Positive? More like positively insufferable.
Living life with a “glass half full” attitude is generally thought of as a plus — but acting too upbeat to the exclusion of other feelings is bad news, experts warn.
People who spend most of their time looking on the bright side can wind up falling into a trap of what’s known as toxic positivity — a saccharine trait defined by Psychology Today as the “act of avoiding, suppressing, or rejecting negative emotions or experiences,” proving there can be too much of a good thing.
Per the pros, this behavior can also take the form of denying other people’s emotions and “insisting on positive thinking instead.”
Now, the experts at Individual Differences Research (IDR) labs have devised a three-minute “Toxic Personality Test” — to help you see if you’re overdoing it on optimism.
This litmus test is based on the work of Philadelphia psychologist Dr. Jamie Zuckerman, who identified and quantified the symptoms of the condition, the Daily Mail reported.
The quiz is comprised of ten statements, including “I hide or mask my negative feelings,” “I minimize my negative experiences with ‘feel good’ statements or quotes,” and “I brush difficult issues aside with statements such as ‘it is what it is.’”
Users are prompted to respond to each with one of three different responses: “Not me,” “Describes me somewhat” and “Definitely me.”
The more statements they say “definitely” align with their character, the more likely it is that they suffer from toxic positivity, per the site.
The test makers emphasize that this is not an accurate psychological assessment, which they note should only be carried out by a qualified professional and not an online quiz.
And in fairness, the positivity police do acknowledge that giving genuinely good vibes only energy can be healthy.
Showing optimism and gratitude can “help humans flourish,” per the experts at Psychology Today, who write that positivity only becomes problematic “when it functions to reject negative emotions.”
For instance, responding to someone’s distress disclosure by telling them to put on a happy face can invalidate their feelings.
And on an internal level, attempting to suppress negative emotions within oneself can paradoxically magnify them in the long run.
“Negative emotions are difficult to deal with — but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feel them,” test creators wrote. “Feeling all of our emotions in full, whether positive or negative, is part of being human and navigating the world.”
