“Impulsive psychopaths” are drawn to Bitcoin and other crypto

Since the invention of Bitcoin in 2009, the global cryptocurrency market has grown from nothing to a value of around $2 trillion. From a price of USD 1 in 2011, Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of more than USD 63,000 in April 2021, and is now hovering around USD 42,000.

Large fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices are common, making them a highly speculative investment. What kind of people are willing to take the risk, and what motivates them?

We have conducted a survey to find out. In particular, we wanted to know about the relationship between the so-called “dark tetrad” personality traits and attitudes towards cryptocurrency.

The Dark Tetrad

In psychology, the “dark tetrad” refers to a group of four personality traits. These are Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy (together known as the “dark triad”), plus sadism.

They are called “dark” because of their “evil” qualities: extreme selfishness and exploitation of others without empathy. The dark tetrad is also often related to risk-taking behaviour.

The appeal of cryptocurrency

We identified two main areas of appeal. First, the high risk and high potential returns of crypto trading make it attractive to the type of people who enjoy gambling.

Second, cryptocurrencies are not issued or backed by governments like traditional or “fiat” currencies. This makes them attractive to people who distrust the government.

What are the personalities of crypto buyers?

We asked 566 people to complete online personality surveys as well as answer questions about their attitudes towards crypto and whether they planned to invest in it. Of our participants, 26% reported owning crypto and 64% expressed interest in crypto investing.

We measured their dark tetrad traits using standard psychological tests. We also measured traits that may link the dark tetrad to judgments about crypto: fear of missing out (FOMO; the feeling that others are experiencing better things than you), positivity (the tendency to be positive or optimistic about life) and faith in conspiracy theories.

Why do people want to buy crypto? It’s not just about making money

A common reason for investing in crypto is the hope of earning high returns. Beyond the desire to build wealth, our research shows that dark personality traits also drive crypto purchases.

Machiavellianism is named after the Italian political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli. People who rate this trait highly are good at deception and interpersonal manipulation.

Machiavellians take a calculated approach to achieving goals, avoiding impulsive decisions. They are less likely to engage in problem aging.

Machiavellians also tend to strongly believe in government conspiracies. For example, they often believe that politicians usually do not reveal their true motives and that government agencies closely monitor all citizens.

We found Machiavellians like crypto primarily because they distrust politicians and government agencies. Many crypto supporters believe governments are corrupt, and crypto avoids government corruption.

Courage and positivity

Narcissism is a self-centered personality trait, characterized by feelings of privilege and superiority over others. Narcissists are overconfident and are more willing to do things like make risky investments in the stock market and gamble.

Narcissists tend to focus on the positive side of life. We found that narcissists like crypto because of their great faith in the future and because of their confidence that their own lives will improve.

Impulsive psychopaths like crypto

Psychopathy is a callous, impulsive, antisocial personality trait. Psychopathic people often find it difficult to perceive, understand or address emotions due to a lack of emotional intelligence and empathy.

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The reckless nature of psychopaths makes them more resistant to stress and anxiety. As a result, psychopaths enjoy stimulation seeking and risk taking. They are prone to gambling and gambling addiction.

We found that impulsive psychopaths like crypto because they fear missing out on investment rewards that others experience.

How is sadism involved?

Everyday sadism relates to a personality that enjoys the suffering of another. Sadists often show aggression and cruel behavior. For example, sadists troll others on the Internet for pleasure.

At first glance, buying crypto is unlikely to harm others. However, we found sadists like crypto because they don’t want to miss out on investment rewards either. For them, perhaps both the joy of seeing other people’s pain and the fear of missing out are selfishness.

Unlike narcissists, we found that both psychopaths and sadists lacked positivity in their prospects, canceling out their liking of crypto.

A psychological lens

Studying cryptocurrency through the psychological lens of the dark tetrad provides insight into why people want to buy crypto. We are not suggesting that everyone interested in crypto exhibits dark tetrad traits.

We only studied a subset of people interested in crypto who have these characteristics. If you happen to be a Bitcoin or other crypto holder, you may or may not show them.

If you want to know how to score for dark tetrad traits, you can take the Dark Triad Personality Test and the Sadism Test online.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.