Were You Born to Be Cool?

Why do some people turn heads when they walk into a room while others blend into the background? Why is Olympic fencing a dangerously hot sport to watch while racewalking barely gets a gasp from the crowd? Why was Sean Connery an objectively cooler Bond than David Niven? 

A massive study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology has finally cracked the code. Researchers surveyed nearly 6,000 people across 12 countries and discovered that coolness is universal. Whether you're in Seoul, Santiago or San Francisco, the traits that make someone “cool” remain remarkably consistent.

But here's where it gets interesting—these traits paint a complex picture that challenges everything we thought we knew about being both “cool” and “good.”

The Big Five Behind the Cool Factor

The research team, led by psychology professors Todd Pezzuti and Caleb Warren, asked nearly 6,000 participants to think of specific people they considered cool, not cool, good, or not good.

They were then asked to rate each person’s personality using the Big Five personality system and a values questionnaire.

What emerged was fascinating. While there's some overlap between being cool and being good, they are fundamentally different constructs. “Good” people were consistently associated with being conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable and conscientious. We seem to admire the Big Five traits of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, so if you score highly in these areas, you likely code as “good.”

“Cool” people had much more daring trait associations. Six attributes—extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous—stood out as the defining psychological fingerprints of cool people, regardless of age, gender or culture. Five of these are personality traits (power being the odd one out), and they fall into the bucket of traits associated with the Big Five super-traits of Extraversion and Openness.

Extraversion: The Energy That Commands Attention

The first trait that emerged in cool-coded people was Extraversion—but not the simple party-animal stereotype you might expect. 

Extraversion in the Big Five personality system encompasses the sub-traits of energy, assertiveness, sociability and enthusiasm. A person high in these traits is charismatic, and has a genuine engagement that makes others feel energized by their presence. They draw people in and bond with them, and their cool factor is compelling precisely because it doesn't feel threatening. 

What’s interesting is that Introverts can also code as cool if they appear to have this connected social presence—Elon Musk’s name surfaced in several responses. Musk is an INTP and an Enneagram 5, so he’s clearly an Introvert. And yet, he was perceived to be Extaverted due to his charismatic presence on podcasts and in the media. 

Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure, has significant positive correlations with Extraversion a—Extraverted individuals are more inclined to seek social stimulation and immediate gratification, which aligns with hedonic moves. The research suggests that we're drawn to people who live life to the full, even when we know it might not be the “right" thing to do. Legendary hellraisers Janis Joplin, Keith Richards and Amy Winehouse show up as cool, because they embody a freedom many of us secretly envy, even if we wouldn't choose that lifestyle ourselves.

Open to Experience: Embracing the Unknown

Cool people consistently show a preference for novelty and risk-taking. They gravitate towards the daring and are curious for new experiences, rather than seeking comfort and security. This is Openness in action, and it goes hand-in-hand with adventurousness—the urge to try the bizarre street food or pitch the wild idea about colonizing Mars.

High Openness manifests in several key ways that contribute to coolness. Besides adventurousness, cool people typically show imagination, aesthetics (an appreciation for art and beauty), intellectual curiosity and progressivism (the willingness to challenge traditional norms). They're the people who ask “What if?” when others say “That's just how things are.”

Billie Eilish stands out as a modern example. This lady blends pop, electronic, alternative and hip-hop to create a genre-defying sound, and her nonconformist fashion has made her a cultural icon. She oozes cool. 

An entirely different type of ‘cool’ is the sort that doesn’t announce itself at all. Take Mr Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein. You wouldn’t look twice at his rumpled clothes or wild hair if you passed him on the street, and most of his days were spent scribbling on chalkboards, not holding court at parties. But there was something electrifying about the way he tackled the mysteries nobody else dared to touch. That instinct to poke at the edges of understanding, to see if the universe could bend in new ways—that’s Openness turned up to eleven, and it might just be the most subversive version of cool there is.

What do Einstein and Eilish have in common—and Musk too for that matter? It’s autonomy, one of the six attributes the researchers linked with cool. Cool people chart their own paths and embody the spirit of innovators. They might be rebellious—and we’ve already talked about the coolness of hedonism—but mostly, they’re not looking to be destructive, but to create something better.

The research shows that autonomy was the most consistent predictor of coolness across cultures, with one notable exception: Nigeria. It’s not clear why Nigeria bucked the trend, though we suspect that in community-oriented cultures, individual autonomy might be viewed differently to how we see it in the west.

The Risks of Being Cool

Everyone wants to be cool—or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool—but the pursuit of coolness comes with risks. Some of the traits associated with coolness, particularly hedonism and adventurousness when it’s reckless risk-taking, can create long-term problems. Studies of teenagers show that those who achieve “cool” status through risk-taking and acting older than their age (partying, dating, etc.) often run into addiction problems as adults.

This creates a paradox for personal development: the traits that make us cool in the short term might undermine our well-being in the long run. And as our world becomes increasingly connected and fast-paced, there’s a risk these traits become amplified and glorified as the coolest people become the loudest examples to imitate. 

So, if you were born to be cool, know that it’s a double-edged sword. There’s a fine line between being a trendsetter, a visionary, an influencer and the person who becomes so hedonistic, adventurous and open that you fall off the rails. You can’t curb your charisma, but you can bring it into balance through your boring but “good” traits.