The New Science of Cool – Do You Believe it?
A generation ago cool was typified by characters that were rebellious, tough, emotionally controlled and thrill seeking. Individualistic and counter cultural – the James Dean type. Not so today, at least according to research done by the University of Rochester Medical Center. The results, published as Cool: An Empirical Investigation in the Journal of Individual Differences, include:
“A significant number of participants used adjectives that focused on positive, socially desirable traits, such as friendly, competent, trendy and attractive.”
Cool is warm, friendly, competent, trendy and attractive. That’s a big change. The research was extensive (1000 participants) but focused on the Vancouver British Columbia area.
Feeling cool is a unique and often highly valued mental state. So understanding people’s mental model for cool is important for any (cognitive) designer that aspires to create such feelings through their works. The Rochester study challenges the stereotype for cool. While I am not ready to adopt the model the study suggest, it does signal there could be generational differences in what counts as cool.
