Most people know "cool" when we see it, but actually defining coolness is a bit trickier. New research from Caleb Warren, professor in the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management, explores the psychology of cool and sheds some light on how people across cultures define cool.

Warren and his co-authors – Todd Pezzuti with Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile and Jinjie Chen with the University of Georgia – surveyed more than 5,000 people in 12 countries. Each participant was asked to evaluate non-famous people that they considered cool, not cool, good or not good and rate them on 15 values and personality traits such as extroversion, autonomy, warmth and conscientiousness.

Around the world, cool is cool

Across the 12 countries spanning a wide range of cultures, people described "cool" in surprisingly similar ways. Across the globe, people consistently identified coolness with six traits: extroversion, hedonism, power, adventurousness, openness and autonomy.

"We expected to see some cultural differences," Warren said. "There were some minor variations, but overall, people across the globe associated coolness with the same traits. That consistency surprised us a bit."

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The team gathered responses from participants in countries including Australia, Chile, China, Germany, India, Nigeria, South Korea and the United States.

Is it cool to be good?

The research found that, while there's some overlap, cool and good are distinct. Cool people were more likely to be described as extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous. Good people, on the other hand, were more often described as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious and calm.

The study appears in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

"Coolness and goodness are related, but they're not the same thing," Warren said. "Your grandma might be a really good person, but that doesn't necessarily make her cool. That distinction matters because it helps explain why we admire different people for different reasons."

Only one attribute – being capable – was seen equally as cool and good.

Why it matters

Warren's interest in the topic began when he was a marketing student trying to answer the fundamental question: Why do people buy things? He found that the answer, often, was that they think it's cool.

"It's much harder to directly make your product or your company seem cool than it is to associate your brand with a cool person," Warren explained. "So this can help if an organization is looking to find someone who embodies these attributes to be the public face of the brand."

Warren said the implications reach beyond marketing.

"The research helps address important questions," Warren said. "How does the pursuit of cool affect our politics and the way we interact with each other? How does it impact the way we change cultural norms? To understand these things, we need to understand how people and things become cool."

Authenticity is key

If you want to be cool, authenticity matters. Previous research Warren has conducted shows that trying to be cool usually doesn't work and can cause someone to lose status in the eyes of others.

"With wealth, people tend to respect it more if they believe someone worked hard to earn it," Warren said. "Coolness works differently. If people think you're trying to be cool, you lose credibility. That's because coolness is about autonomy, originality and being unconcerned with fitting in."