Find out what false positivity is, explore everyday examples of false positivity, and learn how you can avoid it.<\/p>\n
False positivity is the positive attitude we force into situations where positivity is not called for. If this doesn\u2019t sound awkward to you, the following analogy may help you see that it is. Assume positivity is akin to sugar \u2013 it is sweet and enhances the flavors of some bland foods, making them taste more appealing. We all love happiness and positive attitudes, thoughts, and feelings (Ford & Mauss, 2014), just the way we love the sweetness of sugar. Hence, added sweetness to bland foods is similar to how a positive attitude can help us deal with mundane tasks and everyday hurdles.<\/p>\n
However, some foods just don\u2019t go well with sugar. Indeed, adding sugar to those foods may cause them to taste awful. Instead, these foods may need a pinch of salt, a spoon of vinegar, or some other seasoning to become more palatable. Therefore, just as we shouldn\u2019t reach for the sugar jar to season every dish we are served, we shouldn\u2019t sugarcoat every negative experience life puts on our plates. Instead, we\u2019re better served by choosing the most appropriate reaction.<\/p>\n
False positivity can come about in two ways: either other people give our experiences a positive spin, or we do it to ourselves. But how do other people bring false positivity into our emotional experiences? It usually starts with rosy pictures or optimistic comments about an upsetting situation. Yet, these positive efforts of others can create social pressure and a denial of our true emotions.<\/p>\n
Below are some examples illustrating how false positivity can be dismissive toward our feelings and emotional experiences. In some cases, false positivity keeps us in the same situation that caused our initial reaction.<\/p>\n
Now that we understand what false positivity is and how it manifests in our lives, we can take steps to prevent it. Here are a few suggestions to help you avoid false positivity.<\/p>\n
Life can\u2019t always be joyful. Inevitably, we all experience times of distress or hardship. Accepting our emotions allows us to learn how to deal with these situations. This acceptance can provide us with beneficial changes in our lives and make us more emotionally resilient in the long run.<\/p>\n
When faced with an adverse situation, ignoring the core problem or giving it a positive spin doesn\u2019t solve it. In fact, it might even make the situation worse by avoiding its causes. For instance, telling someone who lost their job that \u201ceverything will be okay in the end\u201d or \u201cthat job was unfulfilling anyway\u201d doesn\u2019t solve their immediate problem, which is to be able to afford their basic needs, or their emotional needs, which are to feel supported. Nor does false positivity delve into the reason for this loss, addressing which can help them find a job or minimally understand why they might have difficulties getting hired.<\/p>\n
Unless we avoid all human contact, we can\u2019t run away from observing others suffer or when they try to talk to us about their emotions. If someone is telling you about something upsetting, try to be empathetic. Even if you were to react differently in the same situation, judging or dismissing their negative emotional reactions won\u2019t benefit anyone. In most cases, people tell you about these situations because they trust you, and they need someone to listen and validate their experiences to help them make sense of their situation and heal.<\/p>\n
If we are dealing with negative emotions, it helps us heal to talk about how we feel. Yet, we might need to be selective about who we are opening up to. Sometimes the people closest to us don\u2019t have the emotional maturity or empathy to understand what we are going through. If that\u2019s the case, you might consider talking to a therapist or joining a support group to share your experiences with others in similar situations.<\/p>\n
When a friend or a loved one tells us about a problem, most of us utter words of support without even thinking about whether we are actually supportive. That\u2019s why many of us believe we are helping them when we say phrases like \u201ceverything will be fine\u201d or \u201cit could be much worse.\u201d So how can we support them without invalidating their emotions and experiences? Here are a few examples you might try:<\/p>\n
Sometimes, false positivity may be hard to recognize as it typically hides within well-meaning comments and encouragements. We can avoid false positivity by learning to recognize its signs and developing strategies to respond to difficult circumstances more authentically.<\/p>\n
Find out what false positivity is, explore everyday examples of false positivity, and learn how you can avoid it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":8750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-psychology"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/How-To-Recognize-and-Avoid-False-Positivity.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8751,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749\/revisions\/8751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnosis.plus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}