Researchers determine the six attributes that make somebody cool — do you have them?

New York Post

01-07-2025

Researchers have scientifically defined coolness.
The idea of coolness might seem subjective, but international researchers have revealed that there is a nearly-universal consensus on what it means to be hip.
'The meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of values and traits around the globe,' the researchers wrote in the too-cool-for-school study, which was published in the Journal Of Experimental Psychology.
According to their research, 'cool' people are generally perceived as more extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous.
'To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people,' said co-lead researcher Caleb Warren, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Arizona. 'However, cool people often have other traits that aren't necessarily considered 'good' in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.'
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Why is coolness defined so similarly across cultures that differ so drastically in seemingly every other aspect of life?
The study's co-lead researcher Todd Pezzuti, of the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, explained, 'Everyone wants to be cool, or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool, and society needs cool people because they challenge norms, inspire change, and advance culture.'
To determine what it means to be hip, researchers conducted experiments on 6,000 international participants between 2018 and 2022. Respondents hailed from the United States, Australia, Chile, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
Participants were asked to think of people who were cool, not cool, good or not good and then rate the subjects' personalities and values.
Daniel Craig as James Bond in 'No Time To Die' (2021).
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Researchers used this data to analyze the differences between cool people, uncool people and good people.
They found that 'good' people were seen as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious and calm.
Meanwhile, 'cool' people boasted the aforementioned mixed bag of both 'good' and ethically-questionable traits.
'To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people,' said co-lead researcher Caleb Warren, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Arizona. 'However, cool people often have other traits that aren't necessarily considered 'good' in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.'
One is reminded of James Bonds and other simultaneously 'selfish' and 'selfless' action heroes.
In fact, the article suggested that the increasingly international reach of movies and music transformed 'coolness' from a niche characteristic into a 'commercially-friendly' set of traits that transcends cultures — in other words, it's now square to be hip.
But does coolness' mainstream appeal mean that it's, well, no longer cool? Pezzuti doesn't think so.
'Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don't think it has lost its edge. It's just become more functional,' he explained. 'The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, including Black jazz musicians in the 1940s and the beatniks in the 1950s (yes, these countercultural pioneers were cool before it was cool).'
He added, 'As society moves faster and puts more value on creativity and change, cool people are more essential than ever.'