Positivity at Work: Is It Truly Worth It?

On a daily basis, we all go through a range of emotions. Our time spent at work is no different. We typically are encouraged to always stay positive, irrespective of the emotion that we may feel at a given moment. However, recent research has revealed another perspective for consideration.

A group of researchers (Frank et al., 2022) recently conducted a survey across a period of 10 days that asked employees to evaluate the valence (negative or positive) and arousal (low or high) of their emotions at different points throughout the day. Beyond this, they were also asked about a number of other factors such as their performance, their feelings of being drained, and their overall feelings of neuroticism.

Unsurprisingly, those employees who ended their work day on a positive note felt less drained overall. However, intentionally attempting to change one’s emotions from negative to positive led to emotional depletion. This emotional depletion then leads to other negative outcomes, such as decreased job performance, less prosocial behaviors, and even acts of workplace deviance.

These findings suggest that there can be negative consequences in pursuing positive emotions and avoiding negative ones. In particular, forcibly attempting to change one’s emotions from negative to positive–if a lot of effort (resources) are required–essentially cancels out the benefits of ultimately being in a positive emotional state. This isn’t to suggest that employees should stay negative. Rather, the researchers suggest that the time of the day for the emotional change may mitigate the effects. That is, as we typically have more energy and resources earlier in the day, changing our emotions from negative to positive earlier rather than later may be more ideal.

Reference
Frank, E. L., Matta, F. K., Sabey, T. B., & Rodell, J. B. (2022). What does it cost you to get there? The effects of emotional journeys on daily outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(7), 1203–1226.