From Lagos to Cape City, Santiago to Seoul, folks wish to be cool. “Cool” is a phrase we hear all over the place – in music, in vogue, on social media. We use it to explain sure forms of folks.
However what precisely makes somebody cool? Is it nearly being common or fashionable? Or is there one thing deeper occurring?
In a latest examine I carried out with different advertising and marketing professors, we got down to reply a easy however surprisingly unexplored query. What are the character traits and values that make somebody appear cool – and do they differ throughout cultures?
We requested practically 6,000 folks from 12 nations to think about somebody they personally knew who was “cool”, “not cool”, “good”, or “not good”. Then we requested them to explain that particular person’s traits and values utilizing validated psychological measures. We used this knowledge to look at how coolness differs from basic likeability or morality.
The nations ranged from Australia to Turkey, the US to Germany, India to China, Nigeria to South Africa.
Our knowledge confirmed that coolness is uniquely related to the identical six traits around the globe: cool folks are usually extroverted, hedonistic, adventurous, open, highly effective, and autonomous.
These findings assist settle a protracted debate about what it means to be cool right this moment.
A quick historical past of cool
Early writing on coolness described it as emotional restraint: being calm, composed and unbothered. This view, rooted within the metaphor of temperature and emotion, noticed coolness as an indication of self-control and mastery.
A few of these students hint this type of cool to slavery and segregationthe place emotional restraint was a survival technique amongst enslaved Africans and their descendants, symbolising autonomy and dignity within the face of oppression. Others suggest “cool” restraint existed lengthy earlier than slavery.
Regardless, jazz musicians within the Nineteen Forties first helped popularise this cool persona – relaxed, emotionally contained, and classy – a picture later embraced by youth and numerous countercultures. Companies like Nike, Apple and MTV commercialised cool, turning a countercultural angle right into a extra commercially pleasant international aesthetic.
That is what makes somebody cool
Our findings counsel that the that means of cool has modified. It is a option to determine and label folks with a particular psychological profile.
Cool individuals are outgoing and social (extroverted). They search pleasure and pleasure (hedonistic). They take dangers and check out new issues (adventurous). They’re curious and open to new experiences (open). They’ve affect or charisma (highly effective). And maybe most of all, they do issues their very own approach (autonomous).
This discovering held remarkably regular throughout nations. Whether or not you are within the US, South Korea, Spain or South Africa, folks are inclined to suppose that cool people have this similar “cool profile”.
We additionally discovered that though coolness overlaps with being good or beneficial, being cool and being good should not the identical. Being type, calm, conventional, safe and conscientious have been extra related to being good than cool. Some “cool” traits weren’t essentially good in any respect, like extroversion and hedonism.
What about South Africa and Nigeria?
One of the crucial fascinating features of our examine was seeing how constant the that means of coolness was throughout cultures – even in nations with very completely different traditions and values.
In South Africa, contributors considered cool folks as extroverted, hedonistic, highly effective, adventurous, open and autonomous – similar to contributors from Europe to Asia. In South Africa, nevertheless, coolness is very distinct from being good. South Africa is among the nations wherein being hedonistic, highly effective, adventurous and autonomous was way more cool than good.
Learn extra: Which African nations are flourishing? Scientists have a brand new approach of measuring well-being
Nigeria was the one nation wherein cool and uncool folks have been equally autonomous. So principally, individuality wasn’t seen as cool. That distinction would possibly replicate cultural values that place a better emphasis on neighborhood, respect for elders, or collective identification. In locations the place custom and hierarchy matter, doing your personal factor may not be cool.
Social sciences, like all science, nevertheless, should not good. So, it is affordable to invest that autonomy would possibly nonetheless be cool in Nigeria, with the discrepancy ensuing from methodological points corresponding to how the Nigerian contributors interpreted and responded to the survey.
Nigeria was additionally distinctive as a result of the excellence between cool and good wasn’t as notable as in different nations. So coolness was seen extra as goodness than within the different nations.
Why does this matter?
The truth that so many cultures agree on what makes somebody cool means that “coolness” might serve a shared social perform. The traits that make folks cool might make them extra prone to attempt new issues, innovate new kinds and fashions, and affect others. These people usually push boundaries and introduce new concepts – in vogue, artwork, politics, or expertise. They encourage others and assist form what’s seen as trendy, fascinating, or forward-thinking.
Join free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the newest in African information delivered straight to your inbox
Success!
Nearly completed…
We have to verify your electronic mail handle.
To finish the method, please comply with the directions within the electronic mail we simply despatched you.
Error!
There was an issue processing your submission. Please attempt once more later.
Coolness, on this sense, would possibly perform as a type of cultural standing marker – a reward for being daring, open-minded and revolutionary. It is not nearly floor type. It is about signalling that you just’re forward of the curve, and that others ought to concentrate.
So what can we study from this?
For one, younger folks in South Africa, Nigeria, and around the globe might have extra in widespread than we regularly suppose. Regardless of huge cultural variations, they have a tendency to admire the identical traits. That opens up fascinating potentialities for cross-cultural communication, collaboration and affect.
Second, if we wish to join with or encourage others – whether or not by way of training, branding, or management – it helps to know what folks see as cool. Coolness is probably not a common advantage, however it’s a common foreign money.
And eventually, there’s one thing reassuring in all this: coolness isn’t about being well-known or wealthy. It is about how you reside. Are you curious? Brave? True to your self? In that case, likelihood is somebody on the market thinks you are cool – irrespective of the place you are from.
ToddtiesAffiliate Professor, Enterprise Faculty, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
