These Are the 6 Universal Traits of Coolness

What makes someone cool? Not just admired or respected—but genuinely, universally cool? A new international study says the answer holds steady from New York to Nigeria: six personality traits consistently define what we see as cool, and being a “good” person isn’t really one of them.

The research, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, analyzed how nearly 6,000 people across 13 countries rated people in their lives as cool or not. The scientists weren’t looking for fame or popularity. They asked participants to rate non-famous people they actually knew—friends, coworkers, acquaintances. That’s how they landed on a set of traits that seem to cut through culture, language, and tradition.

Extraversion ranks first. Cool people are the ones who speak up, take space, and bring energy with them. Hedonism comes next—not recklessness, just a clear drive to enjoy life and chase what feels good.

This is What Makes Someone Cool

They’re seen as powerful in a way that draws people in. Confident, unshakable, able to shift the vibe in a room without trying. Add some risk-taking, a hunger for new ideas, and the kind of autonomy that ignores permission, and you’ve got the traits that make you very cool. Across cultures, they still register as the mark of someone who stands apart.

“Everyone wants to be cool, or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool,” said co-lead researcher Todd Pezzuti of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. “And society needs cool people because they challenge norms, inspire change, and advance culture.”

Interestingly, the traits that define someone as “good”, like warmth, tradition, agreeableness, conscientiousness, don’t always overlap. That’s why the sweetest person you know might not be seen as cool. And why someone messy but magnetic can still own the label.

“There’s a difference between being admirable and being cool,” said co-author Caleb Warren from the University of Arizona. “Coolness captures something more rebellious and unconventional.”

The researchers believe our definition of cool has evolved alongside culture. As society began to value creativity over conformity, coolness shifted from a niche subculture to a global symbol of influence.

Cool has gone from subculture to shared signal. It still points to the people pushing boundaries instead of following them.