If you’ve always wondered what it takes to be a badass: a new study reveals the strict criteria.
After surveying more than 2,000 people, researchers in the US have officially improved the dictionary definition of the term.
A badass has an “outer toughness” (consisting of physical strength, a “formidable presence”, or both), an inner toughness (such as moral resilience and courage), or both.
Therefore, according to the experts, ‘radically’ different men and women – ranging from peace activists to fierce fighters – can be considered badasses.
Famous badasses include Genghis Khan (1162 to 1227 AD), the brutal founder of the Mongol Empire who was responsible for the deaths of about 40 million people, they say.
Khan was a prolific lover and fathered hundreds of children in his territory, and some scientists believe that sixteen million of his male descendants are alive today.
Other badasses include American former boxer Mike Tyson, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.
For example, Mandela, described by the researchers as ‘arguably quite tough’, showed great courage during his life, while Tyson is physically strong or even scary.
American former professional boxer Mike Tyson (pictured) may seem physically strong or terrifying, the study claims – but these are just a few of the qualities that make a badass
Genghis Khan (1162 to 1227 AD) was the brutal founder of the Mongol Empire, responsible for the deaths of approximately 40 million people
The research was conducted by Breanna K. Nguyen, a cognitive scientist at Yale University, and Michael Prinzing, a psychologist at Baylor University.
“Radically different types of people, ranging from peaceful advocates to fierce fighters, can all be considered badasses,” they say in their paper.
‘The current work explored how people think about what it means to be a badass, offering insight into what would otherwise seem like a very confusing concept.’
Many different people have been described as badasses, the team says, including Genghis Khan, Mike Tyson, Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, as well as Navy SEALs.
Combined with the dictionary definitions of the term, we are led to believe that a badass is someone who is bad, mean, or scary, but also good, impressive, or admirable.
For example, Cambridge Dictionary defines a badass as ‘a bad or mildly frightening person’ but also as ‘someone or something you admire or find impressive’.
However, Genghis Khan meets the first part of that definition and not the second, while Malala Yousafzai, on the other hand, does not meet the first part but does meet the second.
In an effort to provide a better definition, researchers conducted a series of four experiments with a total of 2,020 adults from a mix of ages and racial backgrounds.
This word cloud shows adjectives used by participants to describe “badassness.” The word size corresponds to the relative frequency of the word
Nelson Mandela, described by the researchers as “arguably quite tough,” wrote that courage “is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”
The researchers wondered what really makes someone bad as they presented scenarios with fictional characters to assess perceived levels of ‘badassness’.
Adjectives commonly described as badass include “unafraid,” “tough,” “true,” “good,” “confident,” “brave,” “willing,” “independent,” “positive,” and ” skilled’.
The team also found that when people decide whether someone is tough or not, they take into account not only ‘superficial’ outer toughness, but also inner toughness.
Badassness in a superficial sense is realized through “outer” toughness – such as having a large stature and rugged appearance or physical strength, while badassness in a deeper sense is realized through “inner” toughness, such as courage, resilience, or strength of character.
Other inner qualities considered badass include resisting social pressure, doing the right thing morally, and taking on difficult challenges.
People who are not considered badass in a superficial sense – meaning they appear thin or weak on the outside – can still “embody the deeper essence of badass” by having these traits.
Overall, a badass can have these outer or inner qualities – which explains how people as different as Genghis Khan and Malala Yousafzai can both be badasses – but the greatest badasses of them all can have both.
“While a warrior like Genghis is a paradigm of outward toughness, Malala is a paradigm of this more abstract, inner toughness,” the duo say in their paper.
Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai is a young woman known for her moral beliefs and advocacy for women’s education
The first sense in which someone can be tough may have to do with being physically strong and frightening (e.g. Navy SEALs, photo)
The researchers say the term “badass” may have started with one meaning, but over time expanded to a much broader meaning.
“The original meaning may therefore be very negative, but the broader meaning may also include certain positive qualities,” they conclude.
This new approach to assessing what makes a badass could be used in the future to assess other social groups, such as hippies and nerds.
“For example, we might associate the concept of a hippie with certain concrete characteristics (long hair, tie-dye clothing, 1960s music festivals), but you might think that this concept also touches on something deeper,” the team adds .
The new study has been published as a pre-print paper on PsyArXiv, meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed.