The secret to what makes someone cool now has some scientific backing.
A recent study concluded that cool people tend to have the following traits: extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous.
While extroverts need little introductions, the other traits might. For the study, people who are considered hedonistic are people who put pleasure first and enjoy life. An adventurer is someone who takes risks and likes surprises. Someone who is open refers to a person who is creative and open to new ideas. A powerful person has money or is someone who has others under their authority.
Universidad Adolfo Ibanez associate professor of marketing Todd Pezzuti, lead researcher on the study, offered up — like it or not — tech billionaire Elon Musk as someone who hits all six markers.
So, who are New Zealanders that possess the formula that equals cool? I’ve come up with five New Zealanders who hit all six traits, thus making them verifiably cool, according to science. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but a starting point for who makes the cut.
Taika Waititi
It is hard to know what a person is like in private, but by all accounts, the film director, script writer and actor is an extrovert to the max. Creative risk-taking on early projects such as Boy, What We Do in the Shadows and Thor: Ragnarok vaulted him to the upper tier of Hollywood, winning an Oscar as proof. As for hedonism, Waititi is living his best life with his wife, singer Rita Ora. And what is a director who does not love bossing people around on set?
Parris Goebel
Goebel is from South Auckland and is one of the most sought-after choreographers in the world, working with the likes of Rihanna and, most recently, on the viral dance for Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra music video. If her Instagram account is anything to go by (she has a $ for the s in her username), then she is living the good life — working with Beyonce, attending the Formula One or standing in front of a van in some lush furry coat. Like directing, the essence of a choreographer is telling people what to do and embracing the new.
Steven Adams
Rotorua-born NBA player Steven Adams no doubt has presence at a towering 211cm (6ft 11in), helping him secure a $US39 million ($NZ65m) deal with the Houston Rockets this year. That is some nice money to live a good life, although a lot of photos on his Instagram account are of his dog, a Belgian malinois, which he describes as a small German shepherd, so not exactly a designer dog. In 2024, he finished second in team-mate of the year voting, with superstar Steph Curry in the first spot, so let’s assume a bunch of really tall guys listen when Adams speaks.
Te Aorere Pewhairangi
The social media star and te reo Māori and tikanga consultant has some influence. He learned his te reo Māori through a full-immersion school. It landed him the prized gig of te reo commentator for the All Blacks during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. When he is not filming hilarious social media content with former boxer Mike Tyson in Las Vegas, he is knee deep in community advocacy and adventure. Case in point was his 12-day walk in 2023 along State Highway35 to raise funds and awareness for the Gisborne region after it was devastated a month earlier by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Lorde
While we are in Lorde overload right now following a months-long build-up to her new album, Virgin — it reached No 1 on the UK and US charts — it would be ignorant not to mention her in this list. After all, David Bowie called her "the future of music". She breaks barriers with her art, and Virgin shows her openness to new sounds and new ideas such as using psychedelic drugs as therapy. Attending the Met Gala in New York in a custom Thom Browne design gets you instant hedonistic status.
Honorary mentions
Tayi Tibble: The poet was crowned an "It Girl" by the New York Times in 2024.
Winston Peters: The well-groomed politician had an adventurous start to his working life as a tunneler on a hydro-electric construction project in Australia. Arguably, he hits all the markers of being cool, according to the research.
Jujulips: The South African-born, Auckland-raised hip-hop artist is also on her way to becoming a style icon.
Peter Thiel: One of the original tech bros, the American billionaire is a mirror of Elon Musk (they were key figures in forming PayPal), and Thiel got his New Zealand citizenship in 2011.
Anna Mowbray: The entrepreneur moved to China to work on the toy company ZURU with her brothers. The wealth generated from that venture resulted in a recent and very hedonistic — and controversial — application to have a helipad built on her inner-city Auckland property.
Dai Henwood: The comedian and New Zealand household name has made us laugh and cry for decades, even while in the midst of treatment for stage 4 cancer.
The checklist
Recent research showed cool people tend to have the following traits.—
• Extroverted.
• Hedonistic.
• Powerful.
• Adventurous.
• Open.
• Autonomous.
