A recent study conducted at The Queensland University of Technology has revealed that the average crypto investor has psychopathic tendencies with little regard for those around them.
Researchers surveyed 556 participants who identified as crypto investors and found that they showed signs of ‘dark tetrad’. The psychological term refers to someone who displays narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism.
Dr Di Wang, the lead researcher of the study and senior lecturer at the university, told 10 News that digital currency fanatics share numerous concerning personality traits, making it easier for them to exploit people.
He said: ‘Dark tetrad traits are ‘dark’ because of their ‘evil’ qualities: Extreme selfishness and taking advantage of others without empathy.’
‘The dark tetrad are also often related to risk-taking behaviours. To them, perhaps both the pleasure from seeing another’s pain and the fear of missing out are related to selfishness.’
Dr Wang also highlighted two main reasons why cryptocurrency attracts users, the first being the ‘appeal’ of high-risk rewards.
In an article jointly published by Dr Wang, Dr Brett Martin and Dr Jun Yao they wrote: ‘We identified two main areas of appeal. First, the high risks and high potential returns of crypto trading make it attractive to the kind of people who like gambling.’
They stated the second reason as being that crypto is not monitored by traditional lawmakers, attracting many ‘dark tetrad’ personalities as they are more likely to distrust the government.
A different study published last year in Personality and Individual Differences revealed that those who have a ‘dark tetrad’ personality are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.
Cameron Kay, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Oregon said people who display such antisocial behaviours believe that they don’t have control, which has led to scepticism against the establishment.
He explained: “In plain terms, it seems like disagreeable people, who score high in these traits, are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.
‘They are prone to odd beliefs. They don’t feel like they are in control of their lives. They are robbed of their agency and have an innate distrust of other people and organisations like the government.’
Kay also added his research intended to uncover why people believe in conspiracies while helping combat the spread of misinformation.
‘The long-term goal is to come up with ways to decrease conspiracist ideation among people with these personality traits,’ he said.
