Toxic positivity or positive toxicity is dysfunctional emotional management without the full acknowledgment of negative emotions, particularly anger and sadness.

Definition

It is a "pressure to stay upbeat no matter how dire one's circumstance is", which may prevent emotional coping by feeling otherwise natural emotions. 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.

Psychology

In one sense, toxic positivity is a construct in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

about how to handle human

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

s that is built upon the assumption that positive and negative emotions should match the appropriate situation. 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. In her 2022 book, '' Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole,'' author

Susan Cain Susan Horowitz Cain Cain said that, historically and especially in the nineteenth century, 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. Cain documents this perceived failure of character as being reflected in the evolving definition of the term, ''loser.'' The result is a culture with a "positivity mandate"—an imperative to act "unfailingly cheerful and positive, ... like a winner". 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. 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. Accordingly, positivity becomes toxic when a person rejects negative feelings even when they are appropriate. People with a constant hunger for positive experiences may be inadvertently stigmatizing their own negative emotions, such as depression, or suppressing natural emotional responses, such as

sadness Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw thems ...

regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decision, in regard ...

, or

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

. Accepting negative emotions can make a person happier and healthier overall. Some authors, such as Kimberley Harrington, see toxic positivity as a form of personal emotional

gaslighting Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film ''Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play ''Gas ...

. 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". 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. Another determinant is the person's attitude toward happiness which may prevent them from responding optimally to the inevitable negative experiences that life brings. Positivity becomes toxic when people are unable to examine their past mistakes and to fix those mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, but to gloss over them with exaggerated confidence is unhelpful since it prevents people from learning from their mistakes.

Social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

such as

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, or

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

may exacerbate the problem as it often emphasizes positive experiences and discourages coping with the inevitable downsides. Critics of

Positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims t ...

have suggested that too much importance is placed on "upbeat thinking, while shunting challenging and difficult experiences to the side". Finally, by not allowing negative emotions, toxic positivity may result in physical consequences, such as

cardiovascular The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

and

respiratory The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies grea ...

disease.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite book , last=Halberstam , first=Jack , date=2011 , title=The Queer Art of Failure , isbn=978-0-8223-5045-3 {{cite journal , last1=Wright , first1=Colin , date=2014 , title=Happiness Studies and Wellbeing: A Lacanian Critique of Contemporary Conceptualisations of the Cure , url=https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/2113 , journal=Culture Unbound , volume=6 , issue=4 , pages=795 , doi=10.3384/cu.2000.1525.146791 {{Cite web, author=Zawn Villines , editor-last=Johnson, editor-first=Jacquelyn, title=What to know about toxic positivity, url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/toxic-positivity, website=Medical News Today, date=31 March 2021 {{Cite journal, last1=Gross, first1=J. J., last2=Levenson, first2=R. W., date=1997, title=Hiding feelings: the acute effects of inhibiting negative and positive emotion, journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology, volume=106, issue=1, pages=95–103, doi=10.1037/0021-843x.106.1.95, pmid=9103721 {{Cite journal, last1=Campbell-Sills, first1=Laura, last2=Barlow, first2=David H., last3=Brown, first3=Timothy A., last4=Hofmann, first4=Stefan G., date=2006, title=Effects of suppression and acceptance on emotional responses of individuals with anxiety and mood disorders, journal=Behaviour Research and Therapy, language=en, volume=44, issue=9, pages=1251–1263, doi=10.1016/j.brat.2005.10.001, pmid=16300723 {{Cite web, author=Jen Rose Smith, title=When does a good attitude become toxic positivity?, url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/health/toxic-positivity-mental-health-wellness/index.html, access-date=2020-11-29, website=CNN {{cite web , author= Kiran Sidhu , date= August 3, 2021 , publisher= iNews , url= https://inews.co.uk/opinion/covid-pandemic-cried-more-ever-before-embracing-sadness-1128839 , title= I've cried more during the Covid pandemic than ever before, but embracing this sadness has saved me: It's hard to welcome the feelings that pain us, but doing so has helped me to live a fuller life , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ...“Positive toxicity”, the pressure to stay upbeat no matter how dire one’s circumstance is, doesn’t allow us to sit with our sadness ... {{cite web , author= PARAM DAVIES , date= October 20, 2020 , publisher= Moms.com , url= https://www.moms.com/social-media-toxic-positivity-moms/ , title= How Social Media Forces Toxic Positivity Onto Moms: Social media surely romanticizes the way we view our lives, but with that, it even ensures to force toxic positivity onto moms. , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ...Social media surely romanticizes the way we view our lives ... even ensures to force toxic positivity onto moms.... {{cite web , author= Natalie Morris , date= February 16, 2021 , publisher= Metro News , url= https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/16/why-its-ok-if-your-self-care-doesnt-look-instagram-perfect-14089089/ , title= Why it's OK if your version of self-care doesn't look Instagram-perfect , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ... overly positive toxicity, selling us an external dream that makes us feel not enough and highlights our insecurities.’... {{cite news , author= Kimberly Harrington , date= January 26, 2022 , newspaper= Washington Post , url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/01/27/toxic-positivity-book/ , title= What is 'toxic positivity' and why is it a problem? A new book explains.: Life isn't a Hallmark card and that's okay, writes therapist Whitney Goodman , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ...toxic positivity is a form of gaslighting,” Goodman explains.... {{cite web , author= TheConversation Brock Bastian , date= January 1, 2022 , publisher= Milwaukee Independent , url= https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/toxic-positivity-pursuing-happiness-can-overemphasize-value-cause-unhappiness/ , title= TOXIC POSITIVITY: WHEN PURSUING HAPPINESS CAN OVEREMPHASIZE ITS VALUE AND CAUSE MORE UNHAPPINESS , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ...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.... {{cite web , author= Tchiki Davis, Ph.D., Michelle Quirk , date= January 10, 2022 , publisher= Psychology Today , url= https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/202201/what-is-toxic-positivity , title= What Is Toxic Positivity? What distinguishes good positivity from bad positivity? , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ..Toxic positivity is defined as the act of rejecting or denying stress, negativity, or other negative experiences that exist.... {{cite web , author= Steve Watkins , date= January 21, 2022 , publisher= Investor's Business Daily , url= https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/toxic-positivity-avoid-it-to-own-up-to-your-mistakes/ , title= Avoid 'Toxic Positivity' To Own Up To Your Mistakes , accessdate= January 28, 2022 , quote= ...Everybody makes mistakes ... But glossing them over, in an exaggerated confidence called toxic positivity, stops you from growing from your missteps... Psychological concepts Emotional intelligence Positive psychology Conformity