Forced to feel positive and happy at work? Studies show that toxic positivity is pervasive in the workplace, causing stress and negatively affecting employees’ well-being.
No one likes being told to “Be Happy,” but workplaces often demand, subtly or directly, that workers act as if they are feeling happy despite feeling the opposite.
What Is Toxic Positivity?
Toxic positivity in the workplace refers to the pressure placed on employees to maintain a positive attitude, even in situations that may be challenging or difficult.
While this emotional suppression may seem harmless, it can create and exacerbate stress and prompt many other negative effects on an employee’s mental health and work performance. And it’s pervasive.
According to a Science of People study, over half (67.8%) of respondents said they experienced toxic positivity from someone in the prior week alone.
- Employees may feel like they cannot express negative emotions, which can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.
- This pressure can also lead to burnout, as employees are expected to maintain a constant positive attitude regardless of their workload or other stressors.
- Toxic positivity can also impact an employee’s work performance. Employees may feel like they cannot express concerns or suggest improvements, which can hinder creativity and innovation.
- This pressure to maintain a positive attitude can also lead to a lack of authenticity in the workplace, as employees may feel like they have to put on a facade rather than being their true selves.
- Repression of emotion has been correlated with certain mental disorders, including clinical depression.
Ultimately, toxic positivity can create a toxic work environment and culture that can negatively impact an employee’s mental and cognitive health and, consequently, their work performance—as well as that of a team, department, and company at large.
Active Listening
The opposite of creating an open listening environment in the workplace, emotional suppression, and toxic positivity are readily addressable and rectifiable circumstances that can greatly benefit from a tactical intervention like active listening with trained professionals.
Related: 5 Reasons American Industry Needs ‘Active Listening’ Now More Than Ever
Organizationally, leaders must establish and build upon a culture of authentic engagement, collaboration, and trust. The kind that can only be compelled through true active listening so that employees feel they can express their true feelings, opinions, ideas, and emotions and, in doing so, be heard, valued, and supported.
In turn, business and industry will realize an array of benefits, from increased productivity and higher staff retention rates to lower absenteeism and presenteeism exemplified by the ‘quiet quitting’ trend.
Read More From A Dime Saved:
- The Dark Side of Gen Z: Problematic Trends We Need to Leave Behind
- Being a People Pleaser Nearly Killed Me. Here’s How I Am Learning To Stop
- Buckle Up: 28 Harsh Realities Everyone Needs To Hear
Adi Segal
Adi Segal is CEO of Hapi—the leader in providing companies, teams and individuals with audio-only, non-clinical emotional support via Active Listening as a Service (ALaaS). Their mission is to end loneliness, the largest global pandemic, and address the debilitating impacts of stress, anxiety, employee burnout and more to create a world in which everyone feels they belong and have value. This Hapi is doing this one on-demand conversation at a time with its team of certified professional listeners.