Perceived Impact of Toxic Positivity Through Social Media Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic Among Generation Z

Vol.3, No.1C

Abstract

When someone expresses their emotions, their primary goal is to validate, understand and accept the emotional experience. Emotional invalidation, on the other hand, entails ignoring, denying, criticizing or rejecting another person's feelings. Toxic positivity is the assumption, either by oneself or another, that despite a person’s emotional pain or difficult situation, they should only have a positive mindset. 

Several studies have looked at the effects of toxic positivity and concluded that people might try to avoid negative emotions by withdrawing from others or engaging in risky behaviors.

This study focuses on the population of Generation Z, where toxic positivity is extremely prevalent. In a Harris Poll for the American Psychological Association survey, more than one-third of young adults ages 18 to 23, also known as Generation Z, said their mental health was worse than before the pandemic. Also, Generation Z is known to be the most exposed to various social media. Social media has played a major role in this study, for people often use these platforms to express their positivity, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. 

According to the demographic profile of the respondents, there are 30 female and 20 male Generation Z. Most respondents are aged 20, and the least is 13. The findings showed that respondents used various social media platforms daily, but Facebook is the most popular among all the social media platforms listed in the questionnaire. Most respondents indicated dependency on social media by using it for more than six months and spending more than 6 hours daily. The majority of respondents agree that they use social media primarily for entertainment. 

Suicidal thoughts, according to the data, have never been a factor in the perceived impact of toxic positivity on the respondents. And other factors, such as hyper-independence, self-imposing, low self-esteem, and burn-out, have occasionally played a role. Every suggestion and recommendation has always been beneficial in dealing with toxic positivity. On the other hand, allowing yourself to be teachable is the first rank, and accepting battles is the last.