Overview

• The study surveyed nearly 6,000 adults across 13 countries and confirmed extroversion, hedonism, power, adventurousness, openness and autonomy as the universal markers of cool.
• Comparative analysis found that traits of coolness diverge from moral ‘goodness’ profiles, which emphasize agreeableness, tradition, security and conscientiousness.
• Researchers demonstrated that perceptions of cool are formed almost instantaneously through observable traits rather than moral judgments.
• The research excluded participants unfamiliar with the concept of cool, underscoring a limitation in its cross-cultural scope.
• Experts have called for follow-up studies to explore ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ coolness and to assess how perceptions emerge in cultures outside mainstream media influence.