Toxic Positivity

Toxic positivity is the excessive generalization of a positive mindset in every situation, resulting in the suppression, minimization, or invalidation of negative emotions and experiences. This concept expresses the belief that a person must maintain a positive outlook regardless of their circumstances. While healthy positivity acknowledges both the positive and negative aspects of life, toxic positivity encourages the rejection of negative emotions and experiences.

The popularity of the term “toxic positivity” reached its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were experiencing various losses and traumatic events. During this period, the term was used to describe advice that urged individuals to focus solely on the positive and ignore their pain.

Key Characteristics and Effects

Toxic positivity leads individuals to minimize their own negative emotions and suppress them rather than acknowledge and process them. This can manifest in various ways:

• Promoting Suppression of Emotions: Encouraging the concealment or suppression of negative feelings through statements such as “A negative mindset will never give you a positive life.”

• Focusing on Positivity Instead of Processing Negative Emotions: Encouraging individuals to direct their attention exclusively toward positive thoughts rather than understanding and managing their negative emotions.

• Invalidating Emotions: Behaviors such as telling someone who has experienced a loss to focus on the positive aspects of their situation, or dismissing someone’s feelings with remarks like “It could have been worse.”

• Shaming Negative Emotions: Making someone feel ashamed for expressing negative emotions is another example of toxic positivity.

Academic studies have demonstrated the ineffectiveness and harmful consequences of suppressing emotions. Individuals who suppress their emotions report experiencing more negative feelings and fewer positive ones. Furthermore, this behavior has been found to be negatively correlated with overall well-being. Emotional suppression is ineffective in reducing distress among individuals with mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, and it makes it harder to recover from negative emotional states. Similarly, suppressing physical pain has been observed to slow down the process of recovery. In contrast, accepting negative emotions and experiences has been shown to be more beneficial for psychological health and to reduce negative emotional responses.

Social Media and Self-Presentation

Toxic positivity is highly prevalent on social media platforms. Users tend to share only the curated, positive moments of their lives (“highlight reels”). This creates a bias toward positivity on social media and leads to the exclusion of negativity. Social media influencers and content creators can spread toxic positivity by sharing their success stories and attributing their achievements to maintaining a positive mindset. Such content can convey unrealistic and potentially harmful messages, such as the idea that happiness is a choice and that positive thinking can solve all problems.

Research indicates that toxic positivity is often used as a self-presentation strategy. Users strategically shape their posts around a positive narrative to create a favorable impression on others.

Perceived Intentions and Social Comparison

Studies have found that people perceive the intentions behind toxic positivity displayed on social media in different ways. One study grouped these perceptions into five main factors, termed “Perceived Toxic Positivity Intentions” (TPI):

1. False Self-Presentation Intentions: The perception that the poster is hiding their true self or problems.
2. Malicious Self-Presentation Intentions: The belief that the content is shared to make others feel envious or less fortunate.
3. Personal Self-Presentation Intentions: The perception that the poster aims to gain attention or encourage others to think positively about them.
4. Commercial Self-Presentation Intentions: The perception that posts are made for financial gain, increasing followers, or promoting products.
5. Promoting Positivity Intentions: The belief that the content is shared with altruistic motives such as inspiring others or sharing knowledge and ideas.

These different perceptions have varied effects on individuals’ social media experiences. In particular, when negative intentions (false, malicious, personal, and commercial self-presentation) are perceived, users are more likely to engage in upward social comparison. Upward social comparison is a process in which individuals perceive themselves as worse off or inadequate compared to others. This comparison process increases the likelihood that individuals will attempt to conform to social media norms by presenting inauthentic versions of themselves. In other words, when users believe others are displaying fake or exaggerated positivity, they may be more likely to behave similarly.

Mental Health Stigma

Toxic positivity can exacerbate stigma surrounding mental health issues. The notion that happiness is a choice and that negativity must be avoided can lead individuals with mental health conditions such as depression to be perceived as weak or insufficiently effortful. This can discourage people from seeking help and may worsen existing mental health problems.