Toxic positivity or positive toxicity is dysfunctional emotional management without the full acknowledgment of negative emotions, particularly anger and sadness. Socially, it is the act of dismissing another person's negative emotions by suggesting a positive emotion instead. [1]
Toxic positivity is a "pressure to stay upbeat no matter how dire one's circumstance is", which may prevent emotional coping by feeling otherwise natural emotions. [2] Toxic positivity happens when people believe that negative thoughts about anything should be avoided. Even in response to events which normally would evoke sadness, such as loss or hardships, positivity is encouraged as a means to cope, but tends to overlook and dismiss true expression. [3]
The concept of unrealistic optimism was explored by psychologists at least since 1980, and the term toxic positivity first appeared in J. Halberstam's 2011 The Queer Art of Failure with "...to poke holes in the toxic positivity of contemporary life". [4]
In one sense, toxic positivity is a construct in psychology about how to handle emotions that is built upon the assumption that positive and negative emotions should match the appropriate situation. [3] This is viewed as healthy psychologically. However, toxic positivity is criticized for its requirement to feel positive all the time, even when reality is negative. [3] According to Dr. Jamie Zuckerman, “The inherent problem with this concept is that we assume that if a person is not in a positive mood (or whatever we think a positive person should look or act like), then they are somehow wrong, bad, or inadequate. The problem is that, when we invalidate someone else’s emotional state – or in this case, when we tell someone that feeling sad, angry, or any emotion that we consider ‘negative’ is bad - we end up eliciting secondary emotions inside of them like shame, guilt, and embarrassment.” [5]
The concept of unrealistic optimism was explored by psychologists at least since 1980, and the term toxic positivity first appeared in J. Halberstam's 2011 The Queer Art of Failure with "...to poke holes in the toxic positivity of contemporary life". [4]
In her 2022 book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole , author Susan Cain describes "tyranny of positivity" or "toxic positivity" as a cultural directive that says, "Whatever you do, don't tell the truth of what it's like to be alive". [6]
Cain said that, historically and especially in the nineteenth century, [7] boom-and-bust cycles led not only to reverence for successful businessmen, but also to attributing lack of success not to external circumstance but to a failure of character, [8] a form of victim blaming. Cain documents this perceived failure of character as being reflected in the evolving definition of the term "loser". [8] The result is a culture with a "positivity mandate"—an imperative to act "unfailingly cheerful and positive, ... like a winner". [8]
Positivity is generally seen as a good and helpful attitude for most situations, because it reflects optimism and gratitude and it can help lighten moods. [9] Healthy positivity differs from toxic positivity in the way that is acknowledges negative emotions of sadness, anger and jealousy. It pushes for growth and learning through setbacks and conflicts. On the other hand, toxic positivity arises from an unrealistic expectation of having perfectly happy lives all the time. When this does not happen, people "can feel shame or guilt" by being unable to attain the perfection desired. [10] Accordingly, positivity becomes toxic when a person rejects negative feelings even when they are appropriate. [9] [11] It is believed that one must be happy in all types of situations, ignoring other emotions. As a result of denying these feelings, it can often lead to further unhappiness in the long run.
People with a constant requirement for positive experiences may be inadvertently stigmatizing their own negative emotions, such as depression, or suppressing natural emotional responses, such as sadness, regret, or stress. [3] Accepting negative emotions can make a person happier and healthier overall. [11] [9] Some authors, such as Kimberley Harrington, see toxic positivity as a form of personal emotional gaslighting. [3] Harrington believes that it is fine to be "sad when you're sad and angry when you're angry" and to fully feel one's "rainbow of feelings". [3]
Uncontrollable and controllable situations are important determinants of positivity. If the situation is controllable, artificially positive thinking can thwart a person's ability to fix the negative situation. [9] Another determinant is the person's attitude toward happiness which may prevent an optimal response to the inevitable negative experiences that life brings. [11] Positivity becomes toxic with the inability to examine and fix past mistakes. [12] To gloss over inevitable mistakes with exaggerated confidence is unhelpful because it prevents learning from mistakes. [12]
Toxic positivity can make one hang onto an unhappy marriage, but research shows that unhappily married couples are 3–25 times more at risk for developing clinical depression. [13] [14] [15]
Critics of positive psychology have suggested that too much importance is placed on "upbeat thinking, while shunting challenging and difficult experiences to the side". [16] [17] [18] Finally, by not allowing negative emotions, toxic positivity may result in physical consequences, such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease. [19] [20] [21]
The concept of "tragic optimism",[ further explanation needed ] a phrase coined by the existential-humanistic psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, has been suggested as an antidote. [22]
Social media such as LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook may exacerbate the problem as it often emphasizes positive experiences and discourages coping with the inevitable downsides. [23] A study on "Toxic positivity on social media: The drawbacks and benefits of sharing positive (but potentially platitudinous) messages online" found that the display of positivity online can be "beneficial to message senders only if message senders have higher (vs. lower) self-esteem or if they experience less (vs. more) toxicity". [24] The effect of the display of positivity on the message sender can be deemed as negative if the messages suppress the negative aspects of the perceived reality. Social media is a platform for individuals to post whatever content or media they desire. In some cases, one may project a positive outlook on social media to avoid reality. Such excessive signs of toxic positivity can eventually lead to an identity shift toward the "process of self-transformation that is the result of intentional self-presentation in a mediated context". [25] Social media platforms are an easy way to compare one another, putting additional pressure on individuals to or stay positive. This can create divergent viewpoints and conflicting perceptions of reality. [26]
A study on "Gender differences in levels of toxic positivity in adolescents: a quantitative study" showed a significant difference between male and female adolescents. Surveys and interviews indicated that adolescent girls typically showed lower levels of toxic positivity in comparison to adolescent boys. These results indicate that adolescent females are likely to be better at acknowledging and expressing their negative emotions than adolescent males. [27]
This claim is further backed by another study carried out by Laura Campbell-Sills, David H. Barlow, Timothy A. Brown, and Stefan G. Hofmann: “Acceptability and Suppression of Negative Emotion in Anxiety and Mood Disorders”. In this study, 60 participants with anxiety and mood disorders and 30 control participants watched an emotion-provoking film. They self-reported their measures, and the clinical participants deemed their emotions a “less acceptable” and therefore suppressed their emotions. The study showed that there was a notable difference between female and male participants. Males in the control group reported more suppression than females in the same group, although both males and females in the clinical group reported suppression to the same degree. [28]
The concept of the American Dream is closely associated with toxic positivity. In the 1920s, when the United States experienced economic expansion, many believed that perseverance would produce happiness, and that money buys happiness. As a result, the feeling of unhappiness was seen as a personal shortcoming. Therefore, negative emotions were ignored and denied. Many were living in a society that mandates the appearance of happiness. [29]
Feelings are subjective self-contained phenomenal experiences. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; and feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations, thoughts, or images evoking them". The term feeling is closely related to, but not the same as, emotion. Feeling may for instance refer to the conscious subjective experience of emotions. The study of subjective experiences is called phenomenology. Psychotherapy generally involves a therapist helping a client understand, articulate, and learn to effectively regulate the client's own feelings, and ultimately to take responsibility for the client's experience of the world. Feelings are sometimes held to be characteristic of embodied consciousness.
In psychology, a mood is an affective state. In contrast to emotions or feelings, moods are less specific, less intense and less likely to be provoked or instantiated by a particular stimulus or event. Moods are typically described as having either a positive or negative valence. In other words, people usually talk about being in a good mood or a bad mood. There are many different factors that influence mood, and these can lead to positive or negative effects on mood.
Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."
A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning, or be disruptive. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as part of a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, where erratic and disruptive mood swings are a defining feature.
Affect, in psychology, refers to the underlying experience of feeling, emotion, attachment, or mood. In psychology, "affect" refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. It encompasses a wide range of emotional states and can be positive or negative. Affect is a fundamental aspect of human experience and plays a central role in many psychological theories and studies. It can be understood as a combination of three components: emotion, mood, and affectivity. In psychology, the term "affect" is often used interchangeably with several related terms and concepts, though each term may have slightly different nuances. These terms encompass: emotion, feeling, mood, emotional state, sentiment, affective state, emotional response, affective reactivity, disposition. Researchers and psychologists may employ specific terms based on their focus and the context of their work.
Mood congruence is the consistency between a person's emotional state with the broader situations and circumstances being experienced by the persons at that time. By contrast, mood incongruence occurs when the individual's reactions or emotional state appear to be in conflict with the situation. In the context of psychosis, hallucinations and delusions may be considered mood congruent or incongruent.
Emotionality is the observable behavioral and physiological component of emotion. It is a measure of a person's emotional reactivity to a stimulus. Most of these responses can be observed by other people, while some emotional responses can only be observed by the person experiencing them. Observable responses to emotion do not have a single meaning. A smile can be used to express happiness or anxiety, while a frown can communicate sadness or anger. Emotionality is often used by experimental psychology researchers to operationalize emotion in research studies.
Meta-emotion is "an organized and structured set of emotions and cognitions about the emotions, both one's own emotions and the emotions of others". This broad definition of meta-emotion sparked psychologists' interest in the topic, particularly regarding parental meta-emotion philosophy.
Affect displays are the verbal and non-verbal displays of affect (emotion). These displays can be through facial expressions, gestures and body language, volume and tone of voice, laughing, crying, etc. Affect displays can be altered or faked so one may appear one way, when they feel another. Affect can be conscious or non-conscious and can be discreet or obvious. The display of positive emotions, such as smiling, laughing, etc., is termed "positive affect", while the displays of more negative emotions, such as crying and tense gestures, is respectively termed "negative affect".
Emotional self-regulation or emotion regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed. It can also be defined as extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions. Emotional self-regulation belongs to the broader set of emotion regulation processes, which includes both the regulation of one's own feelings and the regulation of other people's feelings.
Positive affectivity (PA) is a human characteristic that describes how much people experience positive affects ; and as a consequence how they interact with others and with their surroundings.
Negative affectivity (NA), or negative affect, is a personality variable that involves the experience of negative emotions and poor self-concept. Negative affectivity subsumes a variety of negative emotions, including anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness. Low negative affectivity is characterized by frequent states of calmness and serenity, along with states of confidence, activeness, and great enthusiasm.
Affect measures are used in the study of human affect, and refer to measures obtained from self-report studies asking participants to quantify their current feelings or average feelings over a longer period of time. Even though some affect measures contain variations that allow assessment of basic predispositions to experience a certain emotion, tests for such stable traits are usually considered to be personality tests.
Emotions in the workplace play a large role in how an entire organization communicates within itself and to the outside world. "Events at work have real emotional impact on participants. The consequences of emotional states in the workplace, both behaviors and attitudes, have substantial significance for individuals, groups, and society". "Positive emotions in the workplace help employees obtain favorable outcomes including achievement, job enrichment and higher quality social context". "Negative emotions, such as fear, anger, stress, hostility, sadness, and guilt, however increase the predictability of workplace deviance,", and how the outside world views the organization.
Meta-mood is a term used by psychologists to refer to an individual's awareness of their emotions. The term was first utilized by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey who believed the experience of mood involved "direct" and "indirect" components. While the direct level refers to the simple appearance of mood - happiness, fear, anger, sadness, and surprise, the indirect level, or the meta-mood experience, does not solely consist of the emotions experienced by an individual in the moment. Rather, it is a reflective state which involves additional thoughts and feelings about the mood itself. "I shouldn’t feel this way" or "I am thinking of ways to improve my mood" are examples of reflective thoughts during a meta-mood experience.
Research into music and emotion seeks to understand the psychological relationship between human affect and music. The field, a branch of music psychology, covers numerous areas of study, including the nature of emotional reactions to music, how characteristics of the listener may determine which emotions are felt, and which components of a musical composition or performance may elicit certain reactions.
Subjective well-being (SWB) is a self-reported measure of well-being, typically obtained by questionnaire.
Mood repair strategies offer techniques that an individual can use to shift their mood from general sadness or clinical depression to a state of greater contentment or happiness. A mood repair strategy is a cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal psychological tool used to affect the mood regulation of an individual. Various mood repair strategies are most commonly used in cognitive therapy. They are commonly assigned as homework by therapists in order to help positively impact individuals who are experiencing dysphoria or depression. However, these tools can also be used for individuals experiencing temporary unwanted moods. Many factors go into the effectiveness of mood repair strategies on an individual ranging from the client's self-esteem to their experience with the strategy being used. Even the way the mood repair strategy is presented may have an effect on that strategy's ability to improve mood.
Emotions in virtual communication are expressed and understood in a variety of different ways from those in face-to-face interactions. Virtual communication continues to evolve as technological advances emerge that give way to new possibilities in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The lack of typical auditory and visual cues associated with human emotion gives rise to alternative forms of emotional expression that are cohesive with many different virtual environments. Some environments provide only space for text based communication, where emotions can only be expressed using words. More newly developed forms of expression provide users the opportunity to portray their emotions using images.
Expressive suppression is defined as the intentional reduction of the facial expression of an emotion. It is a component of emotion regulation.
..."Positive toxicity", the pressure to stay upbeat no matter how dire one's circumstance is, doesn't allow us to sit with our sadness ...
...toxic positivity is a form of gaslighting," Goodman explains....
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)..Toxic positivity is defined as the act of rejecting or denying stress, negativity, or other negative experiences that exist....
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)... overly positive toxicity, selling us an external dream that makes us feel not enough and highlights our insecurities.'...
...when people believe they need to maintain high levels of positivity or happiness all the time to make their lives worthwhile, or to be valued by others, they react poorly to their negative emotions....
...Everybody makes mistakes ... But glossing them over, in an exaggerated confidence called toxic positivity, stops you from growing from your missteps...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)...Social media surely romanticizes the way we view our lives ... even ensures to force toxic positivity onto moms....
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