What makes people cool? Scientists tracked down the traits

Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic – something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define.

A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Caleb Warren of the University of Arizona argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems.

Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of personality traits when describing a cool person.

The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool people tend to become catalysts of social change.

Mapping cool across 12 nations

Between 2018 and 2022, the research team collected online responses from adults in the United States, Australia, Chile, mainland China, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.

Participants first confirmed that they understood the slang meaning of the word “cool,” then spent a few minutes imagining someone who embodied one of four labels: cool, uncool, good, or not good.

Afterward, volunteers evaluated that imagined person on a battery of personality dimensions drawn from psychology’s “Big Five” model and Schwartz’s theory of universal values.

Because all responses came from internet users in relatively urban settings, the sample leans toward technologically connected citizens.

Still, it is one of the most culturally diverse datasets ever assembled to study reputational judgments. The result is a uniquely global snapshot of how people assign social prestige.

Where cool and good part ways

When the investigators compared ratings, they found considerable overlap: both cool and good people scored high on likability. Yet important divergences emerged.

In all the places they studied, people consistently perceived cool individuals as more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous.

Good people, by contrast, ranked as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.

Cool people aren’t always “good”

In Pezzuti’s view, the cool profile evokes a kind of charismatic boundary-pusher: energetic, novelty seeking, and unapologetically self-directed.

That explains why cool individuals can inspire fashion trends or launch creative movements – roles that sometimes require bending social rules rather than following them.

“To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people,” said Warren. “However, cool people often have other traits that aren’t necessarily considered ‘good’ in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.”

The cool persona therefore straddles acceptance and transgression: admired enough to influence peers, rebellious enough to feel fresh.

Cool traits go global

In the mid-20th century, “cool” circulated in small countercultures – from Black jazz clubs to Beatnik cafés. Over the decades, fashion labels, record companies and Hollywood studios harnessed the aura of cool, broadcasting certain looks and attitudes to a worldwide audience.

The new study suggests that process may have standardized the meaning of the term. Even participants who live 10,000 miles apart now recognize the same signature traits. As the authors note, the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of traits and values around the world.

Pezzuti does not see commercialization as a death knell. “Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don’t think it has lost its edge. It’s just become more functional,” he said.

“The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, 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.”

Why coolness matters

Because cool people display power and autonomy while earning admiration, the researchers argue that coolness helps establish informal hierarchies. Instead of relying solely on wealth or institutional authority, communities also elevate figures who embody daring and originality.

These individuals, in turn, shape cultural norms by modeling alternative ways to dress, speak, or live. As Pezzuti puts it, “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.”

That dual role – both aspirational and disruptive – makes the cool persona uniquely influential. Marketers know this instinctively when they cast charismatic musicians in sneaker ads. Activists harness it when they infuse protest art with edgy style.

The study provides empirical backing for those intuitions: people from Lagos to Los Angeles consistently associate coolness with adventurous independence.

Coolness in the digital age

The team notes their study excludes rural and offline groups, whose ideas of cool may differ significantly. They also restricted the study to cultures already familiar with the English slang term, potentially narrowing linguistic nuance.

Future projects could test whether the six-trait profile – extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous – holds in additional societies or emerges in other languages.

Researchers are likewise curious about how social media platforms, which accelerate the spread of trends, might further synchronize or fragment global standards of cool. Does TikTok broaden identity through niche subcultures or reinforce the six-trait mold by favoring charismatic risk-takers?

For now, the evidence is striking: when people across five continents imagine someone undeniably cool, they picture remarkably similar qualities.

Coolness, it turns out, may be one of the few cross-cultural constants – an unwritten code that transcends borders even as it keeps pushing boundaries.

The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

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