When “Good Vibes Only” Backfires: The Quiet Harm of Toxic Positivity at Work

By: Poojani Ruwanpura 

There’s a moment that really sticks out to me in Netflix’s docuseries Beckham. After his infamous red card in the 1998 World Cup, David Beckham is asked how he coped. “I just got on with it,” he says. Calm. Composed. A picture of resilience.

Except… he didn’t. The documentary captures the toll – the sleepless nights, public backlash, and quiet suffering beneath the surface. 

Sound familiar? It should. Because in boardrooms and Zoom calls everywhere, employees are doing the same – masking burnout, forcing smiles, and pushing through pain, all under the unspoken workplace mantra: stay positive.

Here’s the truth we don’t like to say out loud: people can’t genuinely move forward until they’re allowed to sit with what’s hard. Yet in the relentless pursuit of productivity and performance, many leaders are leaning hard on positivity as a cultural strategy. And don’t get me wrong – when done well, positivity can be powerful. It can motivate, inspire, and unify. But when it becomes the only acceptable emotion in a workplace, it stops being a strength and starts functioning as a smokescreen. It turns into a silent message: “Keep it light. Don’t bring the heavy stuff here.” So people do just that – they hold back. Not just their feelings, but their concerns, their insights, their feedback. Over time, that silence doesn’t just cost connection – it costs clarity, accountability, and performance.

This is toxic positivity: the unchecked insistence on good vibes at all costs. It’s the pressure to smile through exhaustion, to reframe every setback as a growth opportunity, to stay upbeat no matter what. And it’s everywhere – often mistaken for resilience.

Leaders who over-rely on positivity in the face of discomfort may mean well, but the risk can be creating a culture where people don’t feel seen, heard, or safe. And without that psychological safety, performance doesn’t soar – it stalls.

This isn’t just a hunch – it’s backed by research.

A 2024 study published in Harvard Business Review found that teams led by managers who dismissed negative emotions in favour of positivity were 36% less likely to raise concerns about failing projects. Let that land for a second. That’s not just bad for morale – that’s bad for business. When employees feel pressure to stay upbeat, they stay quiet instead. Risks stay hidden. Problems snowball. And organizations pay the price in mistakes, disengagement, and turnover. 

And there’s more. A 2023 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that employees exposed to excessive positivity during periods of change reported significantly lower trust and engagement. Why? Because people stop believing in the message… and worse, the messenger.

Meanwhile, the conversation is already trending. The hashtag #ToxicPositivity has racked up millions of views – mostly from employees calling out companies that try to “gratitude journal” their way out of burnout, layoffs, or toxic team dynamics. One viral post put it bluntly: “I told my manager I was overwhelmed. She sent me a mindfulness video and told me to ‘find the lesson.’” Spoiler: the only lesson learned was don’t speak up again.

Psychologist Dr. Susan David, author of Emotional Agility, says it best: “When we push aside normal emotions to embrace false positivity, we lose capacity to deal with the world as it is.” Her point? Emotions – even the hard ones – are data. And if leaders only listen when it’s upbeat, they’re flying blind.

So, what’s the alternative? It’s not about swinging the pendulum toward pessimism or venting sessions. It’s about building the muscle to move through it – together. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Ask better questions. Start meetings with “What’s weighing on us right now?” as often as “What’s going well?”
• Normalize discomfort. Give people space to name what’s hard – without rushing to fix it.
• Train for emotional literacy. Teach leaders to listen without judgment and respond with empathy, not platitudes.
• Treat discomfort as data. If something feels off, it probably is.

This isn’t about inviting negativity. It’s about building a workplace strong enough to hold the truth – even when it’s inconvenient. When people feel safe to show up fully – to share what’s not working, not just what is – you unlock the real building blocks of a strong culture: trust, accountability, and meaningful connection. And when organizations stop mistaking good vibes for good culture, something powerful happens: teams are more honest, trust goes up, problems surface sooner, and innovation flourishes. Not because everyone is relentlessly positive – but because they feel safe enough to speak up, take risks, and course correct.

Toxic positivity is costing your team more than you think. Learn how we help teams face the hard stuff – and grow stronger because of it.