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33 Examples of Negative Happiness

John Spacey, February 19, 2022

Negative happiness is joy that is based on denial, delusion, excessive behavior or negativity. To be clear, happiness is usually a good thing where it is based on positive realities such as play, work, growth, social interaction, love and acceptance. However, negative happiness does exist. The following are common examples of states or behaviors that may generate happiness but have some negative side.

Addiction	Arrogance
Boasting	Brashness
Complacency	Compulsive Behavior
Conceit	Cruel Wit
Delusion	Denial
Gluttony	Greed
Groupthink	Hubris
Magical Thinking	Mediocrity
Motivated Reasoning	Obsession
Overconfidence	Overindulgence
Overspending	Pompousness
Recklessness	Schadenfreude
Selfishness	Sloth
Smugness	Snobbery
Thoughtlessness	Toxic Positivity
Unhealthy Competitiveness	Vanity
Wrath

Complacency is the process of ignoring problems and risks. This may make you happier in the short run but will cause problems over time.

Compulsive behavior is when you do something you emotionally feel like doing despite rational thoughts that are telling you it's not a good choice.

Cruel wit is the use of intelligence and humor to put others down in an unkind and unsympathetic way.

Delusion is a belief that is detached from reality. For example, being happy because you imagine you are the best singer in the world despite no evidence to support this belief. Imagining great things about yourself could be a positive thing where you are also grounded in reality such that you realize you are entertaining yourself with imagination.

Denial is the process of ignoring negative emotions and negative information because they are inconvenient. For example, refusing to feel sad when you lose a loved one where sadness may be natural, justified and good.

Groupthink is a willingness to give up on that which you view as morally or rationally correct in order to belong to a group and to preserve group harmony.

Recklessness is risk taking that isn't calculated, managed or generally reasonable.

Smugness is often related to risk avoidance whereby you feel superior to others because they take chances in life where you sit back and mock the failures of others secure in your own inaction and complacency.

Toxic positivity is the process of trying to be positive in a situation that calls for negativity. For example, a manager who fails to criticize an employee with dangerously poor performance but instead compliments them due to a pathological avoidance of negativity.

Unhealthy competitiveness is going too far to win such that you may damage others or yourself.

Schadenfreude is joy at the problems, failure and pain of others.

Overview: Negative Happiness
Type	Happiness
Definition	Joy that is based on denial, delusion, excessive behavior or negativity.
Related Concepts	Happiness » Complacency » Cruel Wit » Denial » Groupthink » Group Harmony »