Transcription
So, a recent study looked at what it means to be cool across different cultures. And it turns out being cool is something very specific and very universal. And it's also not the same thing as being a good person.
Before I go into what the study found, what makes somebody cool, I'd like for you to think about the coolest person you know. And if you feel comfortable, share in the comments, what are the traits that you think makes that person cool? And then once I share the findings of the study, we'll see if it maps out. Let's get into it. Cool people.
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Now look, I can already predict what some of you might be thinking and already typing away in my comment section. Why should I care what it means to be cool? Coolness is overrated. And I do agree that being perceived as cool is not everything. You don't need to feel cool in order to feel good about yourself. But the reality is that cool people are admired more by others. There's a halo effect to being perceived as cool. And being seen as cool has been found to impact access to resources, social inclusion, and well-being. So, in other words, being perceived as cool might help you get that dream job or find your dream partner or find your tribe of people. So whether we like it or not, coolness does matter. And if you don't care about being cool, then why'd you click on this video? On some level, maybe you do care. It's okay to admit that.
Now, the word cool originally was meant to imply sort of a temperature metaphor. Somebody who isn't easily heated, who keeps a level head when stakes are high. And back in the '90s, research found that coolness was strongly defined through emotion restraint because cool people were thought to demonstrate self-control, ease under pressure, and mastery. It goes along with what I once read about how teens who are popular tend to express less emotions. So, while knowing how to properly express emotions might help kids make friends when they're smaller, once they become adolescents, that can actually work against them. And somebody who is sort of upfront about how they feel with other people might be seen as less cool by their peers. But these days, for adults at least, hiding your emotions may no longer be a prerequisite for coolness.
So, what did the study find that coolness actually is? So the study had two research questions. Number one, which traits distinguish people seen as cool from those simply seen as good? And number two, do traits associated with cool people vary across cultures? And they sampled nearly 6,000 participants across 13 countries. There were a couple of really important findings. The first one was that cool and good are distinct words, though there is some overlap. Cool people, they found tend to be quite extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. While good people were conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.
So, let's start with cool people. Extroverted and people who derive a sense of energy from interacting with other people. Sadly, this does not surprise me as an introvert. I've known for quite some time that people who are extroverted find it easier to make friends and are more readily perceived as cool. Hedonistic means somebody who chases pleasure. For example, the person who asks to pop open a bottle of wine with dinner, they might be perceived as cooler. Powerful is somebody who has control over their life or maybe other people or maybe even the system in which they operate. For example, a CEO who's charmed their way to the top of the social ladder might be perceived as cooler as uh the new intern who's kind of bottom of the food chain. Adventures, pretty self-explanatory. Somebody who's always down to do something exciting. Open. I couldn't really find how the researchers defined open in the study. It could be referring to openness to new experiences, one of the big five traits, which means that somebody is sort of always down for experiencing new things and new ideas. Editing Anna here, I looked a little bit deeper and it looks like they are referring to openness to new experiences here. An autonomous is somebody who's independent, self-sufficient. For example, somebody who's always traveling on their own might be perceived as cool compared to somebody who struggles to even book their own train ticket.
So, like I mentioned, people associate different things with coolness versus goodness. But before I go deeper into what makes somebody a good person, I want to quickly tell you about today's sponsor, Zukdoc. Zukdoc is a completely free app and website designed to help you find high-quality in-network providers. Have you been putting off going to the doctor lately? If so, I'm willing to bet it was either because you didn't want to pick up the phone and talk to someone or you were worried that your doctor wouldn't pick up the phone. You don't think they'll have an appointment time anytime soon, you're not sure which doctors take your insurance, or you don't even know where to start. ZDOC solves all of these problems for you. With a database of over a 100,000 providers in a wide range of specialties, you can pick the one you want and instantly book an appointment. You can tailor what kind of healthcare provider you're looking for, make sure they take your insurance, and even see reviews, which can be helpful. ZDOC is free, so all you have to do is create an account and pick a provider. Then you just get to book the type of appointment you're looking for, whether it's primary care, dentist, optometrist, dermatologist, so on and so forth. So, stop procrastinating. If you've been putting off going to the doctor, do this today. Click the link in my video description to easily book local top-rated doctors who can see you quickly.
Now, back to that study. What are the traits of a good person? So, those are kind of the characteristics of cool people. And then good people, like I said, they tend to be conforming. They don't really rock the boat. Like, they might not break the law, for example. They tend to be traditional. They tend to have respect for societal values. Like maybe if it's expected society that they look after their kids, then that's what they do. They look after their kids. They tend to be secure. And this one again, I really couldn't understand how was defined in the paper. I wasn't sure if they were referring to like attachment security where a person feels sort of safe in their relationships or if it was referring to something else like maybe being reliable. I looked a little deeper into this and it actually looks like secure is referring to security as in like safety. So things like it is important to this person to live in secure surroundings. This person avoids anything that might endanger their safety. It's important to this person that their country be safe from threats. They're concerned that social order be protected. So, a little bit different from what I initially thought. Good people also tend to be warm. They tend to show goodwill towards others, like being kind, you know, making other people feel like, "Hey, I like you as a person." They tend to be agreeable, meaning they're easy to get along with. They're not antagonistic. They don't get into a lot of fights, for example. Universalistic means they view themselves as part of the collective. They consider the well-being of not just themselves, but the group as a whole. Conscientious means that they are hardworking, they're dependable, they're sort of internally driven to do the things that are expected of them. And calm is pretty self-explanatory. And ironically, this sounds a little bit more like the original definition of cool. Somebody who's not easily frazzled or frustrated, who's pretty emotionally regulated. The characteristic of being capable was common to both cool and good people. But as you can see, being cool and being good are two quite different prototypes.
So, did the cool person that you thought of that you mentioned in the comment section, did they fit the definition of cool that was found in the study? Here's an important caveat, though. How a person expresses these traits influences whether they come off as cool. So, if you take it too far, these traits seem to be cool. For example, it might be cool if someone's hedonistic in the sense that they're jet setting and popping champagne more than the average person. But if they're excessively partying every night, you know, blacking out, getting arrested, people might just perceive that as addiction, not coolness. Also, if you try too hard to be cool, ironically, you risk coming off as uncool. So, your takeaway from the study should not be to try to force being cool, to try to force yourself to belong to these characteristics if that's not authentic to who you are. Ironically, it might be cooler of you to just be sort of comfortable with who you are as a person than to try to pretend you're somebody that you're not.
Now, I imagine there's a second important finding of the study, and that is that there is a universal definition of coolness across cultures. The meaning of cool has kind of crystallized all over the globe. Contrary to what the researchers predicted, the definitions of coolness were not culture-bound. Um, for example, a culture being collectivistic versus individualistic didn't impact the definition of being cool. And this shows that cultures have more in common than was than was previously assumed. But also, anytime something seems sort of universal to humans across culture, you've got to wonder if there's a biological or evolutionary underpinning to that thing. And so, the implications of this research finding are interesting. The researchers proposed a theory which is that coolness may have emerged and spread as an alternative status hierarchy that promotes creativity and innovation. This is why, for example, brands that are cool are ones that tend to shake up industries. They're innovative. They bring something new and original to the field. This also means that not everyone has to be cool, but cool people do have a really important role in society. They can sometimes shake up tradition and bring in something new that the group could benefit from. And this was really interesting. The researchers proposed that maybe coolness could harness a sense of cross-cultural unity and maybe even promote pro-social behavior. For example, if we all can agree that it's not cool to start a war, then maybe we'll stop electing leaders who start wars. It's an interesting thought.
What are your thoughts on the study or on coolness as a whole? Do you see yourself as cool, good, or both, or neither? Pop it down in the comments, and I'll see you soon.
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