From loss of motivation to burnout and depression, the mental health of the working population has continued to deteriorate since the pandemic. Yet some employees feel compelled to put on a happy face at the office, as if simply adopting a positive attitude was enough to silence professional malaise.
This is known as “glossing”, the practice of suppressing negative emotions at work. This desire to keep up appearances can prove harmful, not only for those feigning happiness but also for their colleagues.
On the flipside, workers who express their true thoughts or feelings often come across as killjoys or troublemakers to their superiors. After all, in the workplace, there’s a desire to conform, and employees tend to copy their colleagues’ way of communicating and working for fear of being ostracised if they don’t meet expectations.
Still, pretending to be happy at work can actually affect your morale. US researchers came to this conclusion after tracking 60 bus drivers over a two-week period. During their shift, some of them practised “surface acting”, that is, feigning positive emotions they weren’t actually feeling. Others were more into “deep acting” – trying to put themselves in a good mood by thinking, for example, of happy memories.
In a paper published in the Academy of Management Journal, the scientists explained that the drivers who pretended to be happy were more disengaged than their colleagues. Conversely, those who went out of their way to be genuinely happy were far more satisfied with their working lives.
In other words, there’s no point in always smiling and being enthusiastic at work if you don’t feel it deep down. And yet, 51% of employees “frequently” or “always” feel obliged to “act” or “put on a show” at work, according to a survey conducted in 2017 among 5,000 working people.
This insidious pressure often comes from above: managers tend, more or less consciously, to value people with natural warmth or friendliness. They like to surround themselves with willing, optimistic employees who inject positive energy into the rest of the team.
The problem arises when managers create a dysfunctional environment, where employees can no longer express their doubts or discontent. “By asking team members to simply smile more, we may be dismissing or invalidating negative emotions or reactions they are experiencing at work or at home,” author Lan Phan told the Harvard Business Review.
So maybe it’s time to stop glossing: positive thinking is good, but you shouldn’t suppress your negative feelings, either. The problems you may encounter in your career won’t solve themselves just because you’re always in a good mood at the office.
In fact, you might be able to work through them more quickly if you talk openly about your difficulties to your teammates and superiors, without the need for pretense or forced smiles.