There's been a lot of questioning about the 'power of positive thinking':
Jay Doubleyou: the power of positive thinking, norman vincent peale and donald trump
Jay Doubleyou: optimism - our enemy
Jay Doubleyou: you can't get success and happiness through positive thinking
Jay Doubleyou: smile or die: the power of positive thinking
Jay Doubleyou: mindfulness: "too many people are avoiding using their brains"
Jay Doubleyou: "smile or die": the false promises of positive thinking
A lot of it is actually about how lucky or unlucky we are:
Jay Doubleyou: don’t think you’re lucky? think again
Jay Doubleyou: the tyranny of merit: we are not self-made or self-sufficient
And so we have the tyranny of positive thinking...
Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre argues against the tyranny of positivity which forms part of a culture of "performative wellness", which she says sees illness as a form of personal failure. When extrapolated to other aspects of human life, this attitude is a "poison to society".Four Thought - The Tyranny of Positivity - BBC Sounds
It’s hard to scroll through your social media feeds without being bombarded with motivational quotes. Bonus points if they are spelled out on a letter board.Good vibes only. Choose happiness. Find the rainbow in the rain.
As a psychologist (and as a human), these quotes kind of irk me. They make us think that life should be all roses and rainbows; we just need to choose the right state of mind. And, by extension, if you are struggling, you aren’t trying hard enough. You just need to change your mindset.
The Tyranny of the Positive Attitude | Psychology Today
Think happy, be happy? Maybe not. Harvard psychologist Susan David examines the backlash effect of forced positivity in our lives.
You're Doing 'Happy' All Wrong, A Harvard Psychologist Weighs In
It is no surprise that “think and grow rich” should blend the notion of positive thought with the accumulation of material wealth. Hundreds of self-help books since the start of positive thinking have talked about how the right thoughts can “attract” money. They’ve also framed practical problems such as world-wide unemployment, low wages, or medical bills as “excuses.” If you can free your mind of the “real” obstacle to wealth—such as the harboring subconscious revulsion for “filthy lucre” or deep resentment/jealousy of the rich, you can have it all. It is not social class or larger institutional structures that limit the average person’s success but “negative self-talk” that impede your progress toward wealth accumulation.Consumer capitalism is, according to Ehrenreich, “congenial to positive thinking.” It promises that we deserve more, and can have it, if we really want it, and if we are only willing to make the effort to get it. While she agrees that the notion of perpetual growth is absurd, a belief in positive thinking makes ‘having it all’ seem, “possible, if not ordained.” p.8. Think –the right way–and growing rich is yours.
Happy shoppers, according to Les Slater, spend up to 20% more, and therefore one avenue to making customer’s happy is to have happy salespeople. During the last Great Depression, workers were expected to ‘fake it ‘til they make it.’ Today, it is no longer enough to simply act happy. Employers now expect their workers to be happy.
The Tyranny of Positive Thinking - Resilience
I think this whole positive thinking thing, and you guys alluded to this a little bit, really does fit into the conservative ideal because it puts the onus on the individual. If you’re not successful, it’s because you’re not being positive enough, that it’s somehow your fault. It totally fits into that whole conservative model. So I just want to get your comments on that.
EHRENREICH: I completely agree on that last point, that this is, I think I referred to it earlier as almost like a form of political pacification when you tell people who have been victimized in some way that they should be grateful for it. That’s a powerful form of social control. I want to, as a fellow breast cancer sufferer, say you hold on to your feelings, you respect your feelings. What I hated about all that positivity when I was being treated for cancer was that there seemed to be no room for me to express my personal anxiety or anger. We have to take those feelings seriously. I think that’s the biggest thing I learned from the feminist movement, for example.
The Tyranny of Positivity – P U L S E
The success of positive psychology has given rise to contrarian books with titles such as Stop Smiling, Start Kvetching and The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. Such books denounce “the tyranny of the positive attitude.” The book Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich (Seligman’s most formidable critic) is acid and incisive. She mocks Seligman’s happiness formula and the smile studies done by other positive psychologists that purport to prove that changing facial expression can trick our brains into happiness. She criticizes the profiteering from corporations and Seligman’s support from the conservative Templeton Foundation with its attachment to the status quo.Seligman believes the world is getting better and learned optimism will make its inhabitants flourish. Citing the optimism preceding the Iraq War, the irrational exuberance causing the Great Recession, income inequality, and the upbeat propaganda that supports dictators, Ehrenreich argues that in an unfair, still dangerous world, realism and defensive pessimism are necessary. Today, in a pandemic paralyzing the globe, Seligman’s optimism might even seem facile, his defense of it suspect..
Martin Seligman and the Rise of Positive Psychology | The National Endowment for the Humanities
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