Change Seen in Defining “Cool” Traits in Individuals

A new study conducted by researchers at University of Rochester Medical Center reveals that the definition of “cool” in describing a person has changed over the years. The researchers recruited more than 1,000 volunteers to conducted three separate surveys in which the participants were asked to state whether certain traits were cool or desirable, were asked what they thought defined coolness and were also asked to rate their friends.

The researchers found that the definition of cool has changed from the fundamental traits that had initially defined the concept. The researchers also found that the idea of “coolness” was different in different people and for some, friendly, trendy and attractive was cool while for the others, being aloof was considered to be cool.

“We have a kind of a schizophrenic coolness concept in our mind. Almost any one of us will be cool in some people's eyes, which suggests the idiosyncratic way coolness is evaluated. But some will be judged as cool in many people's eyes, which suggests there is a core valuation to coolness, and today that does not seem to be the historical nature of cool. We suggest there is some transition from the countercultural cool to a generic version of it's good and I like it”, lead researcher Ilan Dar-Nimrod said.


Source-Medindia