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Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Scientists discover: how to be cool
Are you cool? No? Would you like to be cool? Oh, you don't care about being cool? Whatever. That is something a cool person would say. If you are the type of person the elusive designation of cool has always evaded, then you are in luck, because a team of researchers has just published a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology that delves into what exactly makes someone cool. So you can study it, you big dork. Researchers conducted experiments with 5943 people across six continents — in the US, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, India, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, South Africa, Nigeria and, yes, Australia. These experiments were not, shockingly, playing a shonky rendition of Stairway To Heaven on an air guitar in front of people and then saying: 'So whaddya think of that? Pretty cool huh?' But I guess they had their own methodology. What the study did find is that cool people share six main attributes: extraversion, hedonism, power, adventurousness, openness and autonomy. That would make for a pretty wild remake of Captain Planet. Surprisingly, the definition of cool remained consistent across all those countries. So if you're a dag in Australia then bad news: you're also going to be a dork in Nigeria. Brutal. James Dean was only considered cool when he was smiling. Credit: Bob Thomas / Popperfoto Also interesting: the attributes between coolness and goodness largely overlapped. Basically, good people are cool. Not being a good person? Deeply uncool. Your mum was right yet again. How uncool is that? Participants were also shown photographs of people widely accepted as being 'cool': athletes, models, James Dean. They were shown photos of these people showing no emotion and then photos of these people smiling. And guess what? The pictures of them smiling were deemed cool, whereas the ones where they look, erm, coolly detached, not so cool. All this time we thought being cool was looking blandly disinterested in everything while wearing dark sunglasses. Turns out it's being smiley, friendly, independent, open to new things and a little bit of a loose unit. Big teacher's pet energy here. Which is to say this multi-nation study has concluded pretty much the same thing Huey Lewis and the News told us in four minutes in 1986: it's hip to be square. How cool is that?
Metro
05-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Metro
You need to have these 6 traits to be considered cool
Hiyah Zaidi Published July 4, 2025 3:20pm Link is copied Comments Being considered cool often incorporates traits such as being easy-going, calm, and composed. Or it can be reflecting of your actions, such as being adventurous or a permanent jet setter. Or is it? Scientists have cracked the code, and there are only six personality traits you need to have. So, are you cool? (Picture: Getty) A new international study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, looked at nearly 6,000 people across 13 countries: USA, Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. The study looked at psychology experiments conducted from 2018 to 2022. Each participant had to think of someone they thought were 'cool', 'not cool', 'good', or 'not good', and then rate that person's personality and values. The researchers then analysed how 'cool' people differed from 'uncool' and 'good' people (Picture: Getty) Study co-lead researcher Dr Todd Pezzuti said: 'The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious subcultures, including Black jazz musicians in the 1940s and the beatniks in the 1950s. As society moves faster and puts more value on creativity and change, cool people are more essential than ever' (Picture: Getty) The findings were universal and applied to people across multiple cultures. The researchers found that cool people were universally perceived as being more:• Extroverted• Hedonistic• Powerful• Adventurous• Open• Autonomous But what exactly does having these traits mean? (Picture: Getty) Extroversion ranked the highest, and these people speak up when needed, enjoy the space they're in and have good energy which makes people like them. Hedonism was second, which is where people have a clear idea of how to enjoy their life, and do what feels good to them. Powerful means how they draw people in, and they're up for some adventures in that they are risk-taking. Open is trying new things, and autonomous means in control of themselves, and not feeling the need to ask permission (Picture: Getty) It's interesting to note that being 'good' is not the same as being 'cool'. Those who were considered as 'good' were said to be conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm. So, the researchers say that being 'cool' isn't the same as being 'good' in a moral sense. They hope their findings could help understand the role of 'coolness' in society, and how it establishes social hierarchies and changing social and cultural practices and norms (Picture: Getty) Dr Pezzuti said: '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'. Co-author Dr Caleb Warren said: 'To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people. However, cool people often have other traits that aren't necessarily considered 'good' in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful' (Picture: Getty) Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Wharton professor reveals the most underrated career skill, but research says it takes more than you to master it
In the age of ambition, where résumés sparkle with credentials and LinkedIn feeds overflow with courses completed, Wharton's top-rated professor Adam Grant has dropped a hard truth, and it isn't about learning more, but about listening better. In a now-viral post on X from May, the renowned organizational psychologist wrote: 'The most underrated career skill is the ability to receive tough love. Acquiring knowledge is easy. Obtaining constructive criticism is hard. If you can't handle the truth, people stop telling you the truth.' While most people scramble to gather degrees, certifications, and the latest buzzword-filled competencies, Grant argues that one core skill quietly separates professionals who stagnate from those who soar: the ability to digest, and act upon, negative but well-meaning feedback. — AdamMGrant (@AdamMGrant) When Tough Love Feels Like a Punch This isn't the first time Grant has spotlighted this paradox. On a 2018 episode of his hit podcast WorkLife, he described what happens inside us when feedback hits a nerve. 'Negative feedback sets off alarm bells,' he explained. 'Your mind races. You start to put up shields and mount a counterattack.' This automatic defensiveness is what undermines growth. And Grant's not alone in making this case. You Might Also Like: Bill Gates predicts only three jobs will survive the AI takeover. Here is why Research published by psychologist Naomi Winstone in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that most people remember evaluative feedback about what they've already done, but struggle to engage with directive feedback; the kind that helps improve future work. In other words, we hear the judgment louder than the advice. You Can't Do This Alone But here's the twist: even if you're open to feedback, your workplace has to make it safe, and worthwhile to receive it. Industrial psychologist Lisa Steelman, in findings presented at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, showed that feedback flourishes in environments where support, empathy, and credibility are built into the culture. In workplaces that actively foster psychological safety and mentorship, people improved their performance significantly more than in unsupportive settings. So yes, being feedback-receptive is a superpower, but only if your ecosystem encourages and rewards it. You Might Also Like: AI cannot replace all jobs, says expert: 3 types of careers that could survive the automation era Feedback Is a Team Sport According to a article titled 'Constructive criticism that works' from American Psychological Association, New York University's Jay Van Bavel practices what he preaches in his Social Identity and Morality Lab. He not only shares draft papers with students but invites open critique, flipping the traditional top-down feedback model. This normalization of mutual feedback builds trust, and resilience in receiving hard truths. Wharton's Adam Grant would agree. 'The people who grow the most are the ones who take feedback the best,' he wrote, affirming that our professional development depends not just on being corrected, but on welcoming correction with humility and from environments that make it possible. From Pain to Progress Of course, constructive criticism is never fun. But what if, instead of seeing it as a bruise to our ego, we reframed it as a bridge to better? Grant, a bestselling author whose books like 'Think Again' and 'Give and Take' have become modern leadership manuals, has long preached the value of rethinking of changing your mind when faced with better evidence. And what is feedback, if not a form of evidence? You Might Also Like: Techie takes 9 years to save Rs 1 crore. But his next Rs 1 crore came in just 18 months. Shares lessons In his words, 'If you can't handle the truth, people stop telling you the truth.' Which begs the question: In your career, how many truths have you missed simply because you weren't ready to hear them? Sometimes, the most underrated skill is knowing when to shut up and listen.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Phone silence — with conditions — can enhance learning
The Nebraska Legislature is considering a cell phone ban bill backed by Gov. Jim Pillen. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) Even though it may be late to the party, the Nebraska Legislature is making the right call by advancing a bill banning student cellphone use at school. A number of school districts already curtail students' phone time on campus. If passed, Legislative Bill 140 would require Nebraska's 245 public school districts to get on the 'ban wagon' by adopting policies that would be within the scope of the law while preserving a district's prerogative to shape its own local details. LB 140 was introduced by Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen. Aside from the mind-numbing, time-wasting game of whack-a-mole teachers play patrolling their classrooms for cellphone use, the research about screen time's effect on students' minds and academic performance is clear and emerging. One study published in the 'Journal of Experimental Psychology' also identified cellphones as negatively impacting social development among middle and high school students. In his book 'Stolen Focus,' Johann Hari cites research that indicates today's young people have far less concentration power than previous generations. And, as the title of his book suggests, their focus was 'stolen' from them through a combination of devices, algorithms and marketing. Some of these studies reported that the average college student spends at most about 65 seconds on a task before needing to refocus. Refinding your place or your thought or even your bearings after an interruption — what Hari calls the 'switch cost effect' — can be debilitating. We increase our mistakes, decrease our creativity and poke holes in our mind's ability to retain. He cites studies, which reveal that once our focus is interrupted — via classmate, text message, TikTok video, whatever — we need 23 minutes to reach the level of concentration before the interruption. While LB 140 is rightly aimed at our youngest minds, adults are neither immune nor invulnerable to cell phone disruption. Hari, whose book was highlighted in this space several years ago, said the average office worker's continuous concentration tops out at three minutes, and the average Fortune 500 CEO gets about 28 minutes of uninterrupted focus a day. The data is clear: Banning cellphones in schools has science on its side. Plus, perhaps the art of face-to-face conversation, on life support in many of modern society's precincts, may live to tell the tale. A principal, in one of the state's largest high schools, in its second year of students checking in their cellphones before the first bell and picking them up after school, told me that the strangest thing was happening, especially at lunch. Students were talking to each other. Before we give LB 140 the checkered flag though, let's tap the brakes a little. I love my cellphone with the fervor of a high school student. In my pocket I have a computer, a camera for stills or video, a jukebox, an editing studio, a small theater, a word processor, an interpersonal and professional communications hub, an encyclopedic information retrieval center, a personal valet who can order coffee, find a weather forecast and write a 500-word essay on the symbolism in 'MacBeth,' and, remarkably, answer seemingly any question my life poses. Shutting down such a universally-useful device for hours on end should come with solid rationale and certain conditions. For starters, young people have an innate and perhaps outsized sense of hypocrisy. As we develop policies that reduce phone use in school, the adults who maintain these guidelines would do well to model the same behavior. Leveling up on Candy Crush Saga while you monitor study hall would be a poor play. Let's also remember that many parents get a sense of security knowing their children have phones they can use in case of an emergency. Sadly, we live in a world of active shooters and other distempers with which schools are faced. If LB 140 becomes state law, in addition to determining when and where students can use their phones on campus, districts would do well to have an unambiguous plan that underscores student safety and defines clear lines of communication in emergencies. The bill itself contemplates exceptions for emergencies. I occasionally play 'There oughtta be a law.' Perhaps you do, too. Here's one: A cellphone conversation in a restaurant loud enough for the entire section to hear not only steals my focus, it can ruin a nice meal. And, if that law oughtta be, let's double the fine for using the speaker setting. Too much? Not the Legislature's lane? Sure. But being on the proper side of the fight for our children's focus, concentration and, in a very real sense, their futures, is just right. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
