INTHEBLACK April 2022 - Magazine - Page 66
WORK
SMART
// T OX I C P O S I T I V I T Y
STORY JOHANNA LEGGATT
MANAGERS SHOULD
WELCOME NEGATIVE
EMOTIONS AND ADDRESS
PROBLEMS TO PREVENT
THE DAMAGING IMPACT
OF “TOXIC POSITIVITY”.
TOXIC
WASTE
Y
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66 ITB April 2022
ou may not have heard the phrase “toxic
positivity” before, but chances are you have felt
its soul-sapping effects in the workplace.
It may be the manager who insists everyone “turn
their frowns upside down”, the co-worker who advises
you not to be such a “downer”, or the team members
who will not brook any negative feelings.
The result can be a climate of toxic positivity, in which
workers feel compelled to put on a happy face and
paper over glaring problems with relentless, sunny
optimism.
According to Professor Brock Bastian from the
University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological
Sciences, workplaces can fall victim to toxic positivity
when staff begin to view any negative experiences or
emotions as counterproductive to achieving their goals.
“Negative experiences are inevitable, and we know
that responding poorly to negative experiences, instead
of leaning into them, is a major contributor to poor
mental health,” says Bastian, who is also a partner in
Psychological Safety Australia, which helps companies
build strong interpersonal and team environments.
“Being happy and wanting to be happy are good
things; it’s when that pressure is placed on us to be
happy no matter what the circumstances that it
becomes a problem.”