Prime example is the current Cosmo row about putting obese models on cover ("This is healthy") while Covid is rampaging in the US and killing obese people https://www.rt.com/news/511466-cosmo-fat-healthy-covid-cover...
Toxic positivity does more harm than good
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Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#12I've felt a lot of "false" positivity espoused by project managers, especially those in charge of agile ceremonies. Examples: "I'm really {proud,impressed} of all of you for your output this sprint", "You guys are {killing,crushing,owning} it", "You all should be very proud of what you guys did", etc. These aren't given after periods of crunch time, they're literally every week to the point where it feels so contrive…
They should just dole out cryptocurrency every time they say that. The words would have meaning again.
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#13The article's conclusion makes sense to me. Too much negativity is wrong for kind of obvious reasons. Too much positivity is also wrong, because not everything is positive so it sounds fake. In my experience, the best outlook is to appreciate what is actually good in life (e.g. your qualities, good things that happen), and accept that what is bad (e.g. your flaws, bad things that happen), are bad. Unfortunately if yo…
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Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#14The article is mentioning Instagram as an amplifier of this need to fake being happy. But I think Facebook is responsible for it as well.
I was once talking to a colleague who was showing me some old vacation pictures. Some tropical area. I commented that they were looking amazing. He said that actually there was a pile of garbage next to them, but they only put the good looking photos on Facebook.
Everybody wants to look perfect online, so much of the appearances are faked. It makes sense, since everything is public, so we feel pressured to make ourselves look good. Repeated, I am not surprised that it can cause harmful psychological effects.
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#15I think Toxic Positivity is a bit of a misnomer, I'd probably call it "False Positivity". It's not some subset of real positivity that is toxic, it's just... not actual positivity. It's an act.
The author's point seems to be that it is toxic to a person to (try to) exist in permanent state of positivity. I can get behind that notion. I've had friends who were chronically positive. It gelded our friendship because they hoarded all the negative stuff in their life.
Is gelded a typo or is this an expression I wasn't aware of?
I kind of like it, without sincere emotions something was missing (like when a horse is gelded).
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#16Personally, having a good attitude will be better over the long run than a bad attitude for mental health but lying to people won't solve anything. An over-excited spirit can be just as weakening as an under-excitied spirit.
To each their own, but I find be joyful or humourous during hard times is much better for people to be around than to be someone denying someone else's individual right to be happy.
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#17This has kind of been a problem at my workplace. Everything from the company's marketing material to its recruiting practices exudes an almost overwhelming amount of positivity. They put a huge emphasis on hiring "the nicest people in the world". Disagreements or arguments at the company are almost non-existent, because everyone tries their hardest to be positive and nice at all times. Every other sentence in Slack e…
It's hilarious during interviews when everyone says "I've never worked at a company like this", "I've never worked with a team like this, truly the best"...I roll my eyes...
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#18Or better stated, dishonesty does more harm than good.
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Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#19I've felt a lot of "false" positivity espoused by project managers, especially those in charge of agile ceremonies. Examples: "I'm really {proud,impressed} of all of you for your output this sprint", "You guys are {killing,crushing,owning} it", "You all should be very proud of what you guys did", etc. These aren't given after periods of crunch time, they're literally every week to the point where it feels so contrive…
They should just dole out cryptocurrency every time they say that. The words would have meaning again.
They would just launch their own crypto, allowing them to gamify their teams for all eternity.
Re: Toxic positivity does more harm than good
#20Prime example is the current Cosmo row about putting obese models on cover ("This is healthy") while Covid is rampaging in the US and killing obese people https://www.rt.com/news/511466-cosmo-fat-healthy-covid-cover...
That's a terrible example and your biases are showing.