Soraya Chemaly says the idea of resilience elevates individuals over society. But she misrepresents how psychologists use it

By Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of Melbourne

Fifteen years ago, the great American activist and author Barbara Ehrenreich launched a broadside against what would soon become known as toxic positivity.

The relentless pursuit of optimism and self-improvement is destructive, she argued. It turns our attention inward when we should be advocating for social change, overlooks the systemic causes of suffering, and rejects people who suffer as moral failures.

Ehrenreich experienced the collateral sting of positive thinking first-hand when…

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