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Academy of Management Review Vol. 31 No. 2 2006

On Being Positive: Concerns and Counterpoints

Stephen Fineman

University of Bath

Abstract

In this article I examine the attractions and shortcomings of the “positive” neohumanisitic turn in organizational theorizing and how positivity might be developed. I evaluate positivity's moral and cultural underpinnings and claims to separate positive from negative emotions, and I explore the deployment of positiveness in HRM programs of empowerment, emotional intelligence, and fun at work. I conclude with suggestions on how positive scholarship could be reconfigured in light of the present critique and against the emancipatory ideas of critical organizational theory.

DOI
10.5465/amr.2006.20208680
Volume
31
Issue
2
Pages
270-291
Language
en
Sources
ris:amr.ris crossref openalex

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