"Impose and I’ll pose? A vignette experiment examining organizational positivity expectations: a conservation of resources and emotional labor perspective"

Previous research points to numerous benefits of positivity, overlooking potential downsides of workplace positivity prescriptions. Grounded in organizational culture theory, we introduce and differentiate organizational positivity expectations as a distinct organizational norm requiring cognitive, affective, and behavioral positivity demonstrations in intra-organizational interactions. Drawing on conservation of resources and emotional labor theory, we examine surface acting as an immediate instrumental response to such expectations and test whether psychological safety buffers this effect. In an online vignette experiment with an international sample (N=241), we found that employees in the positivity expectations conditions reported stronger intentions to act more positive than they felt, regardless of whether they perceived the workplace as psychologically safe. Our results advance positive organizational scholarship by demonstrating that well-intended positivity initiatives may inadvertently encourage inauthentic emotional expression. Our study further contributes to conceptual refinement in organizational culture research and extends work on the implications of organizational norms for individuals, the antecedents of emotional labor in the intra-organizational context, and the limits of personal resources under strong situational pressures for desirable behaviors. We discuss avenues for future research and provide practical recommendations for designing healthier positivity practices.