Cool people are similar all over the world

Santiago de Chile. Those who are considered cool in their own environment can hope to be considered cool in other countries and cultures as well. Extroverted, adventurous, independent: According to a study, these characteristics, among others, are considered "cool" not only in Germany, the USA, and Australia, but also in China, South Korea, and India.

The team led by Todd Pezzuti from the University of Santiago de Chile surveyed nearly 6,000 people from twelve countries about what coolness means to them. Participants came from the USA, Australia, Chile, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.

Despite the major cultural differences between these countries, respondents considered the same characteristics – including extroversion, hedonism, power, adventurousness, openness and independence – to be cool, as the researchers report in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

The team had previously assumed that cultural differences could influence what people find cool – that is, that people in Asia or Latin America are less tolerant of breaking the rules and therefore evaluate some personality traits associated with coolness differently.

In the experiment, respondents were asked to think of someone they found cool, but also someone they didn't find cool. They were also asked to think of someone they considered a good person – and someone they didn't consider a good person. They were then asked about the personality traits they attributed to these people.

Are cool people also good people? Not necessarily. The researchers found that there is quite a large overlap in the personality traits attributed to both groups.

Good people are perceived as warm-hearted, calm, pleasant, or even conscientious, explained co-author Caleb Warren of the University of Arizona. "To be considered cool, you usually have to be likeable or admirable, which makes you comparable to good people." However, cool people often also have other characteristics that aren't necessarily considered "good" in the moral sense, such as hedonism and power.

The authors point out that their method has limitations: Since the participants were predominantly surveyed online, the findings are not necessarily transferable to rural areas with poor internet access, for example.

Why is coolness relevant at all? The researchers put forward a hypothesis: The results suggest that in modern, creativity-dependent societies, coolness is a kind of social reward that creates incentives for cultural change.

"If coolness is a status accorded to those who inspire and facilitate cultural change, then perhaps we should not be surprised that cool people from San Francisco and Santiago to Sydney and Seoul exhibit characteristics and values ​​[...] that make them more likely to challenge conventions, innovate, and inspire others to change," the team writes.

RND/dpa