There are days when one negative comment can stand out more than the rest. Even if we have received several tokens of appreciation, our attention is often focused on what didn’t turn out as we had hoped or on aspects that could’ve been developed differently.

This inclination to focus on the negative isn‘t accidental: from an evolutionary perspective, what poses a threat captures our attention more quickly because, for millennia, our survival depended on it.

However, this tendency can play tricks on us in contexts such as the professional world, where emotional balance and the ability to maintain a positive attitude at work are key not only to our well-being, but also to the way we relate to others, make decisions and contribute to the team.

What we often overlook is that this attitude can also be trained. And that sometimes the biggest changes begin with a gesture as simple as pausing to reflect on three good things that have happened to us during the day.

What will I read about in this article?

 

A positive attitude at work starts with a different look at the world

This natural tendency to focus on what goes wrong also influences our positive attitude at work. Even if something has gone well during the day, it’s easy to forget it in the face of a misunderstanding or a negative assessment that resonates more strongly. And yet, it has been proven that training the mind to recognise the good – however small – can make a significant difference to how we feel and act in our work environment.

The workplace, as a part of life, is no exception.

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It’s relatively easy to go to sleep thinking about “the bad thing” that has happened at work: a meeting that didn’t go quite right, a comment we didn’t quite get through, an email with a tone that we thought was too harsh.

Psychology has traditionally been concerned with understanding how negative factors impair a person’s well-being. However, for a couple of decades now, there’s been a boom in positive psychology, which wants to understand what factors positively affect a person’s life and well-being, outside and inside work.

 

“Training the mind to recognise the good – however small – can make a major difference to how we feel and act in our work environment.

 

The simple exercise of the 3 good things

Surprisingly, such a seemingly simple task as reflecting at the end of the day on three good things that have happened to us can have very pleasant consequences.

If maintained with discipline, it will become a habit that can change our outlook on life and foster a positive attitude at work. Reflecting on the good that’s happened to us helps to cultivate an appreciative and grateful outlook on life.

A group of researchers led by Professor Xiaoxiao Hu of West Virginia University wanted to understand the impact of this type of practice.

For seven days, 74 taxi drivers in southern China took part in an experiment: half of them were asked to write down three good things that happened to them during their working day. The aim was to counteract the tendency to focus on the negative and to encourage a positive attitude at work from the everyday.

The authors, based on affective event theory, observed that those who undertook the exercise showed an improvement in their well-being, an increase in behaviours that go beyond their role and a reduction in rule breaking.

A positive attitude at work, therefore, is not only a matter of personal attitude, but a lever for organisational transformation, with benefits for both the individual and the company.

 

Does it work the same for everyone?

The study also wanted to know if this habit had the same impact on employees with different types of motivation. They found that those with achievement and progress-focused motivation benefited the most.

In them, a positive attitude at work boosted not only their well-being, but also their performance and commitment.

Helping to think positively generates a new sense of well-being, which is transformed into improved behaviours in the workplace.

That’s why it is important for all actors involved in the work system to implement initiatives such as the 3 good things a day, which help to reinforce a positive attitude at work on a sustained basis. By valuing the positive, we not only feel better, but also contribute to more sustainable, humane and productive work environments.

 

Sources:

  • Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of general psychology, 5(4), 323-370.
  • Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American psychologist, 60(5), 410.
  • Hu, X., Zhan, Y., Kim, S. K. I., Jimenez, W. P., & Yao, X. (2025). Don’t leave the good things in the rearview! A field experiment examining the influence of a positive work reflection intervention on taxi drivers’ work behaviors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 156, 104069.
  • Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory. Research in organizational behavior, 18(1), 1-74.