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. 2023 Aug 9:14:1128575.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1128575. eCollection 2023.

The moral foundations of cryptocurrency: evidence from Twitter and survey research

Sachin Banker  1 , Joowon Park  1 , Eugene Y Chan  2
Affiliations

The moral foundations of cryptocurrency: evidence from Twitter and survey research

Sachin Banker et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Despite its relatively brief history, cryptocurrency has already had a profound impact on the economy, with some predicting that it will eventually replace traditional fiat currencies. Historically, it had dark associations with illegal activities in the early days, although perceptions and associations likely have, in recent years, changed for the better. Thus, understanding how people perceive the morality of cryptocurrency currently forms the motivation of the current research. We, in particular, examine associations dependent on political ideology. Across both a large-scale analysis of Twitter posts (N = 959,393) and controlled survey research (N = 487), we find that cryptocurrency is currently best understood as being more strongly linked to conservative vs. liberal moral foundations. Cryptocurrency-related posts were more likely to express conservative moral foundations (Authority, Purity, and Loyalty) rather than liberal moral foundations (Fairness and Care), and individual endorsement of these conservative moral foundations was associated with increased interest in crypto investment.

Keywords: conservatism; cryptocurrency; liberalism; moral foundations; political ideology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The extent to which bitcoin tweets (N = 959,393) represented each dimension of moral foundation measured using semantic similarity score. Y-axis displays average semantic similarity with each moral foundation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Relationships between moral foundations and interest in cryptocurrency investment. Y-axis displays parameter estimates from regression analysis with demographic controls. Positive parameters reflect greater interest in cryptocurrency investment. Blue bars indicate significant relationship. (B) Relationships between moral foundations and attitudes toward cryptocurrency. Y-axis displays parameter estimates from regression analysis with demographic controls. Positive parameters reflect positive relationship. Blue bars indicate significance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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