“Cool” is one of the most global words in today’s vocabulary. From Santiago to Seoul, people use it to describe those who stand out socially. But what exactly does it mean to be cool? And is it the same as being good? A new article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: These questions were explored through experiments with nearly 6,000 participants in 13 countries.
The findings show that while cool and good people share many positive traits, the two are not identical. Coolness is consistently linked to being extraverted, adventurous, pleasure-seeking, autonomous, open and powerful. Goodness, on the other hand, is tied to warmth, conscientiousness, tradition, calm and conformity.
Who ran the study?
The research was led by Todd Pezzuti at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, with Caleb Warren at the University of Arizona and Jinjie Chen at the University of Georgia. It was supported by Chile´s ANID-FONDECYT and faculty grants in the U.S.
The team preregistered experiments in multiple countries, including India, South Africa and Turkey, ensuring transparency. They also shared full data and code on the Open Science Framework.
What the researchers did
Respondents in countries from Australia to Nigeria were asked to think of a non-famous person they know who is cool, not cool, good, and not good, and then rate their values and personality traits. The study used the Big Five personality traits and Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire to standardize responses across cultures.
This design allowed the researchers to isolate what is uniquely cool versus what is generally positive. While nine attributes overlapped between cool and good, six stood out as distinctly cool: extraversion, hedonism, power, adventurousness, openness and autonomy.
What they found
Across all 13 cultural regions, cool people were consistently rated higher on these six attributes than non-cool people. By contrast, being good was more associated with being calm, conscientious, agreeable, traditional, secure and universalistic.
Importantly, the meaning of cool was remarkably stable across diverse contexts. Whether in Germany, Chile or South Korea, the same six traits defined coolness. This suggests that the concept has crystallized into a global standard rather than being shaped only by local values.
Why it matters
The fact that coolness is distinct from goodness implies it plays a unique social role. Previous work linked coolness to autonomy and rebellion (Warren & Campbell 2014). The new data suggests that coolness may serve as a parallel status hierarchy, rewarding innovation and cultural change in modern “information economies.”
Because people universally admire those who are adventurous, open and autonomous, coolness may help explain how trends spread, from fashion to technology. As the authors put it, coolness functions less as a synonym for “good” and more as a social reward for those who push boundaries.
The bigger picture
Cool became a countercultural term in African American subcultures and jazz clubs (Dinerstein, 2020), later commodified by global brands like Nike and Apple. Today, it remains a powerful label across cultures.
This study shows that coolness has a consistent psychological profile worldwide. By identifying cool as adventurous, powerful and hedonistic, researchers highlight its potential role in shaping global norms and motivating cultural innovation. In an age where status is linked not only to wealth but also to creativity, coolness may be one of the clearest markers of influence.