The positivity trap

There’s no denying the power of positivity, but is optimism alone the key to optimal living? We speak to psychologist Kobie Allison to discover the antidote to toxic positivity.

- KAYLA WRATTEN

Positivity is everywhere. Just scroll through your social media feed and you’ll come face to face with the Instagram highlight reel: upbeat stories of success and motivational quotes that tell you “happiness is an attitude”. The #goodvibes hashtag has racked up over one million posts on the photo-sharing app alone, but what happens when you encounter an experience that leaves you feeling … not so good? The impulse to cling to happiness in difficult situations, such as a global pandemic, is an understandable one, but this outpouring of relentless optimism is creating a spike in what has been coined toxic positivity.

Trend forecasting platform WGSN described the term in their Future Consumer 2022 trend report as “the concept that keeping positive, and only positive, is the right way for people to live their lives. It means only focusing on positive things and rejecting anything that may trigger negative emotions.” On paper, this might come across as a great way to stay afloat in a choppy sea of “unprecedented times”. After all, research indicates that positive thoughts improve mood and lead to less stress and lower levels of depression, highlighting that it’s healthy to practise gratitude and maintain a hopeful mindset. But positivity becomes toxic for both ourselves and others when it begins to criticise and delegitimise any other feeling that arises, including sadness and anxiety.

At times in life it is entirely appropriate to be sad, yet with such an emphasis on positivity dominating the zeitgeist, it is tempting to cajole a sad friend into looking on the bright side. Research shows, though, that for some people this is counterproductive.