I tend to see "toxic positivity" as an attempt to gaslight people, but with the presumption of good intentions, and that presumption of good intentions somehow

I tend to see "toxic positivity" as an attempt to gaslight people, but with the presumption of good intentions, and that presumption of good intentions somehow washing away the deleterious effects of gaslighting people. Somewhat unsurprisingly it turns out it's the gaslighting that's the problem, not entirely the motivation for engaging in it. My experience has been that high-performing people gravitate toward being motivated by engagement with reality, not by suspending disbelief to engage in contrivance or farce. This is true on the other side of it as well. They won't tolerate "toxic negativity" either, which is just another form of gaslighting in an attempt to motivate by way manufactured crisis or exigency.