What makes someone ‘cool’? A new study breaks it down

"Am I cool?" It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves. We've always tried to be part of the cool group, either at school, or college or work. Fitting in has always been important to us. Lucky for us, now we know what makes someone "cool".

There are six key traits that makes someone cool

Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, the study identifies six key traits that define coolness: being extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open-minded, and autonomous.

Interestingly, these traits are distinct from those that make someone “good," which include being conscientious, warm, agreeable, and secure. What cool looks like may differ across cultures, but that does not change everyone's inherent need to fit in. There have also been different words to refer to this attribute such as rad, hip, etc.

So, why do people chase coolness in the first place? It's not just about the benefits they get from being up the social ranks.

It's also about using your rebellion to push for social change

Researchers found that cool individuals are more likely to push boundaries and seek out new experiences. This often leads them to question societal norms and stand out from the crowd. In fact, their autonomy and openness make them natural trendsetters. As the study notes, in today's information-driven society, being cool can carry more influence than being merely good, because ideas, innovation, and aesthetics are valued as social capital.

But it’s not all surface-level. Cool people often use their visibility to lead trends or movements, whether it's in fashion, activism, or culture. Their independence allows them to reject conformity, and in doing so, they often attract attention, admiration, and sometimes even controversy.

Coolness is not just a performance

But when someone strives to be cool at the cost of selflessness, it says something. It says they are reaping societal benefits of coolness over compassion.

For instance, a lot of people see Barack Obama as one of the coolest US Presidents. Why? He not only witnessed major ups and downs during his presidency, but he also stayed calm, collected, and used humour where he could. He is also a family man and a "girl dad".

Consider Marie Curie, a two-time Nobel Prize winner who conducted pioneering work in radioactivity in a male-dominated scientific world. Her brilliance and defiance of gender norms made her the epitome of intellectual cool. She is powerful and independent and open-minded.

Or even, Rosalind Franklin, whose contributions to the discovery of DNA’s structure went under-acknowledged for decades. She wasn’t performatively cool, she was committed to truth and science.

At its best, coolness reflects individuality and confidence. It may seem like a way to rise up the ranks for social approval, but that is not the way to go.

So the next time you ask yourself, “Am I cool?”, maybe consider asking this instead: Do I feel free to be myself and do I make space for others to feel the same?

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