings

    • Prevalence: 29.79% of respondents reported having owned cryptocurrency at some point.
    • Demographics: Crypto owners are significantly younger (Mage = 38.38) and more likely to be male. They are also somewhat more educated, have higher incomes, and are more religious.
    • "Respondents who own or have owned cryptocurrency were significantly younger (Mage = 38.38, SDage = 12.94) than those who have not (Mage = 52.86, SDage = 18.84)"
    • "cryptocurrency owners are largely male (r =-.24, p<.001)"
    • Conspiracism & Thinking:
    • Crypto ownership is associated with a greater belief in conspiracy theories, “more strongly associated with greater self-reported generalized pattern perception (r = .30, p < .001), higher levels of a conspiratorial thinking style (r = .23, p<.001), and belief in a greater number of conspiracy theories (r = .33, p<.001)."
    • They are more likely to have an intolerance of uncertainty and a desire for simple solutions to problems.

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