Psychologists now know exactly what makes someone cool. Turns out, the definitions are universal

Fast Company

02-07-2025

The definition of ' cool ' would seem to be an ephemeral thing. (We're not talking temperature here. We're talking James Dean, Serena Williams, and Arthur Fonzarelli cool.) What inspires one to admire another would ostensibly vary from person to person.
That didn't stop a global group of scientists from looking into what it means to be cool, though. And what they found was ' cool ' is a lot more universal than you might expect.
'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,' said co-lead researcher Todd Pezzuti, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, in a statement.
The peer-reviewed study, which was published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology, included experiments with roughly 6,000 participants from around the world between 2018 and 2022. Participants were asked to think of someone who they thought was cool, not cool, good, or not good, then rate the personality and values of those people.
Cool is universal in more ways than you might expect. For example, the study found that even in countries with languages based on non-Latin alphabets, such as South Korea and Turkey, 'people use the word cool, often pronouncing it similarly to how it is pronounced in English.'
Cool people are likable but not always good
Not surprisingly, there was some crossover between who participants thought of as a good person and a cool person. But despite the overlap in some traits, the two aren't the same, researchers found.
'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.'
That could explain why antiheroes, especially in films and TV shows, are so often seen as cool.
There is a risk of homogenization of coolness, though, as music, films, and fashion become global products. When Taylor Swift and the Avengers become properties that dominate conversations and pop culture—not only in the United States, but in virtually every other country—pre-existing definitions of what it means to be cool can also become more fixed.
Indeed, the perception of coolness, researchers wrote, 'is [now] stable across countries, which suggests that the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of values and traits around the globe.'
That said, being cool hasn't lost its coolness. It has simply progressed.
'Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don't think it has lost its edge. It's just become more functional,' Pezzuti said. 'The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, including among 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.'
What makes someone cool?
The study found that being cool largely comes down to six traits.
Perhaps most obviously, cool people are more extraverted than uncool people. They're also powerful, hedonistic, adventurous, open, and autonomous.
There are limits, of course. Take musicians, a group that produces plenty of cool people, as an example.
'A rock band seemed more cool when it displayed moderate levels of autonomy (e.g., not trying to write songs that everyone likes) than extreme autonomy (e.g., not caring at all what others think about their music),' the study reads. 'The same likely applies to the other cool attributes. For example, a hedonistic person who parties all night, abuses drugs, and has reckless sex will likely strike most people as being irresponsible rather than cool.'
Good people, the study found, have many of those same qualities, but other personality traits were ranked more highly by the subjects.
'Being calm, conscientious, universalistic, agreeable, warm, secure, traditional, and conforming are more associated with good than with cool people,' the study reads. 'Being capable is both cool and good, but not distinctly either.'