The Psychology of Passion A Dualistic Model.2016 PDF

The Psychology of Passion
The Psychology of Passion

A Dualistic Model
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Robert J. Vallerand
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1
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CON T EN T S
Preface vii
PART I: Introduction
1. On the Concept of Passion 3
2. A History and Definition of Passion 14
PART II: Theory and Method

3. The Dualistic Model of Passion 43
4. The Method of Passion 69
5. The Development of Passion 87
PART III: Intrapersonal Consequences

6. Passion and Cognition 123
7. Passion and Emotions 155
8. Passion and Psychological Well-Being 186
9. Passion and Physical Health 219
10. Passion and Performance and Creativity 244
PART IV: Interpersonal Relationships, Intergroup Relations, and

Societal Consequences
11. Passion and Interpersonal Relationships 279
12. Passion and Intergroup and Societal Outcomes 309
PART V: Conclusion
13. Summing Up 331
References 345
About the Author 385
Index 387
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PR EFAC E
Passion. For centuries people have used this motivational force to explain
both human exploits and foibles. Thus, when my colleagues and students
and I started to study this construct in the late 1990s, we were stunned
to see that there was a void in the psychological literature. There had been
research on passionate love but there was no theory and basically no scien-
tific research on passion for activities. And although philosophers had been
quite active studying the concept, the last psychological analysis of passion
was from another era (Joussain, 1928). So, a gigantic task was upon us: pro-
viding a contemporary psychological analysis of the passion construct that
would guide empirical scrutiny. We then sought to define the construct, to
measure it, to provide a theoretical explanation of the positive and nega-
tive outcomes of passion, to derive scientific hypotheses from this theoreti-
cal formulation, the Dualistic Model of Passion, and to proceed to empirically
test them. Publishing on this new construct proved difficult at first but the
data was so convincing that eventually the field relented. Seventy-five years
after the Joussain publication, resurgence of the passion concept took place
with the Vallerand et al. (2003) publication. Since 2003, a flurry of scientific
papers has been published by a number of scientists from all over the globe.
The purpose of this book is to present a synthesis of such research. It will be
seen that passion matters as it affects a number of outcomes such as cog-
nitions, emotions, psychological well-being, physical health, relationships,
expert performance and creativity, interpersonal relationships, and inter-
group and societal outcomes. In psychology and especially in positive psy-
chology, such outcomes are highly valued and as this book will show, being
passionate in a certain way (harmoniously) represents one way of achieving
these outcomes. At the same time, this book will show that being obsessively
passionate about an activity is a sure way of not achieving these positive out-
comes and even to experience some debilitating ones. The duality of passion
underscored by philosophers lives on!
The publication of this book would not have been possible without the con-
tribution of a number of people. First and foremost, I would like to acknowl-
edge the contribution of the members of the Laboratoire de Recherche sur le
( vii )
( viii ) Preface
Comportement Social at the Université du Québec à Montréal whose work

and support proved essential in making this quest for the understanding of
the concept of passion a reality. Second, my thanks go to the international
research community who has embraced our vision of passion and engaged
in passion research. Without such research, writing this book would have
been an unnecessary task. Third, sincere thanks go to my friend, the late
Chris Peterson, for encouraging me to write this book and to do it with
Oxford University Press. In that vein, I also wish to thank the Oxford
University Press team, especially Molly Balikov, Saranyaa Moureharry, and
Abby Gross, for their expert tutelage. Fourth, my thanks go to Ed Deci and
Rich Ryan for their intellectual legacy that has been so influential with my
own work. To Ed, in particular, thanks for responding to the letter of a young
graduate student so many years ago and supporting him ever since. Finally,
my gratitude goes to my wife and life partner Bouchra for her unconditional
love and continuous support. Her understanding of my passion for this book
allowed me to fully concentrate on the task at hand.
—RJV, December 2014
PA RT I
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Introduction
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C H A P T ER 1
On the Concept of Passion
T he well-known movie Chariots of Fire (directed by Hugh Hudson,

1981) presents the story of two British runners, Eric Liddell and Harold
Abraham, who are about to compete in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Both of them love to run—they are passionate about it. Eric Liddell runs
nearly every day and trains diligently. He feels great when he does, and it
shows—we can see him smile as he fully embraces running. However, there is
more to his life than simply running. He is a devout Christian, and he spends
a considerable amount of time praying and honoring God. In fact, when he
finds out that he will have to run the 100 meter dash race on a Sunday, the
Lord’s day, he does not hesitate to tell the British Olympic Committee that
he will not run! Although he is passionate about running, Liddell holds other
things in high regard in his life, including his Christian faith. Luckily for
him, a teammate volunteers to trade his race for the 400 meter dash, which
is to take place on a Thursday, for Liddell’s 100 meter trial run.
Harold Abraham also is passionate about running. He deeply loves it and
trains hard at it. However, when he runs, Abraham does not display the same
smile and happiness as Liddell. Though he is happy when he wins a race,
Abraham uses his running to get back at those who have shown prejudice
toward him for being a Jew. Further, running is the only thing in his life. For
instance, although he falls in love with a beautiful girl, he puts her aside to get
ready for the Olympics. When he loses against Liddell a few months before
the Olympics, Abraham takes it hard and shows poor sportsmanship. He
then hires a professional coach to help him prepare for the Olympics, against
the recommendations of the British Olympic Committee. Indeed, such a
strategy was seen as inappropriate because an amateur (like Abraham at the
time) was not expected to use a professional to prepare for the Olympics. But
Abraham did it anyway.
( 3 )
( 4 ) The Psychology of Passion
At the Olympics, both athletes focused on their performance. Liddell had

only one race to run, the 400 meter, which was not his specialty. He went to
the track, did his best, and beat the Americans who had been the favorites
to win the gold medal. Abraham first competed in the 200 meter race and
was beaten badly. He knew that his last chance was in the 100 meter race.
Although nervous, he competed, and he won the race. Both athletes were
highly passionate about running, and both returned to the United Kingdom
with a gold medal. Their passion for running had paid off! However, as one can
see, the passion of each runner seems different, and although both runners
achieved high performance, they nevertheless appear to have gone through
different experiences. Understanding the nature of passion and how it may
vary, where it comes from, and how it leads to a variety of consequences is
the essence of this book.
For centuries, philosophers, playwrights, film directors, and writers have
examined the role of passion in people’s lives, as in the film Chariots of Fire
described above. From Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette to Mel Gibson’s
Passion of Christ to Dosteovsky’s The Gambler, passion has been repeatedly
celebrated in plays, movies, and popular writings throughout the centuries.
The popularity of passion also applies to the lay public. To this day, the word
“passion” remains very popular. As shown below, lay conceptions of passion
have come to adopt a number of meanings. However, irrespective of the
meaning employed, the fact remains that the term “passion” has been, and is
still, extensively used in everyday parlance. In fact, the word “passion” is so
popular that a Google search yielded over 682 millions returns (May 2014).
As such, its mere popularity would justify our scientific attention. As we will
see below, there are other important reasons why we should pay attention to
the concept of passion.
In this chapter, I first present some of the lay conceptions of passion that
have been used through the years. Second, I propose some of the reasons why
a scientific study of passion is important; then I move on to explore some of
the justifications for writing a book on passion at this point. Finally, I briefly
summarize the contents of this book.
DIFFERENT LAY CONCEPTIONS

OF THE PASSION CONCEPT
Throughout history, passion has taken on different popular meanings. It

is informative to look at these, as they provide some valuable information
regarding how passion has been perceived, as well as to how its conceptual-
ization has evolved over the years. Such a diversity of meanings may explain
the popularity of the word “passion” in everyday life.
O n t h e C o n c e p t o f Pa s s i o n ( 5 )
Passion as Enduring Suffering
Of interest is the etymology of the word “passion.” In both Greek (pathos) and
latin (patio), passion refers to suffering. What is implied here is that being
passionate may lead one to suffer and endure one’s emotional state. This rep-
resents the first popular meaning of passion. As an example, Christians often
refer to the passion of Christ and the fact that he had to endure his suffering
while pursuing his quest for the ultimate salvation of humanity through his
crucifixion. Such passive suffering has remained in people’s lay perceptions
of passion, as it is often inferred that being passionate about something may
lead one to passively suffer and to stoically accept one’s fate. Related to this
first idea is the notion that one’s suffering may also result from attempting to
surmount obstacles during one’s passionate quest. In fact, even today, one’s
persistence toward a goal in the face of adversity, displaying grit, is often
equated with passion (see Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007).
Another form of suffering often associated with passion is the one that is
experienced when one is prevented from being united with the object of one’s
passion. For instance, the emotions of despair, anxiety, and even depres-
sion experienced by the passionate lover who is being rejected by the object
of his or her love have been reported to be quite intense (see Baumeister,
Wotman, & Stillwell, 1993). Perhaps a final form of suffering is the one expe-
rienced by the person who is desperately trying not to succumb to his or
her inner inkling to engage in a forbidden, passionate activity. For instance,
many passionate individuals have described in great detail the emotional
pain and anguish they have experienced while trying not to succumb to their
passion for a potentially deleterious activity, such as drinking or gambling.
Passion as Intense Emotion
Another popular meaning of passion is that of a state of intense emotions,

either positive or negative. In that sense, people often say that “passions”
are aroused when engaging in the passionate activity. For example, when
engaged in a discussion related to something they are passionate about, it is
not uncommon to observe people being physiologically aroused, with their
eyes wide open, their body erect, talking a bit faster and louder, and even
becoming more physically animated. In several societies, people may take to
the streets to walk for a cause they are passionate about or to protest one that
they are against—one that runs counter to their own.
The popular view of passion as intense emotion need not be limited
to negative emotions, such as hatred and anger, but may also pertain to
positive emotions, such as faith, hope, and even pride. Of course, people
may experience both positive and negative emotions of some intensity.
For instance, in Chapter 14 of his book The Gambler, Dostoevsky described

with much clarity the variety of emotions, both positive and negative,
experienced by the passionate gambler during a 30-minute gambling
episode.
The time was a quarter past eleven o’clock when I entered the Casino in such
a state of hope. … It was in a fever that I moved the pile, en bloc, on to the
red … when fear cast its cold spell over me, and showed itself in a trembling
of the hands and knees. … Rouge! Called the croupier. I drew a long breath,
and hot shivers went coursing over my body. … Once more I looked around
me like a conqueror, once more I feared nothing as I threw down four thou-
sands of these florins upon the black. … My brows were damp with sweat,
and my hands were shaking. … I seemed to be conscious of a vague pleasure in
seizing and raking in the bank notes. … Also, I remember that—oh, strange
sensation!—I suddenly … became obsessed with a DESIRE to take risks …
I awoke to my senses … I only felt a sort of fearful pleasure—the pleasure of
success, of conquest, of power. … (capital letters, original)
Thus, this meaning of passion refers to intense positive and nega-

tive emotions, as seen in the passage above. It should also be noted that
because intense emotions have often been associated with disorganiza-
tion, passion has often been seen as a negative quality and somewhat
dysfunctional.
Passionate Love and Sexual Passion
Another popular meaning of passion that has attracted a reasonable

amount of interest is that of passionate love. Of interest, passionate
love has been so popular with the general population (and in fact still is
to this day) that when the word “passion” is used, people often believe
that it refers to “passionate love.” From Romeo and Juliet to the recent
Twilight trilogy, passionate love has been portrayed in hundreds of plays
and movies.
Another, related, popular conception of passion is that of sexual passion.
Sexual passion refers to an emotional state in which one desires to engage
in sexual activity. Although some people may equate sexual passion with
passionate love, these two constructs would appear to differ in important
ways. For instance, sexual passion represents a passion for a specific type of
activity (i.e., sex) that may or may not involve the loved one. Indeed, sexual
passion may lead one to cheat on the loved one with somebody else or even
to engage in sexual activity alone. Sexual passion would thus seem to differ
from passionate love (see Philippe et al., 2014 on this issue).
Passion as Love for an Activity
A final meaning that has been attached to passion is that of a strong liking
(or even love) for an activity, object, or concept. Thus, a person who has a
passion for playing the piano will say that he “loves” playing the piano, and
the teenager who loves playing soccer will say that she has a passion for it.
For example, when asked in 2010 why he came out of retirement to become
involved again with basketball as a consultant to the National Basketball
Association (NBA) team Golden State Warriors at age 72, basketball legend
Jerry West simply stated, “My passionate love of the game was still fiercely
there.” Love for an activity thus appears to represent an important meaning
of the term “passion.” This meaning represents a more contemporary per-
spective and would appear to be the one most often used today, not only by
lay people but also by psychologists, as we shall see in the next chapter. In
Chapter 2, we will also see that passion refers to more than simply love for an
activity; it also includes high valuation of the activity and an important com-
mitment toward it. This definition of passion can also be extended beyond
activities to objects, causes, ideals, and even other people.
WHY IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY

OF PASSION IMPORTANT?
As discussed above, passion has come to be seen in a variety of ways. Do

these various conceptions all represent passion as such? How can they all
represent passion if they differ so widely? What are some of the effects of
passion? Is passion good or bad for people? Lay conceptions of passion can-
not provide answers to these questions. Thus, a scientific perspective to pas-
sion is important in order to provide some coherence to the concept so that
it can be studied scientifically and can yield valid answers to the above ques-
tions. There are other reasons why a scientific approach to passion is deemed
important. Let us consider some of these below.
Passion Permeates People’s Lives
Passion is present everywhere—in the press, TV, radio, advertisements, peo-

ple’s explanations of others’ behavior—and everybody talks about it. One
reason for the popularity of the word “passion” is that it permeates most
aspects of our lives. Consider in Table 1.1 what some famous figures have had
to say about passion. As you can see, passion is said to be important in areas
as diverse as work, relationships, science, politics, arts and entertainment,
and sports. And the people who underscore its importance are some who
Table 1.1. PA SSION A S R EPORT ED BY FA MOUS PEOPLE

IN VA R IOUS LIFE DOM A INS
Life Domain Person Quote
Music, Arts, and Jon Bon Jovi “Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what
Entertainment you want to do with your life, be passionate.”
Edgar Allan Poe “With me, poetry has no purpose, but a passion.”
Work/Business Steve Jobs “If (people) don’t really want to build a company,
they won’t luck into it. That’s because it’s so hard
that if you don’t have a passion, you’ll give up.”
Donald Trump “Without passion, you don’t have energy, without
energy, you have nothing.”
Tony Robbins “Passion is the genesis of genius.”
Relationships Coco Chanel “Jump out the window if you are the object of
passion. Flee it if you feel it. Passion goes,
boredom remains.”
Science Albert Einstein “I have no special talents. I am only passionately
curious.”
Politics Paul Wellstone “The future will belong to those who have a passion
and are willing to work hard to make our country
better.”
William Goodwin “Revolutions are the product of passion, not of sober
and tranquil reason.”
Environment David Suzuki “Without passion, change is not possible.”
Sports Tiger Woods “I have a love and a passion for getting the ball in the
hole and beating these guys.”
Eric Cantona “If you have a passion in life … and you pursue it
to the exclusion of everything else, it becomes
dangerous. When you stop doing this activity it is
as though you are dying. Death of the activity is
death in itself.”
The International “The 2006 Winter Olympics: Passion lives here.”
Olympic
Committee
have made a difference in their respective fields of endeavor. These include

people like the rock star Jon Bon Jovi, writer Edgar Allan Poe, scientist
Albert Einstein, the late Steve Jobs (founder and former CEO of Apple), busi-
nessman Donald Trump, and the famous golfer Tiger Woods. All of them give
much credit to passion for leading to some positive outcomes. For instance,
Steve Jobs underscores the role of passion in persistence, and business mogul
Donald Trump notes its importance in providing energy. Einstein and Tony
Robbins suggest that passion plays a role in creativity, while Tiger Woods
credits passion for his high level of performance.
However, passion can also bring about some negative outcomes as well.
For instance, the same Tiger Woods whose passion for golf helped him reach
excellence in his sport could also add that his passion for (extramarital) sex
may have led him on a downward path as pertains to his performance in golf
and the quality of his married life, which ended in divorce. Furthermore,
the late famous clothing designer Coco Chanel reminds us that a passion
for love relationships can bring its share of emotional suffering. Finally, at
a broader societal level, the political philosopher William Goodwin suggests
that revolutions (and their share of negative consequences) result from
passion, not reason.
In sum, passion would thus appear to be a crucial variable that is
involved in a number of processes and outcomes—some positive, some
negative—inextricably woven in the fabric of life. By learning about passion,
we learn about such processes and outcomes that take place in people’s lives.
Research on Passion Can Tell Us

Much About People
In the first empirical study on passion for activities, Vallerand and col-
leagues (2003, Study 1) found that most participants (around 84%)
were passionate about a given activity. So, having a passion for an activ-
ity is not limited to the happy few; rather, it characterizes most people.
Furthermore, people can be passionate about a number of different activi-
ties. For instance, in the Vallerand et al. study, over 500 participants (col-
lege students) indicated being at least moderately passionate about one of
over 150 different activities. These activities varied from sports and exer-
cising to playing a musical instrument, reading, and spending time with
friends. Of importance is that people do not engage in such activities only
from time to time. Rather, they engage in the activity they are passionate
about on a regular basis, as they spend on average over 8 hours per week
participating in the activity.
In sum, the study of passion not only can tell us much about people’s pas-
sion, but also can enrich our knowledge of what people do, think, and feel
when they engage in something they deeply care about. Because the study of
passion entails going into people’s lives, we should end up learning about the
content and process of people’s lives as well.
Research on Passion Can Tell Us What People

Who Thrive Actually Do
Beyond finding out about people’s lives, the scientific study of passion is also
in a position to tell us more about what it is that those who do well actu-
ally do. Specifically, research should tell us if those people who thrive and
excel in life do so because of their passion. Although philosophers, writers,
and people may suggest that passion is important as it pertains to various
outcomes, such as performance and happiness (as in Table 1.1), only psycho-
logical research can determine if this is indeed the case. Passion research can
allow us to go beyond common sense and clearly identify the role of passion
in people’s optimal functioning.
When founding the field of positive psychology, Seligman and
Csikszentmihalyi asked a very simple question: “How can people’s lives
be most worth living?” (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Basically,
the issue these authors were addressing was what makes people “happy.”
According to them, as a subfield of psychology, the task of positive psy-
chology is to scientifically study and identify the factors that facilitate
happiness. The definition of “happiness” is a complex issue that has
been debated for millennia (see Ryan & Deci, 2001; Waterman, 2013). As
Chapter 8 will demonstrate, two broad perspectives have emerged: the
hedonic and the eudaemonic perspectives. In a nutshell, the first posi-
tion holds that to be happy, one needs to feel good (hedonism); the
other posits that one needs to grow psychologically and to reach one’s
self-potential (eudaemonism), that is, to be optimally functioning. So,
what are some of the factors that may lead the way to reaching one’s
potential and being happy? Although several factors have been found
to do so (see Peterson, 2006), the position taken in this book is that to
be passionate about a meaningful activity (or object or even a person)
can provide joy and meaning to one’s life that contribute to having a
life worth living (Vallerand, Gousse-Lessard, & Verner-Filion, 2011;
Vallerand & Verner-Filion, 2013). Indeed, having a passion for playing a
musical instrument or for promoting a cause that is dear to one’s heart
can lead one to achieve self-realization and fulfillment. Thus, engaging
in an activity that we are passionate about can make us feel good (i.e.,
hedonism), can help us achieve self-growth (i.e., eudaemonism) as we
progress in that activity, and may also contribute to other dimensions of
our life, such as experiencing positive emotions, flow, and positive rela-
tionships, as well as achieving high performance and other outcomes. In
other words, not only is passion important because it provides meaning
and purpose in our lives, but it is also important because it is one of the
ways through which people can have access to the psychological processes
that are known in positive psychology to facilitate well-being.
However, we all know passionate people who are unhappy and who seem
to suffer and to make other people suffer as well. Indeed, we know from expe-
rience that passion can also arouse negative emotions, can lead to inflexible,
rigid persistence, and can interfere with achieving a balanced, successful life.
So, as suggested by philosophers, there seems to be a duality of passion that
can bring out the best and worst in people. As we will see in this book, this
duality is important to consider because it addresses the positive and negative
effects of passion on outcomes. And these two sides of the same coin—the
passion coin—need to be taken into account in order to better understand
how passion may contribute to or detract from optimal functioning.
WHY A BOOK ON PASSION NOW?
There are several reasons why a book on the psychology of passion is needed
at this time. First, although contemporary research on passion for activities
is very recent, dating back to the 2003 Vallerand et al. (2003) article, psy-
chologists have compensated for lost time, and a flurry of research has been
published since that time. Well over 100 studies have been conducted in all
wakes of life, including work, sports, education, music, arts, relationships,
politics, religion, and others. In addition, such research has employed a vari-
ety of methodological designs, including correlational, prospective, cross-
lagged panel, longitudinal, and experimental designs. Finally, “real people,”
such as nurses, coaches, athletes, musicians, painters, teachers, and (yes) stu-
dents, ranging in age from 10 to 100 years and coming from different coun-
tries across the globe, have served as participants. In light of the important
number and different types of studies conducted on passion over the past 10
years, a synthesis of such research is needed. Such a synthesis is important
because it will provide an overview of what we now know about passion. By
the same token, identifying current knowledge on passion should also allow
us to determine what it is that we do not know, and thus target some of the
areas where future research should take place. When scientists take stock of
findings in a given area, they also pave the way for future research. Thus, a
second reason why a book on passion is needed is that it will allow us to sug-
gest a number of areas where research on passion is needed.
Third, the vast majority of contemporary research on passion has been
conducted under the umbrella of the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP;
Vallerand, 2010, 2012a; Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003).
As we will see in Chapter 3, this model provides a framework to understand
the determinants and outcomes of passion. In addition, this model posits
the existence of adaptive and less adaptive forms of passion. Because much
of the research conducted to date on passion has used the Dualistic Model
of Passion as a theoretical framework, such research should inform us about
the validity of the model. By identifying areas where support has been gained
for the model and where such support is incomplete or lacking, we should be
in a better position to improve the validity of the model, to redirect future
research on it, and eventually to gain a more comprehensive knowledge of
the passion construct.
In sum, there are a number of good reasons why the scientific study of
passion is important and why a book on the psychology of passion is sorely
needed at this point in time. Below, I present a synopsis of the contents of
this book.
THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK
The purpose of this book is to present the DMP in detail and to provide a
synthesis of what we now know about the psychology of passion, using the
DMP as a framework. The remaining chapters of this book are subdivided
into five major parts. The next chapter (Chapter 2) in Part I (Introduction)
provides an overview of the history of the concept of passion. This history
starts with philosophers and moves on to the psychological perspective,
including current perspectives. In addition, Chapter 2 discusses the duality
of passion, presenting both the adaptive and less adaptive (and even mal-
adaptive) effects of passion. Then, passion as defined by the DMP is com-
pared to related constructs.
Part II focuses on theoretical and methodological dimensions. Chapter 3
presents the basic elements of the underlying theoretical framework that has
guided much of the research on passion in psychology, namely the DMP. The
DMP posits the existence of two types of passion (the harmonious and obses-
sive passions) that lead to different types of activity engagement and, conse-
quently, to different types of outcomes. Harmonious passion refers to feeling
the choice of engaging in the activity that one loves and is hypothesized to
lead to more adaptive outcomes than obsessive passion, which reflects an
internal pressure to do engage in the activity that one loves. These two types
of passion therefore provide a resolution to the paradox raised by philoso-
phers on the seemingly contradictory positive and negative outcomes engen-
dered by passion. Chapter 4 addresses methodological elements associated
with passion research. This chapter presents the development and validation
of the Passion Scale, demonstrating that the Passion Scale is a valid and reli-
able instrument that serves to measure both types of passion with respect
to a number of activities. In addition, other methodological features, such as
the experimental manipulation (or induction) of the harmonious and obses-
sive passions, are presented. Then, Chapter 5 reports a description of the
development and vicissitudes of passion. The factors involved in the devel-
opment of a new passion for a given activity are first presented. The role of
social and personal factors in sustaining or modifying an already developed

passion is then discussed.
The next two parts investigate the role of passion in a variety of phe-
nomena and outcomes. In Part III, I address research on the intrapersonal
consequences of passion. Chapter 6 reviews research on the role of pas-
sion in cognitive outcomes and processes, and discusses the role of pas-
sion in constructs such as concentration, flow, rumination, cognitive
conflict, and decision-making. The role of passion in affective experiences
is scrutinized in Chapter 7. Passion is first distinguished from emotion.
Then, emotion is defined and some of its functions are outlined. (These
functions will be discussed again in later chapters.) The effects of passion
on both positive and negative affects experienced under different condi-
tions are surveyed. The role of passion in psychological well-being is then
assessed in Chapter 8. It is proposed that having a harmonious passion for
an activity can produce sustainable positive effects on one’s psychological
well-being. Such positive effects do not typically take place with obses-
sive passion. Chapter 9 addresses the issue of physical health, discussing
the various adaptive and less adaptive effects of passion on one’s health.
Finally, Chapter 10 addresses the role of passion in high-level performance
and creativity, showing that passion is a required condition to reach the
highest levels of performance and that both types of passion can contrib-
ute to these through different psychological processes. Further, although
both forms of passion can facilitate creativity, overall, harmonious pas-
sion seems to do so more than obsessive passion.
In Part IV, research dealing with outcomes involving other people is
addressed. Chapter 11 focuses on research on interpersonal relationships,
including friendships and intimate relationships. In addition, the connec-
tion between passion and aggressive or hostile behavior is discussed. Then,
Chapter 12 deals with intergroup relations and societal outcomes, investi-
gating the role of passion for a cause that may be pursued in domains as
diverse as politics, religion, and the environment. Overall, although both
types of passion can lead to some positive effects for a given cause, harmoni-
ous passion typically leads to the most adaptive effects overall, while obses-
sive passion typically leads to less positive and, at times, even to maladaptive
outcomes for society.
One of the most exciting aspects of research on passion is that it is in
its infancy; so much more remains to be uncovered. Thus, in Part V, the
book’s final chapter (Chapter 13) offers some conclusions and directions
for future research. Although such suggestions are by no means meant
to be all-inclusive, they should leave the reader with some interesting
thoughts to ponder and perhaps incentives to engage in some exciting
future research.
w
C H A P T ER 2
A History and Definition of Passion
W e have seen in the preceding chapter that passion permeates all aspects
of life. It surrounds us. Furthermore, passion has come to take on a
variety of popular meanings over the years. But how has it been defined sci-
entifically? In this chapter I present a brief history of both the philosophical
and psychological perspectives on this issue. Then, guided by such informa-
tion, I propose a novel definition of the passion construct. Finally, I conclude
by comparing the passion construct as defined herein to other related psy-
chological constructs.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SCIENTIFIC

STUDY OF PASSION
No history of any psychological concept can be definitive, and this is clearly

the case with the concept of passion. In fact, conducting such a historical
review is perhaps even more complex in the case of the passion construct
because it has taken on different meanings over the years (see Solomon,
2000). For instance, some authors have equated passion with emotions,
which makes things somewhat murkier. Furthermore, scholars who have
worked on this construct over the centuries have done so in different lan-
guages. As Arnold (1968) has highlighted, affective constructs may have
slightly different meanings as a function of the language used (e.g., French
vs. English vs. German) and the culture associated with it. Thus, attempt-
ing to review past research on passion represents a perilous but nevertheless
necessary task. Below I will briefly describe how the concept of passion has
been studied over the years. I begin with the philosophical perspective and
then move on to the psychological standpoint.
( 14 )
A H i s t o r y a n d D e f i n i t i o n o f Pa s s i o n ( 15 )
The Philosophical Perspective
The philosophy of passion goes back several millennia (Rony, 1990). As we

will see, such a study of passion has been multifaceted and includes a variety
of perspectives that range from scorning passion, to suggesting the control
of passion, to celebrating passion.
From Ancient Greece to Plato and Aristotle
In ancient Greece, “scholars” did not take time to ponder the origin of pas-
sion, as it was accepted that it came from the gods. For instance, in Homer’s
Iliad, it is a god who restrains Achilles’ anger when Agamemnon takes his
mistress. Similarly, one can see in the Old Testament that God will instill
disordered affective states to those who disobey Him: “The Lord shall smite
thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart” (Deut. 28:28;
from Hunt, 1993, p. 4). Of course, if passion came from the gods, then it was
completely beyond a person’s control.
Around the sixth century bc, human thoughts and affective states were
slowly emerging as personal in nature, rather than inflicted by a god. For
instance, in India, Buddha highlighted the fact that bodily sensations, not
God, affected our thoughts. Similarly, in China, Confucius made clear in
his writings that human thought (not God) controlled our emotions and
behavior. He formulated a number of proverbs that incorporated passion, for
example, “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
Subsequently, in Greece, poets and philosophers such as Solon and Thales
started focusing on a number of “psychological questions,” including “Does
the mind rule the passions, or is it the other way around?” The “rational”
mind and personal knowledge were seen as playing a major role in controlling
human passions and the ensuing behavior. For most of these philosophers,
passion was seen as a dysregulated form of energy. For Plato (427–348 bc),
passion was seen as “bad” for people because it entailed a state of passivity
devoid of reason and typically outside one’s control. Plato opposed passion
to reason and posited that passion always overruled reason; therefore, one
was to beware of one’s passions. For Plato, this out-of-control form of energy
could lead one to engage in both irrational and unreasonable behavior. Thus,
passion can be seen as negatively affecting both what makes sense (the
rational dimension) and the reasonable thing to do (the moral dimension).
Aristotle (384–322 bc) agreed with Plato that one’s passions entailed a loss
of reason and that one must therefore be careful. Nevertheless, he suggested
that passions were not necessarily something bad as they represented one of
our most human characteristics derived from our experience. Thus, people
should not be ashamed of their passions—but they still had to control them!
The Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics
Then followed a period during which the philosophical study of passion

was taken up by three new schools of thought. The first position, that of
the Stoics, largely followed the perspective of Plato: passions were bad and
should be controlled by one’s will. They eventually confounded passions and
vices. This led one of its major proponents (Zenon de Citio; 334–262 bc) to
condemn passions as bad for people and to suggest that they be banned from
experience. The second school of thought was that of the Epicureans. Their
doctrine was based on the premise that not all passions were bad and that
some were actually good. This position originated in the work of Epicurus
(341–270 bc), who posited that “pleasure is the beginning and end of the
blessed life” (from Hunt, 1993, p. 37). However, this did not mean that all
pleasures were equivalent, as Epicurus advocated the search for more moder-
ate pleasures and actually argued against more intense pleasures such as sex-
ual intercourse, gluttony, and power. Of interest, the Epicureans also posited
the existence of two broad types of passion, pleasure and pain, on which we
judge all things that are to be pursued or avoided. Such a distinction between
the two types of passion would be used time and again in history. Finally, the
Skeptics posited that we should not trust our senses, as they may not report
reality correctly. Thus, passion represented an error of judgment. One of its
main figures, Pyrrho (360–270 bc), suggested that we cannot even trust our
thoughts. However, if it is so, then how can we trust our thoughts to control
the passions that we should be afraid of?
The Stoic perspective became very popular with the Romans, who ruled
the world after the Greeks—possibly because stoicism was in line with
their rugged way of life. Thus, philosophers such as Seneca (3 bc–65 ad)
and Epictetus (60–120 ad) recommended the rejection of passion and the
pursuit of abnegation and passive acceptance of one’s situation. Of major
interest is the work of Galen (130–201 ad), the Greek personal physician to
the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. He wrote The Diagnosis and Cure of the
Soul’s Passions. He basically pursued Plato and Aristotle’s ideas and recom-
mended the control of passions through reason. Based on Plato, Galen pro-
posed a classification of passions into two broad categories: the concupiscent
passions (based on the desire of the satisfaction of bodily needs and various
pleasures) and the irascible passions (the desire to overcome obstacles that
prevent the satisfaction of such needs and pleasures).
Augustine and Aquinas
Subsequent work on passion focused on integrating Platonic ideas with those

of Christianity. Perhaps the most important figure in this perspective was
Saint Augustine (354–430). The fact that Augustine became the leading
authority within the Catholic Church on doctrinal matters and remained

important for several centuries gave Plato’s thinking considerable impor-
tance as it pertains to the role of the “free will” (the ability of people to
make choices) given to man by God in exercising one’s reason in controlling
the passions—a position that remains relatively present to this day within
Christian circles. Augustine also adopted Galen’s perspective on the irascible
and concupiscent passions.
Saint Augustine’s perspective on the importance of controlling one’s pas-
sions through reason remained predominant in the Western world until Saint
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) appeared. Aquinas was a Dominican monk of
wealthy Italian descent who obtained a doctorate in theology and who incor-
porated Aristotle’s writings into Christianity, while leaving some room for
Galen and Augustine (and thus Plato). By adopting Aristotle’s perspective,
Aquinas accepted the position that one extracts ideas from experience (the
mind is tabula rasa from birth) and, contrary to Plato, he rejected the innate
basis of thoughts. Of importance for the present discussion, with experience
came passions, or desiring the objects of our appetites. Aquinas extended
Galen’s position on the desires or passions through Platonic reasoning. As
seen above, Galen had proposed that there were two types of passions: the
concupiscent and the irascible passions. Aquinas reasoned that the irasci-
ble passions complete the concupiscent passions by helping the latter reach
its goal by overcoming opposing obstacles. In line with Aristotle, Aquinas
accepted the fact that we cannot escape our humanity, which includes expe-
riencing passions. However, free will exists to help us choose what to do
with these passions. Through proper knowledge and understanding, free will
should lead us to seek what is appropriate and to avoid what is inappropri-
ate. If we seek what is inappropriate, it is because our knowledge is false or
at least incomplete. Thus, through proper knowledge (which can be obtained
through both personal experience and revelation from God), the exercise of
one’s free will can lead us to control our passions. Thus, according to Aquinas,
passions can be good or bad, depending on whether they are controlled or not
by reason: “Insofar as the passions of the soul go beyond the order of reason,
they incline one toward sin, but insofar as they are ordered by reason, they
pertain to virtue.”
René Descartes
Later, René Descartes (1596–1650), in his book Les passions de l’âme (The
Passions of the Soul, 1649/1972), concluded that it was impossible to ban
passions from experience because they are part of human existence, as sug-
gested earlier by Aristotle and Aquinas. In fact, for Descartes, passions were
experienced in the soul but “prepared” in the body. In line with his body-soul
dualism, for Descartes, passions were “agitations of the soul caused by the
animal spirits of the body” (Descartes, 1961, p. 122). For instance, he wrote,
“Love is a passion of the soul, caused by the motion of the spirits, which
incites it to unite itself voluntarily to those objects which appear to it to be
agreeable.” Thus, for Descartes, the mind-body interaction is key in passions.
The body reacts to a stimulus and leads the soul to experience some passions.
Then, the soul consciously decides through free will whether or not to pursue
the object. Free will should lead one to pursue suitable objects. However, if
one pursues an unsuitable object, this is not the soul’s fault. According to
Descartes, such inappropriate behavior is due to the fact that the passions
are too intense and override the soul’s control. Descartes posited that pas-
sions represented a strong impulse, devoid of reason, and that we should be
careful of passions because this impulse may fool us and lead us to behave
irrationally.
Descartes identified six primitive forms of passion: love, hatred, desire,
joy, sadness, and admiration. As one can see, what Descartes had in mind
was more or less “emotions” as scientifically studied today. Of importance,
he also added that passions were not necessarily bad for people. In fact, in
line with Aquinas, Descartes suggested that they could be good for people if
controlled by reason. He gave the example of courage and temerity. Courage
and temerity are similar as they both involve high levels of energy to face
adversity. However, they are nevertheless different. While courage can be
good as it remains under our control, temerity can get us into trouble if we
lose control and go too far. Furthermore, Descartes added that it was our
job as humans to understand the difference between two types of passions
(“good” and “bad”) and to act accordingly. He even suggested that we make
up a list of the good and bad passions. Interestingly, Descartes believed that
as humans we have what it takes to tame our passions through our freedom
of choice. It is through reason that we make the appropriate choices. Making
appropriate choices help us control our passions, and to feel free, rather than
slaves, to our passions.
The discussion above pertains to what Descartes calls “passions of the
soul.” In all likelihood, Descartes’ passions of the soul would be seen as “emo-
tions” today. However, there is another affective construct that Descartes
describes in his writing that is of great interest with respect to passion: “les
émotions intérieures de l’âme” (“the interior emotions of the soul”;
Haldane & Ross, 1972). These are defined as “emotions of the soul that refer
to it but that are caused by itself.” Contrary to the passions that take origins
in the bodily reactions to an object, interior emotions are not caused by the
body but by the soul (mind) itself, as indicated in the above quote. With the
interior emotions, the soul creates by itself a representation of the object
and creates a desire to act toward the object in a way as to generate a certain
emotion. Thus, interior emotions can generate an action toward the object
without the prodding of the body in order to seek to experience an emotion.
Interior emotions do not reflect a passive reaction to the object’s effect on the
body, but rather in and of themselves lead to pursuing an object based on an
internal representation of this object (existing in the soul or mind) and the
expected positive affective outcomes it may engender. Consider what legend-
ary Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot had to say about the reason that
he keeps performing at the age of 73: “Everything goes through the pleasure
of anticipation. … That’s what feeds my passion. …” As one can see, interior
emotions are much closer to the contemporary concept of “passion” than to
that of “emotions.” Descartes’ concept of interior (or intellectualized) emo-
tions will resurface centuries later when used by psychologists Ribot (1907)
and Joussain (1928) to refer to the concept of passion.
Spinoza
Spinoza (1632–1677) proposed that we should tame our passions because

they are clouded states that can lead us astray of our main mortal goal, which
was to follow God. In fact, Spinoza came to compare passions to “bondage.”
“The impotence of man to govern or restrain the passions I call bondage, for
a man who is under their control is not his own master, but is mastered by
fortune, in whose power he is, so that he is often forced to follow the worse,
although he sees the better before him” (1677/1985). In line with the Greek
philosophers, such control was to be obtained though reason. Once reason
prevailed, however, the passion was hypothesized to subside. For Spinoza, it
was either passion or reason. The two could not coexist.
Interestingly, Spinoza proposed the existence of two types of passions.
The first type takes place when we passively react to the external world. This
should lead to feeling hurt and frustrated. For Spinoza, most passions are of
this first type. The second type of passions is more active, involves our true
nature as humans, and originates from an adequate knowledge of the world.
Such passions increase our energy and sense of awareness and may lead us to
experience some happiness. Thus, even for Spinoza, passions were not neces-
sarily all bad, although reason was largely preferred.
German and British Philosophers
German and British philosophers portrayed passions in a more positive light

than did Spinoza. For example, Locke (1632–1704) and Leibniz (1646–1716)
posited that passions can be active in the sense that they do not merely rep-
resent an uncontrollable state experienced by people but can involve some
striving and some direction. For instance, Leibniz posited that “passions
were neither contentment nor pleasures or opinions, but tendencies …
accompanied by pleasure or displeasure.” Along those lines, the work of David
Hume (1711–1776) is of interest. Although Hume puts a marked emphasis on
the role of reason and ethics in human conduct, he also proposed that, in
this respect, passions were extremely important. In Hume’s famous book, A
Treatise of Human Nature, the large middle portion of his book was devoted to
passion. In fact, people often overlook the fact that Hume proposed a theory
of passions, which he sees as “impressions” that result from bodily move-
ments (as in Descartes). Such passions were either pleasant or unpleasant,
and what distinguished the different passions was a causal network of ideas.
Thus, Hume advanced a cognitive theory wherein passions result from an
idea (e.g., “I have done a good deed”) and, in turn, passions (e.g., “feeling
proud”) lead to another idea about the self (e.g., “I am a good person”). Thus,
here we see that the mind plays a role in the production of passion, and not
only in its control—an idea that will resurface later with some early psy-
chologists (e.g., Ribot and Joussain).
Hume also proposed that there were good and bad passions that could
motivate appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Like the Scottish philos-
opher Adam Smith (1723–1790), Hume underscored the role of what both
philosophers called “the moral sentiments” in moral behavior. According
to their position, moral sentiments, such as sympathy, play a key role in
human social existence and morality (see Weiner, 1980, for a similar con-
temporary position). It was the experience of sympathy that led to helping
others. Thus, passions (in this case, emotions) should not be frowned upon
but rather encouraged, especially as they can promote appropriate moral
behavior.
The contribution of the German philosopher Emmanuel Kant (1724–1804)
in the discussion of passion is of great importance. It is with Kant that we
can see passion clearly taking a life of its own, separate from emotions, for
the first time. Whereas most philosophers before him believed that the pas-
sions were “emotions” of some sort, he strongly disagreed. Kant argued that
emotions are typically fleeting in nature, lasting only a moment, whereas
passions are more enduring in nature, as they refer to something more
permanent that has come to characterize that person in relation to a spe-
cific object: “Affects are specifically different from passions; the first refer
to sentiments, the second to the faculty of desire … [the first, emotions]
are tumultuous and unreasoned, [the others, passions] are long lasting and
reasoned” (Kant, 1982, p. 108, brackets are mine). Furthermore, while emo-
tions are reactive to outside stimuli and passive, passions may be best seen
as active in the sense that there is a striving inherent in them that originates
from the person in the absence of outside stimuli. Kant gives the example of
being “upset” (indignation) as an emotion and hatred (a desire for revenge)
as a passion. Finally, for Kant, passion referred to a relatively permanent
tendency toward an object. Furthermore, this tendency was seen as exclu-
sive and possessive in the sense that one’s passion led one to be under the
command of the object of one’s passion. Thus, Kant’s position brought clarity
with respect to the distinction between emotions and passions and, in fact,
contributed to portraying passion as closer to its contemporary definition.
The Romantics
Spearheaded by Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the

Romantics strongly promoted the importance of passion. Contrary to the
Greek philosophers, Rousseau even suggested that passions were so pow-
erful that they could not be controlled by reason. He proposed that only a
passion could control another passion. Others, like the French Helvetius
(1715–1771), went as far as positing that passions could be cultivated and
that such cultivation was important for intelligence: “One becomes stupid
as soon as he (or she) ceases to be passionate.” Diderot (1713–1784) also
added that passions were adaptive and sources of much pleasure and accom-
plishment to the extent that they were in harmony among themselves (see
Diderot, 1746/1998).
Another philosopher who played an important role with respect to pas-
sion was Hegel (1770–1831). For Hegel, passion was a source of high energy
directed toward one clear path, the object: “Passion … pushes man to con-
centrate his energy on one object only. In fact, with passion, all other inter-
ests are put aside.” This has led Hegel to propose that “nothing great in this
world has ever been accomplished without passion.” This unique relation
between the person and the object of one’s passion was aptly described by
Stendhal (1783–1842). According to him, a change in perception toward the
object takes place through the crystallization effect, in which a normal object
becomes special through some transformation in the mind of the individual
who is passionate about the object. The object of one’s passion is then given
special value, sometimes above all else. Years later, existentialist Kierkegaard
(1813–1855) would even write, “To exist, if we do not mean by that only a
pseudo existence, cannot take place without passion.” Friederick Nietzsche
(1844–1900) even went as far as seeing passions as “friendly” and reason as
something to be suspicious about. As one can see, this position depicts a pic-
ture completely opposite to that proposed by the ancient Greek philosophers.
Conclusion
This short historical section on the philosophy of passion helps us to under-

stand the evolution of the passion construct over the years, from ancient
Greece to the early 1900s. First, the construct of passion has moved from
an uncontrollable state imposed by the gods to a diffuse concept that seems
to incorporate a number of affective constructs (emotions, feelings, senti-
ments, etc.) to a more precise independent construct referring to the persis-
tent striving for a specific object perceived as meaningful (see Kant). Second,
passion has also moved from being scorned by the Greek philosophers to
being celebrated by the Romantics. And third, while the high level of energy
that provides passion has been largely underscored throughout, authors have
also argued that such energy can lead to either negative or positive outcomes.
At the turn of the twentieth century, it would be up to the psychologists to
pursue the scientific work on passion.
The Psychological Perspective
In psychology, very little work has been done on passions compared to the
amount of work performed by the philosophers. One can see four major
thrusts in the psychological work on passion: (1) the early neglect of pas-
sion as a psychological construct; (2) perceiving passion as an intellec-
tualized emotion; (3) passion as a disorganizing emotion; (4) passion as a
motivational force.
The Early Neglect of Passion as a Psychological Construct
Toward the end of the nineteenth century and the turn of the twentieth cen-
tury, the word “passion” disappeared in the United States (and in much of
psychology; see Hilgard, 1987). While the term had been used regularly in
philosophy just a few years earlier, it disappeared from experimental phi-
losophy, which would become later the field of psychology. There seems to
be at least three reasons for this state of affairs. First, giants in the field,
such as Charles Darwin (1872) and William James (1884), conducted some
penetrating analyses of the concept of emotion, as we understand it today,
without referring to the word “passion.” It would thus appear that Darwin
and James chose to focus on the concept of emotions rather than that of
passion. This may have been due to their interest in the affective reaction of
both animals and humans to the external environment rather than on one’s
proactive striving toward an object. Their work generated a lot of interest,
and psychologists followed. By doing so, the field of psychology focused on
what is known today as “emotions,” and the study of passions (as defined by
Kant) was largely put aside.
Second, throughout history, there has been some confusion between the
two concepts of passion and emotion. Psychologists who were slowly turn-
ing toward the measurement of constructs may have felt that emotion was
a more precise construct than the more abstract concept of passion, which
was used to refer to a number of affective constructs. This view may have
been reinforced by the rise of behaviorism. Behaviorists, first Watson (1913)
and later Skinner (1938), relegated all internal phenomena into the black box
(the mind) that was not to be opened. Emotion (at least emotional behavior)
could be observed, while passion, on the other hand, could not. Because it
was too subjective in nature, passion was to be avoided, according to the
behaviorist perspective. Psychologists followed suit.
A final reason for the neglect of passion by psychologists was that psy-
choanalysis, the other predominant psychological framework at that time,
did not include passion in its writings. For instance, Freud (1856–1939) in
his psychoanalytic theory rarely used the word “passion.” This is surprising
because he gave much importance to affective concepts such as anxiety, the
pleasure principle, and affects as a form of psychic energy (see Rapaport,
1960). However, Freud did mention that one can develop a love for an object
through the existence of some compensation mechanism in which one com-
pensates for the lack of satisfaction of some physical needs through some
other passionate involvement. For instance, he proposed that Leonardo (da
Vinci) had sublimated his sexual passions into the passion for independent
scientific research (see Gay, 1989). However, Freud did not elaborate further
on the psychological mechanisms involved in such passionate compensation.
I return to this issue in Chapter 5 on the development of passion. The net
result is that, overall, there was a relative neglect of the construct of passion
in psychology at the turn of the twentieth century.
Passion as an Intellectualized Emotion
It is in Europe, and specifically in France, that the little work conducted on

passion at the turn of the twentieth century took place. Such work did not
involve experiments or research as such. However, it included some solid
armchair psychology based on observations, use of the popular literature,
and astute reasoning. Ribot (1907) wrote a book devoted entirely to passions,
titled Essai sur les passions (Essay on Passions). In his insightful book, Ribot
pursued the work of Kant in proposing that passions were not synonymous
with emotions. In fact, Ribot suggested that they were opposite constructs.
Whereas emotions are typically seen as intense and short-lived, Ribot saw
passions as more intellectual than affective, as highly stable, and as less
intense. In line with Descartes’ “interior emotions,” Ribot defined passion as
an enduring and prolonged intellectualized emotion that has gone through
some transformation. According to Ribot, there are three main characteris-
tic of passion: the “fixed” idea (or a clear and persistent goal toward an object
or activity), the duration (from a few months to sometimes an entire life),
and intensity (involving some form of energy deployed toward one’s goal or
object).
Ribot saw three broad types of passion depending on the object that it
seeks to attain: (1) a passion in line with individual conservation (e.g., glut-
tony, alcoholism); (2) passion oriented toward expansion, seen as volition
and power (e.g., gambling, adventure seeking); and (3) non-sympathetic
passions (e.g., hatred). He further distinguished between two types of pas-

sions toward a given object, depending on the type of action: those positive
and oriented toward an object (e.g., political passion), and those negative and
oriented away from an object or toward its destruction (e.g., hatred). Ribot
also presented a short analysis of the causes of the development of passion,
both external (the environment and other persons) and internal (our own
desires and thoughts). Interestingly, just like Hume, Ribot also underscored
the role of reason in the development of passion. It is through reasoning
and further reflection on the object of one’s love that this object increases
in value and that one becomes passionate about it. Thus, here reason serves
passion. We have come a long way from the Greek philosophers and the need
to control passion through reason!
The important work of Ribot was pursued and elaborated further by
Joussain (1928). In his book Les passions humaines (The Human Passions),
Joussain, like Ribot, subscribed to the Kantian position in which passions are
radically different from emotions. He coined the elegant phrase, “Emotion is
only a temporary state of mind; passion is a way of life” (p. 21). Implicit in
this phrase is the idea that passion can serve some integrative function and
purposeful direction in one’s life. Further, he reasoned that passions are not
disorganized and, in fact, may even serve some functional purposes. Much
like Descartes’ interior emotions and Ribot’s concept of passion, Joussain
saw passion as an intellectualized emotion that persists over time. While
some passions may be more intense than others, they also can vary in kind,
depending on what the person seeks to gain from the desired object. He thus
proposed that there were two broad types of passion: the “noble” passions
oriented toward the well-being or benefit of others or society, and the “self-
ish” passions that seek personal satisfaction. Interestingly, contrary to Ribot,
Joussain goes beyond the nature of the activity to determine the type of pas-
sion. Rather, he uses the intent underlying activity engagement to do so.
In line with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Romantics, Joussain posited
that “[o]‌ur freedom is not to be gained by getting rid of all passions but rather
to let the noble passions progressively dominate the selfish ones” (p. 11).
Joussain mentions that passions can have profound effects on our percep-
tions and reasoning as well as on our behavior. Of interest, Joussain adds
that passions can interact among themselves in at least two ways. First, some
passions can conflict with other passions. In such cases, one passion can
crowd out other passions and try to extinguish them. Second, other passions
can peacefully coexist with others. In fact, Joussain proposed that “virtue is
to be obtained through the equilibrium that we establish among our passions
and the multiple consequences that they create for us and others, keeping in
mind the knowledge that we have of the world and ourselves” (p. 103; italics
are mine). Such a statement is of great importance, as it underscored that
all passions are not equivalent and that they may play different roles in the
outcomes that we experience. I will return to the role of conflict and har-
mony in passionate involvement briefly in the next section and more fully in
the next chapter.
At about the same time, in the United States, John Dewey (1930), the
social/educational psychologist, also celebrated the role of passions in peo-
ple’s lives. He echoed the words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in being dismis-
sive of the role of reason in controlling passion and those of Joussain in
encouraging equilibrium among one’s passions. In his book Human Nature
and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology, he stated, “The conclusion
is not that the emotional, passionate phase of action can be or should be
eliminated in behalf of bloodless reason. More passions, not fewer, is the
answer. … Rationality, once more, is not a force to evoke against impulse
and habit. It is the attainment of a working harmony among diverse desires”
(pp. 195–196; italics are mine).
Passion as a Disorganizing Emotion
Some psychologists have suggested that as a form of emotion, passion

entails some affective disorganization. In fact, Pradines (1958) suggested
that passion is one of the processes through which disorder (although such
disorder is not pathological, according to him) could be introduced into
sentiments. Specifically, passion leads to a stabilization of sentiments, of
which there are two kinds. The first kind takes place by making our goals
rigid and immovable, despite the reality and constraints of our lives. This
type of inflexible stabilization is seen by Pradines as maladaptive for people,
as it does not leave room to take reality or life changes into account. Other
authors have subsequently taken a similar approach. For instance, Averill
(1980) has underscored the fact that as a form of intense emotion, passion is
debilitative, as it prevents us from controlling our actions. Anger represents
an important example for Averill. With anger, people lose control and may
engage in aggressive behavior that they may come to regret later. The second
type of transformation takes place by disturbing one’s internal sentiments
through a reorganization of these sentiments as a function of one’s passion.
While such a takeover of one’s affective life by passion may have some del-
eterious effects, Pradines also suggest that it may sometimes be adaptive, as
it may provide some structure into one’s life.
Researchers in the area of romantic relationships have also looked at pas-
sion from an emotional disorganization perspective. For instance, the con-
cept of passionate love has generated much interest (e.g., Hatfield & Walster,
1978). Here, the object of one’s passion is another person. Passion is con-
ceptualized as a hot, intense, emotion toward another person, associated
with moments of exaltation and transcendence (Hatfield & Rapson, 1993;
Kim & Hatfield, 2004). Passionate love is hypothesized to be of relatively
short duration, sometimes only a few weeks; it may be dysfunctional and

may lead to some emotional suffering, especially when love is unrequited.
Hatfield and Rapson (1993) posit that companionate love (a non-passionate
form of love) is to be preferred because it is more functional. Also with
respect to passionate love, Baumeister and Bratlavsky (1999) offer the fol-
lowing definition: “. . . we define passionate love as involving strong feelings
of attraction for the other person. These feelings are typically characterized
by physiological arousal and the desire to be united with the other person
in multiple senses” (p. 52). It should be noted that although Baumeister
and Bratlavsky’s conceptual work has been largely conducted within the
area of passionate love, they open the door for passion to be experienced
toward other people (e.g., parents, friends) for whom we experience strong
positive feelings. Finally, while Sternberg (1986) has also underscored the
importance of passion in love, he sees passion as having mainly a sexual
connotation.
Passion as a Motivational Force
Other psychologists have adopted a motivational perspective to passion.

For instance, the emotion theorist Nico Frijda and colleagues (1991) posit
that “[p]‌assions are defined as high-priority goals with emotionally impor-
tant outcomes” (p. 218). If passions are goals, then passion must entail
some form of motivational striving for the goal that is being pursued. In
fact, according to Frijda et al., individuals will spend large amounts of time
and effort in order to reach their passionate goals. This is so important to
Frijda (2007) that he posits that the dimension of “motive states,” or states
of action readiness, represents the core of most emotions. Such a state of
action readiness is called the “passion principle.” Thus, although he is look-
ing at passion from an emotional perspective, like several philosophers,
Frijda subscribes to a motivational perspective of passion. Similarly, Hall
(2002) posits that passion refers to a desire for an envisioned good that is
highly valued by the person and that may lead to action. Unfortunately, it
appears that neither Frijda nor Hall have conducted any empirical research
on passion.
Some of the authors previously mentioned also leave some room for
a motivational process, even though passion is seen as an emotion. Thus
Hatfield and Rapson (1990, 1993), like Frijda, see passionate love as a
form of striving for the loved one: “[passion is] a state of intense long-
ing for union with another” (p. 9; words in brackets are mine). Even
Baumeister and Bratlavsky (1999) include some motivational elements in
their definition of passionate love (“the desire to be united with the other
person”). Finally, in their meta-analysis of studies on the neuroscience of
passionate love, Ortigue et al. (2010, p. 3549) conclude that “[l]‌ove is a
complex function including appraisals, goal-directed motivation, reward,

self-representation, and body-image.” Overall, these various authors con-
sider passion as a motivational tendency to reach one’s goal (in this case,
the loved one).
My colleagues and I (Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand & Houlfort,
2003) were the first to focus on passion for activities (rather than roman-
tic relationships) and to do it from a motivational perspective, using
the multidimensional definition elaborated further in the next section.
Some researchers subsequently defined passion as a “love for the activ-
ity.” Much of this work has been conducted in the work domain (Baum &
Locke, 2004), especially as it pertains to entrepreneurship (see Cardon,
Wincent, Singh, & Drnovsek, 2009, for a review). Other researchers have
defined passion as important attitudes toward some objects such as poli-
tics (e.g., Krosnick, 1990). However, Vallerand et al. (2003) suggest that
passion is much more than love for an activity or high valuation toward
an object; rather, it is a love toward something (or someone) highly valued
and meaningful in which we invest time in important ways. Further, the
object is so important that it becomes part of one’s identity (how one sees
oneself) and is self-defining. Furthermore, Vallerand et al. (2003) have
posited the existence of two types of passion, namely the harmonious
and obsessive passions that were hypothesized to be either in harmony
or in conflict with other aspects of the person’s sense of self and to lead
to adaptive and less adaptive outcomes, respectively. These two types of
passion are briefly defined in a later section and again in more details in
the next chapter.
Conclusion
In sum, the history of passion from a psychological perspective is rather

short compared to the philosophical perspective. While passion was origi-
nally neglected, it was perceived initially as an intellectualized emotion
(as in Descartes’ interior emotions), as an emotion, and then as a motiva-
tion construct. It is this motivational perspective that will be adopted in
this book.
TOWARD A DEFINITION OF PASSION
The discussion above on the history of the scientific study of the passion con-
cept helps circumscribe what passion is and what some of its contributory
elements are. Several dimensions need to be underscored. These will help us
to come up with a meaningful definition of passion.
Passion Toward a Specific Object
First, to begin with, a passion is oriented toward a specific entity or object.

Most philosophers and psychologists agree on this point. One’s passion is
targeted toward a specific object and not toward everything or anything. As
such, passion is not a trait. Thus, we should not say that someone is passion-
ate (or not) but rather that he or she is passionate about something or some-
one. For example, one individual may be passionate toward a given activity
such as playing the piano, but not toward another activity such as playing
the guitar, while it may be the exact opposite for another individual. Finally,
most people would not be passionate for cleaning the house or taking the
garbage out. Thus, one cannot simply be described as passionate, implying
that he or she is passionate about everything. Furthermore, the object of
one’s passion can be an activity (e.g., playing basketball), an object (e.g., one’s
card collection), another person (e.g., the loved one), or even an abstract con-
cept, idea, cause, or goal (e.g., the independence of one’s country). Looking at
passion as being targeted at an object, activity, person, or a concept broadens
the definition of passion, allowing us to look at passion toward basically all
aspects of life, from work to leisure activities to love and beyond.
Passion Toward an Object That One Loves
A second characteristic of the passion concept pertains to the love that one
entertains for the object. Most authors reviewed posit that passion repre-
sents a tendency toward an object that is pleasurable, and even that one
loves or desires. Thus, the love of an object represents a key characteristic
of the passion concept. It is important to note that some authors have also
mentioned that passion may entail a tendency away from objects that are
unpleasant. However, I posit that such a tendency differs in some impor-
tant ways from passion as defined here. For instance, moving away from an
unpleasant activity or object entails that this object is not important for the
person, and presumably it lies outside one’s identity and self-definition. It
is the complete opposite of passion as defined here. Thus, it will not be dis-
cussed any further.
Passion Toward an Object That One Sees as Meaningful
In addition to the love for a specific object, a third element that needs to be
underscored as pertains to the definition of passion is that the object of one’s
passion is attributed high value. This point has been highlighted by several
authors (e.g., Kant, Frijda, Hall; Krosnick, 1990) and was made very clear
by Stendhal, who used the term “crystallization” to refer to “the operation

of the mind that always finds new ways to discover new perfections in the
beloved object” (Stendhal, 1822/1965, p. 333). When passionate about some-
thing, the person loves the object so much that the latter is given high value.
The object becomes high on the person’s priority list. In fact, as Hegel pro-
posed, the person may come to love the object so much that other objects lose
their interest for the person. Life, then, only matters when one is engaged
with the object; all other moments are lived while waiting to re-engage with
the object of one’s passion. In such situations, people come to “live life in
brackets” until they rejoin the object of their devotion. While such a position
may be seen as extreme and may not portray all forms of passion, it never-
theless underscores the fact that the object of one’s passion is highly valued.
Of importance is the fact that such valuation is clearly subjective, as another
person who is not passionate about the object may see the latter as irrelevant
or even futile! It can very well be that seeing the object as important and
meaningful serves some functions. For instance, Freud suggested that we
love the object for the perfections that we wish that our own ego had, and we
seek this way to satisfy our own narcissism. If, indeed, passion serves some
psychological functions, then one would expect most people to be passionate
toward at least one object, activity, goal, or person. As we shall see in subse-
quent chapters, this is indeed the case.
Passion as a Motivational Construct
Fourth, passion is motivational in nature. Irrespective of the term used,

there is an impulse, an inclination, a goal, a tendency, a desire, or a striv-
ing toward an object that is pleasurable. This point has been made repeat-
edly in history by a number of philosophers (e.g., Hume, Leibniz, Kant,
Hegel) and psychologists (e.g., Ribot, Joussain, Frijda). It should be noted
that most, if not all, of the terms presented above (i.e., energy, direction
toward the object, intensity, persistence) are typically considered as moti-
vational in the field of psychology. If passion is a motivational construct,
then one important corollary of this assumption is that it is not an emo-
tion. This is in line with the important point made by Kant centuries ago.
Passions are active, purposive, and persistent, while emotions are passive,
tumultuous, and short-lived. Considering passion as a motivational con-
struct may be perceived as a challenging assumption because much of the
work on passion has been conducted by both philosophers and psycholo-
gists who, for the most part, adopted an emotional framework. However,
making this assumption allows us to clarify the nature of the passion con-
struct and to keep the conceptual distinction clear between the constructs
of passion (pursuing the object that we love) and emotions (the feelings that
we experience during or after such pursuit). By doing so, it then becomes

possible to make predictions as to when passion will lead (or not) to emo-
tions and of which kind. Thus, contrary to the philosophers who equate pas-
sions with emotions, I posit that by considering passion as a motivational
construct, a more accurate description of the nature and the functions of
passion becomes possible.
Passion Leads to Energetic Engagement and Persistence
The striving toward the object about which one is passionate is emitted
with high intensity (e.g., Descartes) and energy (e.g., Hegel) and is persis-
tent (e.g., Kant, Ribot). Thus, when people are passionate for something,
they typically engage in the activity with high energy. As seen in Chapter 1
(see Table 1.1), several authors have celebrated the energy that passion
provides. Furthermore, such energetic engagement may persist for several
years and sometimes for a lifetime. For instance, the well-known social
psychologist Phil Zimbardo once said that “[a]‌f ter doing psychology for
half a century, my passion for all of it is greater than ever” (Zimbardo,
retrieved June 10, 2013). As such, persistent energetic engagement repre-
sents one of the defining characteristics of passion. For instance, if some-
one loves taking photographs in nature and finds it relatively important
but does not find the time to do it regularly, can we say that he or she has a
passion for it? Of course, someone may not have time to take photographs.
Then, one’s passion may be evident in other ways, such as talking about
photography with friends or reading photography books. However, if in
the long run one does not organize his or her life to engage in photography,
something is missing. One might say, then, that the person has an interest
in photography that has yet to turn into a passion. Only when someone
invests time and energy on a regular basis in an activity that he or she
loves and finds meaningful can we really talk about passion. Therefore, an
energetic, persistent engagement represents an important feature of the
passion construct.
Passion as Part of Identity
A sixth element that characterizes passion is the specific person-object

interface that comes to take place. Such interface is highly idiosyncratic,
as some people may come to be passionate about jogging, while others may
become passionate about playing cards or writing poetry. For instance, in
the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) initial research, a total of 150 different
activities were described as passionate by the 539 participants. Clearly,

there is a person-activity match that is most conducive to passion for each
person. Of importance, this specificity of object implies a highly specific
person-activity interface where the activity that one is passionate about
will define the person and become part of his or her identity. Kant, among
others, underscored this point. It should be underscored that such an
idiosyncratic perspective lends itself well to both a nomothetic and an
idiographic approach to studying passion. Indeed, it should be possible
to derive general laws of passion for person-activity interfaces that are
highly personalized.
Of additional interest, Pradines (1958) underscored that although the
internal transformation of sentiments through passion can be disorganiz-
ing, such transformation may also be adaptive: “But from another point of
view, passion achieves the goal of adaptation for which sentiment is destined
because passion begins to organize the sentiments themselves” (p. 195).
Such an internal organization has important implications for people’s iden-
tity. This means that those who have a passion for playing basketball, play-
ing the guitar, or writing poetry do not merely engage in these activities.
They will eventually come to see themselves (and in all likelihood will be seen
by others) as “basketball players,” “guitar players,” and “poets,” as the activ-
ity will become part of their identity. Joussain (1928) made that point clear
when he suggested that one’s passion can lead to a change in lifestyle and
even a personality reorganization as a function of one’s dominant passionate
tendency. Therefore, if you are passionate about basketball, you “are” a bas-
ketball player, and thus in all likelihood you will play the game, have friends
who also play the game, you will talk about it, read about it, and watch it
on TV, and other such behavior. The object that we are passionate about
becomes part of us, our identity, and in so doing it will modify who we are
and how we organize our life. As we will see in the next chapter, this inter-
nalization of the beloved object in identity has some implications for the way
people engage in the passionate activity and the type of persistence they dis-
play toward the object. In fact, if an activity becomes part of one’s identity,
it may be very hard to stop activity engagement. This may explain why some
passionate performers (artists, athletes) either never retire or, once retired,
come out of retirement, even several times, as in the case of basketball legend
Michael Jordan or French singer Charles Aznavour. Similarly, if an object is
part of our identity, it is difficult not to see it in a positive light and not to act
positively toward it. Vass (2003), for instance, used the term “cheering for
self” when explaining the behavior of passionate sports fans when cheer-
ing for their beloved team. By cheering for their team, soccer fans indirectly
cheer for themselves, as the team that they are passionate about is part of
their identity.
On the Duality of Passion
The final characteristic of passion that needs to be addressed is that of its

duality. When we look at the concept of passion, one thing that becomes clear
is that it seems to bring about the best and worst in people, the good and the
bad. Philosophers have long made this clear. The first position is that pas-
sions are “bad” for people as they entail a loss of reason and control. This per-
spective is probably the dominant one (e.g., Plato, Spinoza). People afflicted
with passion are thought to experience a kind of suffering that endures, in
line with the etymology of the word “passion” described earlier. Individuals
with a passion are seen as passive, as slaves to their passion (what Spinoza
called “bondage”), because it comes to control them. In line with this per-
spective, the famous actor Omar Sharif offered the following: “I didn’t want
to be a slave to any passion anymore. I gave up card playing altogether, even
bridge and gambling—more or less. It took me a few years to get out of it”
(Sharif, retrieved June 10, 2013). Thus, according to the first position, pas-
sions entail a loss of control over the object that one loves. Presumably, as
suggested by the Greek philosophers, being passionate can bring about some
negative outcomes, such as emotional suffering, for the person.
The second perspective portrays passion in a more positive light. As seen
previously, several philosophers belong to this second camp. Rousseau and
the Romantics were probably the most vocal in this group. For instance,
Rousseau suggested that passions were good, as they can lead to knowledge
and truth. Hegel argued that passions provide high energy and, in fact, are
necessary to reach the highest levels of achievement. And the famous writer
and former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) suggested
that “[m]‌an is only great when he acts from passion”! Thus, this second view
of passion sees people as more active in relation to their passion and even
suggests that adaptive benefits will accrue when individuals are in control
of their passion.
The above discussion highlights the existence of two different perspec-
tives on passion, as expressed by authors anchored in two different camps.
However, a closer look at the literature reveals that there is a third camp.
Instead of positing that passions are either good or bad, depending on the
camp one adheres to, the authors adopting this third perspective have sug-
gested that there are two types of passion, some “good” and some “bad,”
depending on what they entail for the person and/or society. For instance,
Descartes posited that there were “good” and “bad” passions, while Ribot
contrasted the noble and the selfish passions. Similarly, Joussain later
posited that some passions created conflict within the person, while other
passions peacefully coexisted with other passions and other aspects of
the person. Thus, although these positions have not been elaborated on
in details, these authors proposed that some passions are adaptive and
others less so, as suggested in the following quote: “Passion makes idiots
of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever” (François de La
Rochefoucauld, 1613–1680). There is a duality of passion that needs to be
accounted for.
When considering the different elements of the duality of passion, there
seems to be two different forms of passion for an object or activity: one that
entails an active experiential dimension leading to some positive outcomes,
and another passion with a more passive dimension that is less positive and
can even be conducive to negative outcomes. Such a duality of passion needs
to be addressed, as it reflects a major characteristic of passion not addressed
by other theoretical models in motivation psychology. Specifically, loving
something (or someone) may not only bring about some positive outcomes,
but it may also be conducive to negative outcomes. I address this issue in the
next chapter when discussing the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP). As will
be seen, incorporating this duality in our theoretical analysis allows us to
better understand the nature of passion and to make more precise predic-
tions regarding some of its consequences.
A Definition of Passion
In the first empirical paper on passion for activities, my colleagues and

I (Vallerand et al., 2003) proposed a multidimensional definition of passion.
In light of the history and review of the concept of passion, this definition
can be further refined and presented as follows:
Passion can be seen as a strong inclination toward a specific object, activity,

concept or person that one loves (or at least strongly likes), highly values,
invests time and energy in on a regular basis, and that is part of one’s iden-
tity. Furthermore, two forms of passion seem to exist. The first can be seen
as being in harmony with other aspects of the self and the person’s life and
should mainly lead to adaptive outcomes. The second form of passion may con-
flict with aspects of the self and the person’s life and should mainly lead to less
adaptive, and sometimes, even maladaptive outcomes.
This definition integrates the seven elements highlighted above in our

review of the passion construct. First, one has a passion toward a specific
object and not toward everything. There is a special interaction between a
specific person and a specific object or activity. Second, one likes and even
loves the object deeply. This love for the activity is profound and typically
long lasting. Third, the person values the object greatly and finds it mean-
ingful. This activity represents a high priority in the person’s life to a point
where the person may come to organize his or her life around the activity.
Fourth, passion entails a motivational tendency that moves the person

toward the object; although passion may produce some affect, it is not in
and of itself an affective construct; it is a motivational construct. Fifth, this
activity is so important to people that it will eventually become part of who
they are, part of their identity. Thus, the activity becomes self-defining and
may represent one of the core characteristics of the person. Sixth, the activ-
ity engagement of passionate people is without compromise. It takes place
each time with enthusiasm and abundant energy, with total commitment,
relatively often, and is long lasting (for several months, years, and even
sometimes a lifetime).
Finally, seven, in line with the discussion above on the duality of passion,
it is proposed that there are two types of passion, each characterized by a
specific form of activity engagement. First, passion may be experienced in a
more passive way, as if the person is controlled by the object that he or she
loves. This type of passion may lead to conflict within the person and to less
desirable outcomes, including ill-advised persistence and emotional suffer-
ing. The second type of involvement entails a more active engagement, as
if the person controls the object that he or she loves. This type of passion is
relatively conflict-free and coexists harmoniously with other life interests
and aspects of the self. Adaptive outcomes, including flexible engagement,
flow, positive emotions, and high performance may then be experienced with
this type of activity engagement. We elaborate on these two types of passion
in the next chapter.
PASSION COMPARED TO OTHER CONSTRUCTS
It might prove useful to compare the passion construct as defined here to

other constructs in the field. Table 2.1 presents these constructs and shows
how they compare on the passion criteria identified above. Below, we high-
light the major elements that distinguish these constructs from that of
passion.
Zest and Grit
A first construct is that of zest (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Zest is part of
the strengths that characterize people based on the strengths test devised
by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Basically, zest refers to a passion trait in
which one would be passionate for most things in life. Because it is posited
that one can be passionate for most things, then the zest perspective does
not focus on a specific person-object interface, as is the case with passion.
Table 2.1. PA SSION COMPA R ED TO OT HER CONST RUC TS USING

T HE PA SSION DEFINI T IONA L ELEMEN TS
Passion Zest Flow Personal Personal Intrinsic Extrinsic

Defining and Interest Striving, Motivation Motivation
Characteristics Grit Personal
Projects,
Current
Concerns,
and Life Tasks
1. Specific Object No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

2. Love (or Liking) No No No No Yes No
of the Object
3. Meaningful Yes No Yes Yes No For some
Object
4. Motivational Yes No No For some Yes Yes
Construct
5. Time, Energy, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Persistence
6. Part of Identity No No Yes For some No No
7. Duality of No No No No No No
Passion
Furthermore, if one has a passion for most things, then value cannot be an
important object characteristic. Finally, the zest construct does not address
the duality issue. There is only one type of zest, and its consequences are
hypothesized to be relatively positive. Thus, although there is a similarity
between zest and passion, there are important differences.
A second construct related to passion is that of grit (Duckworth, Peterson,
Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). Grit is defined as a trait reflecting high levels of
perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit displays the same dif-
ferences with respect to passion as zest. Thus, there is no person-object
specificity and little specific value ascribed to one’s specific activities, as one
is expected to display grit in most life activities. Furthermore, the duality
issue is not addressed. Therefore, grit would be expected to lead to only one
type of effect (i.e., positive, at least with respect to performance). Finally,
grit is postulated to always lead to persistence. As will become obvious in
this book, there are conditions under which passion (and especially the
most active type of passion) may not lead to persistence, especially when it
is adaptive for the person not to persist in the passionate activity at a given
point in time.
Flow
The concept of passion can also be compared to that of flow

(Csikszentmihalyi, 1978). Flow refers to feeling immersed in the activity
while engaged in it. However, flow differs from passion in important ways.
The flow concept is not a motivational construct but rather a cognitive one,
in which one’s cognitive states are altered. In addition, it does not pres-
ent a nuanced perspective on processes leading to either adaptive or mal-
adaptive outcomes, as flow is only expected to lead to positive outcomes.
This has led some authors such as Partington, Partington, and Olivier
(2009) to raise the issue as to when and how flow should be associated
with “negative” outcomes and behavior. Without addressing the duality
issue, it becomes impossible to explain the negative effects of flow. Finally,
in the present passion perspective, flow is seen as an outcome and not as a
motivational determinant, as passion should determine flow and not the
other way around. As will be seen in this book, and especially Chapter 6,
research supports this hypothesis. Passion does lead to flow, while flow
does not lead to passion (e.g., Lavigne, Forest, & Crevier-Braud, 2012,
Studies 1 and 2; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1).
Personal Interests, Talent-Related

Activities, and Commitment
Passion can also be compared to talent-related activities (Rathunde,

1996) and personal interests (Renninger & Hidi, 2002). Here again, there
are a number of differences between passion and these other constructs,
the most important distinction being that these constructs are affective
and not motivational in nature. Furthermore, although sharing the defi-
nitional elements of loving and valuing the activity that represent some of
the characteristics of the passion construct, these other constructs do not
make the distinction between two types of interest or talents that would
reflect different types of engagement and outcomes inherent in the duality
of passion.
The comments above apply to the construct of commitment (e.g., Meyer &
Allen, 1997), except that commitment can be seen by some theorists as a
motivational construct. In addition, it is not clear if committed people have
internalized the activity in their identity and if they actually love the activ-
ity they are committed about. For instance, people may be highly commit-
ted toward exercising not because they love it but because they desperately
need to lose weight. Thus, overall, passion differs significantly from interest,
talent-related activities, and commitment.
Personal Strivings, Personal Projects,

Current Concerns, and Life Tasks
There are also some similarities between the passion concept and a number
of constructs that entail some orientation toward an important personal
goal such as current concerns (Klinger, 1977), personal strivings (Emmons,
1986), personal projects (Little, 1989), and life tasks (Cantor, 1990). Some
similarities with the concept of passion pertain to valuing the goal or activ-
ity and devoting time and energy to it. A fundamental distinction between
these concepts and that of passion is that one may pursue a life goal with-
out loving it. For instance, one may have a personal goal of becoming a
doctor to please one’s parents, not because one loves the medical field. In
addition, once the striving or goal has been attained, one may move on to
another goal. This typically would not take place with passion, as the pas-
sion may even last for a lifetime. Finally, none of these concepts proposes
a different quality of involvement that can address the duality issue raised
above. Therefore, important differences do exist between passion and these
other constructs.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
A final comparison deals with intrinsic motivation and some forms of extrin-
sic motivation. Intrinsic motivation shares some conceptual similarity with
passion, as both involve a love for the activity, as the activity is then engaged
in for itself (Deci, 1971). However, intrinsically motivated activities are
typically not seen as being internalized in the person’s identity and are best
seen as emerging from the person-task interaction at the short-term level
(Koestner & Losier, 2002). Furthermore, as years of laboratory research con-
ducted on relatively meaningless novel tasks have shown, someone may dis-
play intrinsic motivation (or love) for activities of little personal value. This is
not the case for passion, as both love and value for the activity are important
characteristics of the passion concept as defined here. Finally, the intrinsic
motivation construct does not address the duality of passion. Indeed, no
theory of intrinsic motivation explains how something you love can actually
lead to either positive or negative outcomes. Intrinsic motivation is hypoth-
esized to lead only to adaptive outcomes (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Dweck, 1989;
Lepper & Henderlong, 2000).
On the other hand, extrinsic motivation does not entail performing the
activity out of enjoyment, but for reasons external to the activity. Thus, a
fundamental difference between extrinsic motivation and passion is that,
contrary to passion (where one engages in the activity out of love for the
activity), extrinsic motivation activity engagement mainly seeks to provide

the person with some rewards that are separate from the activity. Although
different types of extrinsic motivation exist—including some, like identified
and integrated regulation, that entail some valuation and internalization
of the activity—the fact nevertheless remains that these forms of regula-
tion pertain to an activity that is engaged in because of extrinsic motivation,
not for the activity itself. While on the surface they seem similar, these two
types of extrinsic motivation are very different from that of passion because
of the fundamental teleological distinction between them. With harmoni-
ous passion, the goal is to engage in the activity for the activity itself, out of
love for it, whereas with identified and integrated regulation, the goal is to
obtain something separate from the activity, even if there is a high level of
autonomy involved and even at times some enjoyment. Therein lies the fun-
damental conceptual difference between these different types of extrinsic
motivation and passion.
Research empirically supports these distinctions between passion and
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For instance, passion is only moder-
ately correlated at best with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 2). Further, controlling for intrinsic and extrinsic moti-
vation (even the most self-determined types, such as identified regulation)
does not change the role of passion in the prediction of outcomes such
as positive and negative affect and behavior (e.g., Bélanger, Lafrenière,
Vallerand, & Kruglanski, 2013a, Study 4; Houlfort, Philippe, Vallerand, &
Ménard, 2014, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 2). These findings
thus empirically support the distinction between passion and intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation.
The above comparison between passion and intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation was performed at the construct level and supports the con-
ceptual and empirical distinction between passion and intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation. However, recent research reveals that various con-
figurations of different motives exist such that intrinsic motivation and
certain types of extrinsic motivation may combine in predicting out-
comes (Gillet et al., 2012; Ratelle et al., 2007). However, if several con-
structs are necessary to approximate each type of passion, then the level
of parsimony of this constellation of motives would appear to be lower
than that of the passion construct. Nevertheless, research is needed to
assess how these different constellations of motives would relate to the
two types of passion.
In sum, although the concept of passion does have some conceptual simi-
larities with other motivational constructs, it also differs from them in sig-
nificant ways (see Table 2.1). Thus, the above analysis clearly shows that the
concept of passion is indeed a unique psychological construct.
SUMMARY
In sum, based on a historical review of the philosophical and psychologi-

cal literatures, passion may be seen as a strong inclination toward a specific
object, activity, concept, or person that one loves and values, that one invests
time and energy in, and that is part of personal identity that may be expe-
rienced in either an active or passive fashion, mainly leading to respectively
positive or negative outcomes. In the next chapter, I present a psychological
model, the Dualistic Model of Passion, which explains further the psycho-
logical mechanisms at play with these two types of passion.
PA RT T WO
xwx
Theory and Method
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C H A P T ER 3
The Dualistic Model of Passion
O ver the past 10 years or so, my colleagues and I (Vallerand,

2008, 2010, 2012a; Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand & Houlfort,
2003) have developed the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP). This model
seeks to provide a blueprint of what passion is, how it develops, and the
types of determinants that influence passion, as well as the outcomes it
can lead to and how it does so. Of major importance is the fact that the
model addresses the dualism inherent in passion, discussed in Chapter 2.
The DMP posits the existence of two types of passion, harmonious and
obsessive, that lead to qualitatively different types of experiences and
outcomes.
In this chapter, I present an overall picture of the model, including
a description of the two types of passion and their predicted outcomes.
However, before moving to a detailed description of these two types of pas-
sion, a presentation of the theoretical assumptions underlying the DMP
is necessary. Thus, in the first section of this chapter, I present an organ-
ismic approach to self-growth and show how passion plays a major part in
it. Because passion results from the internalization process of the activity
representation in identity (or one’s total set of self-perceptions), the second
section details the role of the self (or processes) and outside factors in the
internalization process. This discussion will show that two types of inter-
nalization processes, autonomous and controlled, lead, respectively, to the
harmonious and obsessive passions. In the final section, I more fully describe
the two types of passion and how they are hypothesized to differentially
influence a number of outcomes.
( 43 )
AN ORGANISMIC APPROACH TO SELF-GROWTH
The DMP rests on the firm assumption that people have a natural tendency
toward self-growth that is experienced throughout life. That is, people seek
to master both their outside and inside worlds (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985;
Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1963). In so doing, they grow psychologically. Such a
growth does not take place in a vacuum. Indeed, personal growth takes place
through the interactions that we entertain with the world that surrounds
us. However, such a growing process is not automatic and rarely happens
haphazardly. Rather, self-growth takes place along a very specific path. In
line with other theorists who have espoused the organismic approach (e.g.,
deCharms, 1968; Deci, 1980; Ryan & Deci, 2000; White, 1959), I posit that
self-growth takes place through a person-environment dialectic wherein
both sides of the hyphen matter. Bandura (1977) calls this bidirectional rela-
tionship “reciprocal determinism.” It is a two-way street, wherein both par-
ties influence each other. Thus, people are not simply passive recipients of
external influence from the environment; they also shape the external world
that surrounds them. In fact, being active is people’s default function, so to
speak. They can be reactive, but if they have the opportunity to be proac-
tive, they will be naturally inclined to choose the latter (Deci, 1980; Deci &
Ryan, 1985).
The person-environment interaction is important regarding how passion
may come to influence self-growth. Below, I outline such a process. It will be
seen that the environment can influence self-growth in two ways: by making
certain activities available instead of others, and by the impact that people
in a position of authority (e.g., parents) may have over other people (e.g.,
children) through the way they interact with them during activity engage-
ment. However, throughout this process, people have the potential to remain
autonomous and self-determining in choosing which activities they will be
engaged in, how they will act during engagement, and thus, ultimately, how
these activities will affect their passion and self-growth.
The Role of the Person-Environment Dialectic

in the Selection of Self-Growth Activities
A first type of influence from the environment is that it provides some impor-
tant opportunities for self-growth through the activities it offers. Indeed,
there are literally hundreds of activities that people can choose to engage in.
For instance, in the first empirical study on passion for activities (Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 1), it was found that the 539 participants deemed over 150
different activities as passionate and engaged in these activities on average
for around 8 hours per week! It should be noted that what is being offered
T h e D u a l i s t i c M o d e l o f Pa s s i o n ( 45 )
in terms of activities may differ as a function of country and culture. For

instance, I remember how impressed I was with how just about everybody
in Norway seems to engage in winter sports, from young to old. This is prob-
ably because ice and snow are readily available. However, such is not the case
in Africa, where the weather is completely different and obviously does not
offer such a possibility.
Even within a given country, family values may vary widely, and thus dif-
ferent activities will be made available. If one were to visit my own home, one
would see a basketball hoop in the driveway, a piano in the living room, a cou-
ple of guitars in the den, computers in several rooms, and thousands of books
on a variety of topics. These objects, in part, represent the kind of activities
that my children have been offered. Across the street lives a family who pro-
vided their children with different activities as they were growing up, such as
learning how to use tools, cross-country skiing, and photography. Of course,
such a home influence is only partial, as education, the great equalizer,
makes available similar sets of activities to children either through regular
schooling or through elective classes offered at lunch time or after school.
It is likely that some of the activities that people become passionate about
come from such an environment. However, as mentioned previously, inter-
actions with the environment also depend on the individual. Thus, what is
derived from activity engagement depends not only on the activity itself but
also on the person. Not all activities are equal in terms of their affordances
(Gibson, 1979), or what they offer. Some activities may offer interactions with
others, while others allow one to remain aloof; some may offer the develop-
ment of one’s physical skills, others further one’s mental skills, and so on. In
order to maximize the benefits of these affordances, an individual needs the
right “attunements” (Gibson, 1979), or basic requirements. For instance, in
order to experience pleasure from one activity such as playing the violin, one
would need some basic requirements (e.g., good hand coordination and flex-
ibility, a sense of rhythm, excellent hearing, etc.). Therefore, not everybody
will experience the same enjoyment from this type of activity. Rather, some
may find such enjoyment in hiking, painting, running, and so forth. It is up
to each and every one of us to find those activities that will provide us opti-
mal satisfaction, leading to sustained engagement in activities that promote
self-growth as a function of our personal strengths, skills, and personality.
The Role of Psychological Needs in Activity Preference
So, what are the psychological processes through which one moves from try-
ing out a variety of activities to selecting a specific activity and becoming
passionate about it? As one may suspect, the answer depends on the theo-
rist you ask. Thus, Freud (1940/1969) would posit that individuals would
select activities that satisfy their unconscious instinctual urges. Hull (1943)
would suggest that people select activities that satisfy primary and second-
ary drives (the relief of sex, hunger, thirst, and pain and their paring with
activities), while Skinner (1953) would predict that it depends on people’s
history of positive reinforcement for engaging in this activity or similar
ones. Finally, Bandura (1969) would posit that people would select activities
in light of their perceptions of the type of rewards that other people (or mod-
els) derive from their activity engagement and their expectations that they
will obtain similar rewards.
What characterizes these different positions is that they all adopt a mech-
anistic position to the study of motivation that assumes that individuals are
passively affected by forces outside their control—that they cannot take
matters in their own hand. People are hypothesized to only react to either
internal (drives or instincts) or external (reinforcements, models) stimuli.
Such an underlying metatheoretical assumption has received important
empirical support over the years. For instance, research has shown that to
the extent that rewards are forthcoming, people will continue to engage in
the activity (e.g., Skinner, 1953). However, other research also reveals two
important points. First, receiving some rewards can also undermine one’s
engagement in a given activity if the rewards are no longer forthcoming (e.g.,
Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). In other words, if one engages in a given activ-
ity to receive some rewards, and if receiving rewards is no longer possible at a
later stage, people are likely to turn to other activities. The second important
point is that people can explore their environment and decide to engage in
new activities, even in the absence of rewards or reinforcement (see Deci,
1975; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). That is, as mentioned previ-
ously, people can also be proactive. It would thus appear that the mechanistic
approach is limited in scope, and another approach is needed to account for
these two sets of findings.
The organismic approach (see Deci, 1980; Deci & Ryan, 1985) proposes
that individuals are by nature proactive in their interaction with the envi-
ronment. Indeed, according to this perspective, individuals can decide by
themselves to explore their environment without external prodding or rein-
forcement. Specifically, this position posits that people will decide to engage
in those activities that will allow them to satisfy their basic psychological
needs. Although different positions have been advanced with respect to psy-
chological needs (e.g., see Deci & Ryan, 2000; Sheldon, 2011, for reviews of
these different theories), self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) has
been the first theory to postulate the existence of three major psychological
needs and to provide empirical support for their position. These needs are
those of autonomy (a sense of personal initiative in our interactions with
the world), competence (to interact effectively with the environment), and
relatedness (to feel connected to significant others).
In light of the above, it can be hypothesized that all things being equal,
activities that allow one to feel competent, autonomous, and connected to
others will tend to be freely selected over others that do not. Much research
supports this assumption (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1990, 2000; Ryan, 1995;
Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, & Kasser, 2001; Vallerand, 1997). Thus, even within
the same family environment, some children may prefer different activities,
depending on which type of activities lead them to fulfill their psychological
needs. For example, my older son George became passionate about drawing
and working with computers and video games, while my younger son, Matt,
became passionate about music and sports and exercise. Experiencing need
satisfaction within specific activities led them to re-engage in the activity
many times and eventually to develop a passion for different activities, such
as music and sports and exercise for Matt and drawing and computers for
George. Although some activities may offer more self-growth affordances
(Gibson, 1979) than others, it nevertheless remains that most (like music
and drawing) offer at least some potential for self-growth. Thus, need sat-
isfaction leads to selecting certain activities over others, engaging in these
on a regular basis, and, in turn, developing a passion for these activities
that facilitates self-growth. At the same time, need satisfaction outside the
selected activity is important because it provides a broader base to experi-
ence a more harmonious life in which one can find satisfaction in a number
of areas. Experiencing need satisfaction in only one activity may leave one
dependent on this activity and, as we will see in Chapter 5, is likely to lead
to a less than optimal form of passion, namely obsessive passion (Lalande
et al., 2014).
The Role of the Social Environment in

the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs
The environment does not simply influence the person’s selection of activi-
ties through which to experience self-growth. It also determines the con-
ditions under which activity engagement takes place (Deci & Ryan, 1985;
Vallerand, 1997, 2001). Consequently, the environment will determine,
at least in part, the extent to which our psychological needs will be satis-
fied. Thus, in addition to providing us with affordances for self-growth, the
environment, especially the social environment (i.e., other people who sur-
round us), may facilitate or hinder our natural tendency to fulfill our needs
for competence, autonomy, and relatedness during activity engagement. If
the behavior of others facilitates our need satisfaction in a given activity, we
are likely to freely pursue engagement in this activity and, everything being
equal, eventually to experience self-growth. Conversely, if the behavior of
others thwarts our need satisfaction, one of two things may happen. First,
one may decide to terminate activity engagement and invest one’s energy
and time in some other activities that provide need satisfaction; or, second, if
one cannot stop one’s engagement (e.g., because some negative consequences
may follow), then the quality of one’s activity engagement will be greatly
minimized and so will the outcomes (including the quality of self-growth)
that follow from such engagement. Clearly, the environment is as much an
ally as a foe in our quest for self-growth.
Much research supports the above analysis. Indeed, it has been shown
that the behavior of others such as parents, teachers, work supervisors, and
coaches matters greatly with respect to the extent to which we are able to
derive need satisfaction from activity engagement and, in turn, experience
high-quality engagement in such activities (see Deci & Ryan, 1987, 2000;
Mageau & Vallerand, 2003), persist (or not) in these activities, and ultimately
achieve self-growth. When other people provide us with some support in our
own efforts to freely engage in activities with affordances that provide the
psychological nutrients that we need (regular doses of autonomy, compe-
tence, and relatedness), we will grow psychologically in an optimal fashion.
However, when other people push us in directions and activities contrary
to our choices or attempt to control us even within activities that we have
chosen and that may contain adaptive affordances, such behavior will thwart
need satisfaction, will seriously diminish the quality of our engagement in
these activities (including our passion for such activities), and thereby will
curtail the self-growth derived from engagement in such activities. We
return to this issue in Chapter 5 on the development of passion.
There is another impact that the behavior of other people causes while we
engage in an activity. As we will see in a later section, such behavior helps
to determine whether the activity representation will be internalized in our
identity and will become a passion. Further, the quality of other people’s
behavior also determines whether the passion that will result is harmonious
or obsessive in nature. Autonomy support from significant others facilitates
the initial development of passion, as the person feels that he or she chooses
the activity over other activities. Furthermore, sustained autonomy support
over time will nurture the development of harmonious passion. On the other
hand, controlled behavior from others early in the process may thwart the
development of passion altogether. If such controlling behavior takes place
later when an initial passion has started to develop, an obsessive passion
may then develop. We return later to this issue in Chapter 5.
Passion and Self-Growth
In our life, we engage in a number of activities. Typically, we are motivated

for most of them and passionate for only one or two. For instance, we are
motivated to go to school and do chores at home, but we may be passion-

ate about playing a musical instrument or playing basketball or hockey.
I would like to suggest that those activities that people are passionate
about have the best potential for self-growth. This is not to say that other
activities that people are non-passionate about do not lead to self-growth.
Clearly, everything we do in life has such a potential. We can grow psy-
chologically at school, at work, in relationships, and so on, passion or not.
Being motivated for these activities can provide some important outcomes
(Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Vallerand, 1997). However, I posit
that everything being equal in terms of activity complexity, and thus
self-growth potential, activities that we are passionate about have the
best potential to lead to self-growth for at least six reasons. First, passion
entails a powerful motivational force that is conducive to fully engaging
in the activity with high levels of energy and enthusiasm. You do not have
to push or force people to do the activity that they are passionate about.
Quite the contrary! Sometimes, you may even be tempted to restrain
people from engaging in their activity as they just can’t get enough of it
and may sometimes overdo it! When passionate about an activity, people
engage in their beloved activity with full energy, persistently, regularly,
several hours weekly (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). Therefore, people
do not merely log in the hours; they put in lots of hours with high-quality
engagement. This is likely to promote self-growth within the purview of
the activity.
A second reason why passion may maximize self-growth is that it fosters
mastery goals (Elliot, 1997), which are known to be an important part of the
learning process. Indeed, as we will see in later chapters, when passionate
about something, people engage in their activity in a way so as to promote
mastery of the activity (see Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, & Vallerand, 2011;
Vallerand, Mageau, et al., 2008; Vallerand, Salvy, et al., 2007). This is typically
done through engagement in sub-activities specifically aimed at improving,
which are called deliberate practice (Ericsson & Charness, 1994). While such
practice is demanding and may not always be pleasant, people with passion
do it gladly and do not mind “paying the price.” Over time, people come to
know just about everything there is to know about the activity; they become
experts at their activity, thereby allowing them to grow as people within the
realm of the activity.
Third, in addition to becoming experts on the passionate activity, one’s
passion may also allow one to experience positive outcomes such as posi-
tive emotions, flow, vitality, concentration, and other positive cognitive and
affective experiential states. While such outcomes may not directly foster
self-growth with respect to the activity, they nevertheless facilitate sus-
tained engagement in the activity that, in turn, should help foster personal
growth in the realm of the passionate activity.
Fourth, engaging in one’s passionate activity may facilitate the experi-

ence of positive outcomes in the passionate activity (as seen above), which
may facilitate self-growth in other areas of one’s life. For example, playing
chess with passion may lead one to experience positive affect while playing.
Such positive emotions linger over time (Mageau & Vallerand, 2007) and
subsequently open up one’s cognitive repertoires (see Fredrickson,
2001) and may thereby facilitate one’s preparation for an exam. Clearly,
having a passion for a given activity may promote growth in other spheres
of one’s life.
Fifth, because the passionate activity representation is internalized in
identity, the self-growth that has been attained within the activity should
give access to the optimal use of self-processes that can also generalize to
other life domains. Indeed, knowing how to best operate within a given
activity in which one excels can lead to positive ripple effects through the
use of effective self-processes outside the passionate activity in other aspects
of one’s life. For instance, a passion for music may encourage one to learn
how to handle stress when giving musical recitals. Such a skill may then be
readily used to handle stress before important exams or when going out on
a first date!
A final reason why passion may lead to the highest levels of self-growth
is that one’s passion for a given activity may lead one to engage in outside
activities that may further self-growth in other life spheres. For example,
a friend of mine was so passionate about philosophy and some German
philosophers, that he came to learn German, went to complete his doctor-
ate in philosophy in Germany (in German), and developed a deep appre-
ciation for German culture from the inside. His passion for philosophy led
him to expand his self-growth in several dimensions outside the passionate
activity.
Let’s look at an in-depth example. Jean-Claude is a 14-year-old teenager
from Québec City who just loves basketball. He plays every day and has been
playing for six years already. At school, he cannot wait for lunch breaks and
after school to go and play with his team or to shoot hoops on his own. He is
clearly passionate about basketball. Since he has started playing basketball,
Jean-Claude has improved tremendously. He has become very good at drib-
bling, passing, and driving to the hoop. Although his outside shot is already
decent, it is not exceptional. Thus, Jean-Claude has been working hard on it
and is getting better. He watches games, engages in animated discussions
with his coaches and teammates on the finer points of basketball, and can
now quickly recognize different patterns on the floor that most people can-
not even perceive. Just like an expert chess player, Jean-Claude can now
predict how certain plays will develop even before all the elements are in
place. Already at his age, he is on the way to becoming an expert at his sport.
Jean-Claude has developed the right attunements to fully engage in basket-

ball and to extract the most of the affordances it provides.
Being passionate for basketball has helped Jean-Claude grow in areas
other than basketball as well. For instance, he has improved his cardiovas-
cular health tremendously. He can now run several kilometers easily with-
out getting tired. He is more muscular than most teenagers his age and is in
great overall physical health. He also feels more self-confident overall than
when he started basketball because he knows that he excels in at least one
area of his life. Further, he believes that if through hard work he has come to
improve in an area like basketball, he can do the same basically everywhere.
This gives him a secure sense of self-esteem. His involvement in basketball
has also helped him grow socially. Indeed, he has made several friends both
in the sport as well as outside it in the local community, where he is now very
popular.
Of additional interest is the fact that Jean-Claude’s self-growth has
not stopped there. Indeed, because basketball at its highest level is being
played in the United States (in the National Basketball Association),
Jean-Claude has come to learn English by reading basketball books and
magazines and watching games on TV in English. Basketball has led him
to travel with his team to other cities in Canada, as well as to the United
States and several countries in Europe. He has come to learn quite a bit
about these countries and the people who live there. Thus, his passion for
basketball has also led him to learn a second language, English, in order
to know more about his sport. In turn, learning English has helped him
to communicate with other people passionate about basketball around
the globe. Furthermore, traveling has opened doors for him, as he is now
entertaining the idea of studying abroad to pursue his passion for basket-
ball at the university level in the United States. This perspective has led
him to work extra hard in his studies so as to have the necessary grades
to attend an American university with a scholarship to play basketball.
Thus, his passion toward basketball has had a profound influence on his
motivation toward education. Finally, should Jean-Claude manage to
eventually reach his dream and play professional basketball, either in the
NBA in the United States or in Europe, his passion for basketball will have
greatly influenced his career. Overall, one could say that passion for bas-
ketball has influenced Jean-Claude’s self-growth in several dimensions
of his life!
It should be noted that self-growth is not an all-or-none process. It varies
as a function of a number of factors, including the quality of one’s engage-
ment in the passionate activity. In Chapter 2, the dualism of passion was
addressed. Two different types of passion were briefly described that led to
activity engagement of different quality. Thus, while passion may contribute
to self-growth, such self-growth may vary in quality depending on the type of

passion we hold toward the activity that we are passionate about. As we will
see in a later section, harmonious passion is expected to lead to a higher qual-
ity of passionate engagement and consequently higher levels of self-growth
than obsessive passion. For now, let us sidestep the presentation of these two
types of passion and move to a discussion on the self-structures followed by
the internalization processes that lead to the development of passion.
ON SELF-STRUCTURES
Each interaction with the world allows us the possibility of affecting, even
ever so slightly, our internal structures. This is especially the case if we are
motivated to evaluate ourselves on a given dimension and if we have accept-
able available information. For instance, if I’m having an important math
exam, prepare well, and do very well, I have learned at least two things: I have
increased my knowledge about math and I have learned that I can be quite
good at math. Thus, I have increased my knowledge about the world and
my knowledge about myself. But in fact, I have done much more than learn
something about me and about the world: I have changed! I am not the exact
same person that I was before studying for the exam. My increased knowl-
edge about the world and myself has changed me as a person: I have grown
psychologically. Such a change need not be ephemeral, and if sufficiently
important it can be captured in internal structures (or schemas) that contain
both types of knowledge.
Research in the area of social cognition and the self reveals that struc-
tures about the self are more complex than those about the outside world
(see Vazire & Wilson, 2012, for a compendium of such work). This is, in part,
because self-structures deal with two aspects of the self: self-content and
self-processes. Whereas knowledge about the world entails basically accu-
mulating content, self-structures entail two elements: (1) content about the
self, and (2) the functioning of the self. William James (1890) used the terms
the “Me” and the “I” to refer to these two dimensions of the self. The “I” is the
self at work, which Markus and Wurf (1987) call the “working self.” It deals
with the different functions that I (the self) perform psychologically every
day. These functions vary from perceiving the world, to judging and integrat-
ing information as part of me, to engaging in activities with a certain type of
motivation, and so on.
The “Me” is the content about the self. It deals with what it is that I know
about myself on a host of dimensions that pertain to my self, from my physi-
cal appearance (e.g., the color of my skin, of my hair), to the roles I see myself
play (teacher, scientist, parent, etc.), to my activity preferences (basketball,
music), and so on. In sum, it is my identity. James (1890) identified three
major dimensions of the self-content (or the “Me”): the spiritual self (e.g.,
one’s personal experiences, emotions, values, attitudes, activities, and inter-
ests), the social self (e.g., the image that we show others and the different
roles that we play), and the material self (e.g., our body, clothes, and pos-
sessions). Research using different research methods, including the “Who
am I” open-ended approach where people are asked to define themselves by
answering that question with short answers, provides strong support for
James (e.g., Gordon, 1968; Kanagawa, Cross, & Markus, 2001; Rentsch &
Heffner, 1994).
It should be noted that the activities that we are passionate about
are not the only ones to make their way into our identity. Other activi-
ties imply important roles that we play, such as being a professor, a par-
ent, a friend, a husband, and so on, and they are all part of our identity.
However, passionate activities represent salient aspects of our identity,
not only because of their importance, their value for us, and the love that
we experience for them, but also because several of them reflect all three
self-dimensions identified by James. For example, if I have a passion for
playing the guitar and writing songs, then this passion represents an
important dimension of my spiritual self. Furthermore, being a musician
would represent a key aspect of my social self (and even more so if I play
in public and with others in a band). Finally, my favorite guitar (a black
acoustic Takamine guitar) would represent an important possession of
mine and a dimension of my material self. In sum, internalizing an activ-
ity such as guitar playing that I am passionate about can permeate large
portions of my identity. One can then understand why passion may play
such an important role in identity and may find itself in a position to be
connected with self-processes in important ways.
Of importance is the fact that the I and the Me can influence each other.
Thus, identity may influence self-processes and, similarly, self-processes
can also influence identity. Thus, if every time a person plays Scrabble she
experiences flow and positive emotions (a positive spiritual “me” or iden-
tity element), she may choose to invest more time and energy in the game
of Scrabble (a positive form of self-regulation, a type of self- or “I” process)
that may lead her to improve and to see herself as more and more com-
petent (a “Me” or identity element), to evaluate the activity as important
to her (a subjective judgment or self-process), and eventually to develop
a passion for it. Thus, self-processes and identity elements are intrinsi-
cally linked. Identity can influence self-processes, and self-processes can
also influence self-content or identity. The more important the identity
elements, the more likely they are to exert a considerable influence on
self-processes. Further, as will be seen below, the quality of the internal-
ization of identity elements also determines the quality of its relationship
to adaptive self-processes.
THE INTERNALIZATION PROCESS OR HOW

THE ACTIVITY BECOMES PART OF IDENTITY
An important assumption of the DMP is that people are naturally

inclined to internalize important elements of the environment into
their identity. Here, identity refers to one’s set of self-perceptions, how
one perceives him- or herself while the internalization process emanates
from the self (Vallerand & Rip, 2006). Such internalization is likely to
take place when environmental elements are highly valued, meaning-
ful, and feel like they are chosen by us (Deci, Eghrari, Patrick, & Leone,
1994). That is, as part of their tendency toward self-growth, people will
internalize information about themselves and the world that is deemed
important to them. Over a whole life, there are a number of outside ele-
ments that become part of how we see ourselves, our identity. As shown
by Waterman (1993), people are inherently motivated to internalize
identity activities and elements of the world that are self-expressive,
that reflect how they see themselves. Representations of activities that
we are passionate about are self-expressive and are among the elements
that we internalize.
There is an interesting section in the movie Black Swan (directed
by Aronofsky, 2010) in which the main character (a professional bal-
let dancer), played by actress Nathalie Portman, is asked by a stranger,
“Who are you?” Even before mentioning her name, she answers: “I am a
ballet dancer.” Thus, for her, ballet dancing is a defining element of her
identity, even seemingly before her own name! This is the way it is with
people who are passionate for a given activity. The activity representa-
tion becomes part of their identity, of who they are, and how they see
themselves.
Much research has shown that a number of factors facilitate the devel-
opment of identity (see Baumeister, 1998; Vallerand & Rip, 2006). As Hart
and Matsuba (2012, p. 15) concluded, “. . . notions of self arise from a
range of social, perceptual, cognitive, and biological processes dynami-
cally interacting.” It is not the intent here to summarize such research.
However, I propose that at least four elements come into play with respect
to the process through which the object of one’s passion becomes inter-
nalized in identity. First, when the activity is perceived to be meaning-
ful, one is motivated to evaluate oneself on some dimension related to
the activity. Second, such self-evaluation will focus on some sources of
information more than others. Finally, these sources of information will
be internalized in identity in one of two ways, autonomous or controlled,
with important consequences for the type of passion and self-processes
that will be triggered. These issues are addressed below.
Self-Evaluation
After having engaged in a given activity for some time, one may experience
a desire to self-evaluate on this activity. Self-evaluation may be triggered
by our own desire to know oneself better (e.g., “Do I have what it takes to
become a skier?”), or from the influence of others who may want to know us
better on this dimension (“Do you really love skiing?”). To the extent that
the activity is deemed important for the person, or that it is important for
the person to know him- or herself with respect to the activity, the person is
likely to engage in self-evaluation.
The process of self-evaluation involves four basic motives: self-assessment,
self-enhancement, self-verification, and self-improvement (Vallerand & Rip,
2006). Self-assessment refers to attempts to derive accurate self-perceptions
and serves to reduce uncertainty about the self (see Trope, 1986).
Self-enhancement deals with efforts to yield positive representations of the
self, as well as protecting the self from threat (e.g., Alicke & Sedikides,
2009). Self-verification refers to strivings to maintain consistency in one’s
self-representations, even in the face of contradictory information (e.g.,
Swann & Rentfrow, & Guinn, 2003). Finally, self-improvement seeks to pro-
vide nutriment for expanding the self beyond what’s already present in iden-
tity (e.g., Taylor, Neter, & Wayment, 1995).
These four types of motives have been found to be involved in the pro-
duction of elements in identity. However, they lead to different implications
for the type of information that will be internalized. To go back to the ques-
tion “Am I a skier?” the four motives may yield different information about
the self. Typically, the self-assessment motive leads to relatively “objective”
self-representations. Thus, an individual would go back in his or her mind to
the last few times that he or she went skiing and would assess how well he
or she did, would reflect on how he or she loves skiing, and may determine
that, indeed, he or she is “a skier.” This element would then become part of the
person’s identity. While the next two motives also seek information about the
self, such a search is biased toward a positive conclusion (self-enhancement)
or an inference coherent with elements already internalized (self-verification).
Therefore, with self-enhancement one may determine not only that he or she
has what it takes to become a skier but, in addition, to become a very good
one. With self-verification, one would peruse already existing self-elements
(“I like the snow and love going fast and the challenge of keeping my bal-
ance”) and make a decision coherent with these (“Yes, I am a skier”). Finally,
self-improvement would lead one to come up with new self-elements to be
internalized so as to add new information and complexity to identity. So, if
after a few ski outings in which one had a good time each time, he or she
would be motivated to readily add this new information to his or identity.
Of importance is the fact that research reveals that each type of motive
may be involved in the production of identity content depending on the
situation and the type of personality involved (Strube, 2012). For instance,
following a poor ski performance, someone with a confident personality
may be motivated to come up with an accurate picture of his or her skills
(self-assessment), whereas an insecure person may be more likely to seek
the most positive conclusion (through self-enhancement) because a nega-
tive conclusion would be too threatening for the self. Similarly, different
self-evaluation motives may be more likely to be used at different points in
one’s history of engagement in an activity. Therefore, one is more likely to
be motivated to come up with a valid assessment of self-elements early on,
when one is trying to decide whether to pursue engagement in a new activity
or not. Conversely, after years of activity engagement, the other motives may
be more likely to be used, in part, to justify one’s continued engagement in
the activity.
Which Type of Information Is Relevant for Identity Formation
As self (e.g., Markus & Wurf, 1987) and social cognition theorists (e.g.,
Kruglanski et al., 2002) have proposed, the working self cannot look at all
possible information. It will look at some partial information. Just like a
flashlight cannot shed light on a whole dark room, the self cannot focus on
all information (Kruglanski, 1989). Thus, in its search for usable informa-
tion, the self will focus on some information in line with one of the four
self-evaluation motives, presented above, triggered either by the situation or
one’s personality. And what one looks at determines in large part what one
finds (Swann, 1999).
At least three different sources of information may be used in the pro-
cess of coming up with identity information: the social environment, the
observation of our own behavior, and personal experiences and recollec-
tions. The social environment can provide valuable information for one’s
identity in at least three ways. First, information from experts or people we
trust with respect to the activity we engage in can have potent effects on our
self-perceptions, especially when the activity is novel. For example, much
research in the area of symbolic interactionism has revealed that irrespective
of age, other people often serve as a mirror that we can use in order to better
understand ourselves. In particular, “reflected appraisals” or other people’s
perceptions of who we are have been repeatedly found to affect our identity
(e.g., Stets & Burke, 2003; Tice & Wallace, 2003). For instance, as a young child
I enjoyed coming up with analyses and interpretations of people’s behavior.
After such comments, my mother would often say, “Here goes the psycholo-
gist!” Did her comments find their way into my identity? Similarly, feedback
from expert on a given dimension is likely to be used in creating new identity

elements on this dimension, especially if one does not know him- or herself
very well on this particular dimension (to this effect, see Vallerand & Reid,
1984). However, if one already has developed a self-perception on a given
dimension, one may filter information coming from other people (Schafer &
Keith, 1985), or may completely block it and even attempt to convince the
expert of one’s self-perception (Swann, 1999).
Second, the social environment also influences identity content through
the observation of others that it provides. For instance, observing one’s par-
ents or siblings engage in certain activities may yield precious information
regarding the high value of these activities. Such information may lead one
to readily engage in such activities and eventually to internalize the activity
into his or her identity. Sometimes, the behavior of others is directly imi-
tated. Thus, a young child may try to kick the ball on the sidelines just like his
mother on the soccer field. This takes place especially in infants and children
and may readily lead to identity internalization (Hart & Matsuba, 2012).
A final source of information from the social environment refers to the
social comparison with others that it provides (e.g., McGuire, 1984). For
instance, through comparison with other students in her classroom, a stu-
dent may realize that she is the only one to engage in snorkeling. She may
then use this information to infer that snorkeling is part of what defines her
and to internalize it in her identity. Social comparison plays an important
role in teenagers’ attempts to develop their own identity (Erikson, 1969). For
instance, the work of Herb Marsh (Marsh, Kong, & Hau, 2000) has shown
that in addition to their own school performance, the performance of class-
mates also influences students’ self-perceptions with respect to school and
sports (Chenal, Marsh, Sarrazin, & Bois, 2005). Of interest is the fact that
the impact from social comparisons can even take place when we are not
aware of its presence (e.g., Mussweiler, Rüter, & Epstude, 2004). The effects of
unconscious factors take place mostly indirectly through the cognitive tem-
plate that they activate, which is later used to assess our own behavior, even
if we are unaware of its presence.
The observation of one’s behavior is a second major source of informa-
tion about identity. Much research has been conducted within the perspec-
tive of self-perception theory (Bem, 1967, 1972). Bem’s theory posits that we
come to internalize elements in our identity by observing our own behav-
ior. However, not all behavior is informative for the self, according to Bem.
In fact, he posits that two conditions must be in place for our behavior to
be relevant for self-perceptions. First, one’s perception of self (or internal
states) toward an activity must be ambiguous or nonexistent. Indeed, if we
know ourselves well on a given self-element, there is no need to conduct
this analysis. Therefore, observation of one’s behavior is particularly impor-
tant during the initial stage of activity engagement. Second, the situational
forces explaining behavior must not be powerful. If not, I will infer my

behavior to be caused by such forces and not as due to me (the self) on this
self-dimension. Thus, a teenager who uses a telescope and observes the sky
each night for long hours without any prodding from his or her parents may
at some point “observe” (or reflect upon) his or her behavior and determine
that he or she loves astronomy.
A third and final source of information that can turn into identity elements
deals with one’s immediate personal experiences, as well as recollections of
personal memories and past experiences. Autobiographical memories (mem-
ories of one’s personal past) can be used to define one’s identity (Singer &
Salovey, 1993). This is likely to take place if one’s memories are salient, are
believed to be accurate, and are hierarchically organized so that they can be
readily retrievable (Conway & Pleydell-Pierce, 2000). This is not to say that all
personal memories are “accurate.” However, to the extent that one believes
them to be so, they should lead to the creation of new self-knowledge in
identity. Furthermore, past memories can also be used to nurture a sense
of self-continuity over time (Conway, 1996), especially if integrated into
one’s self-narratives (or one’s life story; McAdams, 2001). Clearly, being pas-
sionate about an activity can represent an important part of one’s life story.
Indeed, it has been shown that new experiences can lead to the creation of
new aspects of identity (Rathbone et al., 2008). This is more likely to be the
case if these experiences are positive and salient. Thus, experiencing flow
(perceiving that one is immersed in the activity; Cikszentmihalyi, 1978) or
positive emotions while playing poker may lead one to infer that he or she
loves poker and to eventually see oneself as a “poker player.”
The Role of the Controlled Versus Autonomous

Internalization Processes in Identity
The final step in the internalization process deals with the type of inter-
nalization that will take place. Most social psychological and personality
theories simply posit that elements in the external environment eventually
become internalized or not. They do not entertain the possibility that the
internalization process may be less than optimal. For instance, theories such
as social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and self-expansion theory
(Aron et al., 1992; Aron et al., 2005) propose that important groups and per-
sons, respectively, will become part of one’s identity. However, these theories
simply propose that we come to internalize outside elements into the self
without making a distinction on the quality of such internalization or the
fact that one’s internalization may be less than optimal, or even maladap-
tive. In so doing, social identity theory and self-expansion theory do not
address the possibility that the internalization of the group or the loved one,
respectively, can be of different quality, leading to psychological processes

and outcomes that may also vary in quality. Further, these theories do not
allow for the possibility that once internalized, the internalized element may
change over time and may be associated with self-processes of progressively
better or worse quality.
In line with the organismic approach, and especially self-determination
theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), the DMP posits that the internalization of an
external object goes beyond the internal/external dichotomy and takes place
on a continuum varying from being fully autonomous to being fully con-
trolled. We have seen previously that the social environment is as much an
ally as a foe in our interaction with the world. The social environment also
plays a role in the quality of the internalization process that will take place
as pertains to outside elements. To the extent that other people provide us
with autonomy support in the choices that we make regarding the activities
that we engage in and how we go about engaging in them, a high-quality
internalization of external elements, called the autonomous internalization
process, will take place. An autonomous internalization (Deci & Ryan, 1985;
Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997) occurs when individuals freely accept the
activity as important for itself and without any contingencies attached to
the activity or interference from the social environment. When children are
encouraged to pursue their interests at their own pace, when they feel that
they can engage in their favorite activity freely without having to check over
their shoulder to see if their parents approve, at some point the activity rep-
resentation will be internalized autonomously in their identity. This type of
internalization emanates from the integrated self (Hodgins & Knee, 2002;
Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2003). That is, one’s internalization takes place purely
out of choice and valuation for the activity and objects that we love, in accor-
dance with our sense of self. Such internalization ensures that the inter-
nalized elements are coherently organized among themselves and are not
in conflict. Furthermore, because they are aligned with the integrated self,
internalized identity elements make available adaptive self-processes that
can facilitate self-growth. As we will see throughout this book, adaptive self-
processes pertain to a variety of processes emanating from the integrated
self that facilitate positive outcomes on a number of cognitive, affective, self-
regulation, interpersonal, and even societal dimensions and that contribute
to our functioning in all spheres of life.
On the other hand, if the social environment acts in a controlling way
toward us, forcing us to behave as it sees fit, without consideration for our
own choices and interests, then such social behavior will lead to a low-quality
internalization called a controlled internalization process. A controlled inter-
nalization process (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997) orig-
inates from outside the integrated self and from the ego-invested self. The
ego-invested self is operative typically because certain contingencies are
attached to the activity, such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem.

Such a process will perturb the inherent harmony among self-elements
and will create conflict among internalized elements. Further, the relation-
ship between internalized identity elements and self-processes will be less
adequate. Indeed, a more defensive, rather than proactive and open and
mindful, perspective will be triggered, thereby preventing or at least limit-
ing access to adaptive self-processes such as those mentioned above. The net
result is that self-growth and outcomes will not be optimal and in some cases
may even be maladaptive.
Research supports the above analysis on at least four counts. First,
research reveals that the more a task is valued, the more the internaliza-
tion process takes place (e.g., Chandler & Connell, 1987; Deci et al., 1994;
Sheldon, Kasser, Houser-Marko, Jones, & Turban, 2005). For example, in the
Chandler and Connell (1987) cross-sectional study, older children reported
chore behaviors as more important than younger children and, further, the
valuation of such activities was positively correlated with more internal-
ized responses such as cleaning up one’s room because one chooses to do so,
instead of doing so because one is afraid of being punished by one’s parents.
Second, research also shows that the social environment plays an impor-
tant role in the quality of the internalization process that takes place (for
reviews, see Deci & Ryan, 2000; Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997; Vallerand &
Ratelle, 2002). For instance, experimental, correlational, and longitudinal
research reveals that adults in a supervisory position, such as teachers (e.g.,
Vallerand et al., 1997), parents (Assor, Roth, & Deci, 2004; Vallerand et al.,
1997), and coaches (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, & Brière, 2001; Sarrazin,
Vallerand, Guillet, Pelletier, & Curry, 2002) who provide support for the
autonomy of the children under their care, facilitate the internalization of
adaptive forms of self-regulation in line with one’s integrated self for engag-
ing in the various activities. Such is not the case for adults who adopt a more
controlling style. Of interest is the experimental study of Deci, Eghrari,
Patrick, and Leone (1994), which revealed that engaging in a tedious task
under autonomy support conditions led participants to engage more in the
task during the absence of the experimenter than when autonomy support
was not provided. Clearly, engaging in unpleasant behavior when one does
not need to do it (in the absence of the experimenter) suggests that some
autonomous internalization took place. Furthermore, because it was experi-
mentally manipulated, it can be concluded that autonomy support caused the
autonomous internalization to take place (see Koestner, Ryan, Bernieri, &
Holt, 1984, for similar findings).
Third, in addition, research indicates that the more autonomous the
internalization process, the more the internalized element is coherently
organized within identity and self. For instance, Koestner, Bernieri, and
Zuckerman (1992) showed that people with an autonomous personality
(and who thus employ an automatized autonomous internalization style)

behave much more in line with their beliefs and feelings than people with a
more controlled personality, who thus make use of a controlled internaliza-
tion style. Other experimental research (Ryan, Koestner, & Deci, 1991) also
shows that experimentally inducing autonomy in people leads their behavior
to be more coherent with their affect and cognition, while inducing control
leads these three elements to be disorganized. Thus, an autonomous inter-
nalization facilitates a coherent organization of internalized elements, while
a controlled internalization facilitates a disorganized and conflicted internal
organization.
Finally, there is also strong support for another assumption, namely
that the better the quality of the internalization process, the more one has
access to high-quality self-processes, thereby leading to more positive out-
comes. Indeed, a host of studies has shown that quality internalization, as
reflected by autonomous reasons for engaging in activities not inherently
enjoyable such as going to school (e.g., Vallerand et al., 1997), voting behav-
ior (Koestner, Vallerand, Losier, & Carduci, 1996), and taking care of one’s
health (Williams, Rodin, Ryan, Grolnick, & Deci, 1998), leads to the adoption
of a variety of adaptive self-processes that facilitate motivated persistence,
the experience of positive emotions and cognitions, high performance, and
psychological well-being (see Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Thus, as seen above, the more valued the activity, the more the activity
is to be internalized in self and identity. Further, the behavior of other
people also matters greatly in terms of the quality of the internalization
of various task elements. The more autonomy supportive the behavior of
others, the more the autonomous internalization process will take place.
And the more controlling the behavior of others, the more likely it is that
a controlled internalization process is to follow. Personal factors, such as
one’s global motivation style (Guay et al., 2003) or an autonomous versus
controlled personality style (Koestner et al., 1992), should also play an
important role in the type of internalization that will take place and,
in the end, the type of passion that will initially develop. It should also
be kept in mind that events that take place in one’s life and interactions
with significant others always take place within the subjective world of
the individual as colored by his or personality. In addition, the type of
internalization process matters greatly with respect to the quality of the
internalized elements in identity. Indeed, elements internalized autono-
mously are organized in a more coherent fashion with other internalized
elements. Finally, because they are more aligned with the integrated self,
these elements connect with adaptive self-processes. Such is not the case
with identity elements that have been internalized in a controlled fash-
ion. We will see below that this above sequence of processes also applies
to passion.
ON THE HARMONIOUS AND OBSESSIVE PASSIONS
We have seen in the previous section that how an element is internalized in

identity has a profound effect on how efficient it will be in triggering adaptive
self-processes and outcomes. Of interest is that research that has studied dif-
ferent types of internalization processes (i.e., autonomous vs. controlled) has
focused on activities that are typically perceived as relatively non-enjoyable
such as going to school or voting. Such research is particularly important,
as it has shown that in order to function effectively in society, people inter-
nalize dimensions of the environment that are not inherently interesting
but nonetheless important to endorse. However, much social psychological
research has shown that we also internalize various objects that we love. For
instance, the groups that we belong to (Tajfel & Turner, 1986; Wright, Aron, &
Tropp, 2002) and our romantic partner (Aron et al., 1992) are internalized in
our identity. They become part of us. To the same extent that we internalize
representations of groups and people whom we love, the DMP posits that we
also internalize in our identity various objects, activities, and causes that
we love, that we engage in on a regular basis, and that we care about deeply.
By doing so, a passion develops for these activities and objects. Further, the
type of internalization process that takes place determines the type of pas-
sion that will develop following internalization. Harmonious passion results
from an autonomous internalization and obsessive passion from a controlled
internalization process.
We have seen in Chapter 2 that there are two types of passion. The first,
obsessive passion, refers to a more passive type of passion in which the per-
son cannot help but engage in the activity that he or she loves, becoming a
slave to his or her passion. Such a passive dimension is hypothesized to be
associated with the experience of a loss of control and negative outcomes. The
second type of (harmonious) passion has been portrayed as being more active,
in which the person feels more in charge of her passion, and has been associ-
ated with more positive outcomes. The DMP posits that both of these two
types of passion represent a reality of how passion is experienced and need to
be accounted for. Although these two types of passion reflect the same level
of passion (i.e., the same intensity), they nevertheless differ in their quality
of engagement. One of the purposes of the DMP is to document the differ-
ential contribution of these two types of passion to human experience and
outcomes. We now turn to a description of these two types of passion.
On Harmonious Passion
Harmonious passion results from an autonomous internalization of the activ-

ity into the person’s identity. As discussed previously, such an internalization
process allows the new self-element (the representation of the activity that
one is passionate about) to be internalized in such a way that it is in har-
mony with other identity elements and it is aligned with one’s integrated
self (Deci & Ryan, 2000). When harmonious passion is at play, individuals do
not experience an uncontrollable urge to engage in the passionate activity,
but rather freely choose to do so. It reflects the more positive type of pas-
sion described in Chapter 2, in which the person remains in control of the
passionate activity or object. With this type of passion, the activity occupies
a significant but not overpowering space in the person’s identity and is in
harmony (rather than conflict) with other self-elements and aspects of the
person’s life. Because it results from the autonomous internalization process,
harmonious passion provides full access to adaptive self-processes. Thus, the
person can fully partake in the activity that he or she is passionate about
with a secure sense of self, flexibility, and an openness to experience the
world in a non-defensive (Hodgins & Knee, 2002), mindful manner (Brown &
Ryan, 2003). Thus, little threat is experienced, and there is no need to engage
in self-protective or self-enhancement processes (Sedikides & Gregg, 2003,
2008). One can deal with success and failure on an even keel. Such an open
and secure engagement in the activity should be generally conducive to
positive experiences and outcomes. Thus, when engaged in the activity out
of harmonious passion, people should be able to fully focus on the task at
hand, show high levels of concentration, and experience flow. They should
also experience high levels of positive affect and energy and little negative
affect. Furthermore, after task engagement they should be able to experi-
ence positive emotions and be ready to focus on other important life tasks,
rather than to want to cling rigidly to the passionate activity. Thus, there
should be little or no conflict between the person’s passionate activity and
his or her other life activities. Furthermore, when prevented from engaging
in their passionate activity, people with a harmonious passion should be able
to adapt well to the situation and focus their attention and energy on other
life tasks that need to be engaged in.
The fact that harmonious passion opens up a path toward adaptive
self-processes has also positive implications for other positive outcomes
experienced during task engagement, as well as for the person’s life in gen-
eral. For instance, fully engaging in the passionate activity with an openness
and non-defensive manner should facilitate positive cognitive and affective
experiences that, when experienced on a repeated basis, should translate
into positive health (Steptoe, Wardle, & Marmot, 2005; Danner, Snowdon, &
Friesen, 2001) and psychological well-being effects (e.g., Fredrickson, 2001).
Furthermore, experiencing and displaying positive emotions during activ-
ity engagement should also be conducive to the development and mainte-
nance of interpersonal relationships of high quality (Frijda & Mesquita,
1994). In addition, because one’s passion for the activity is in harmony
with other aspects of the person’s life, little conflict should be experienced
between the activity and relationships in other areas of one’s life. The qual-
ity of such relationships should therefore be at least maintained. Finally,
because with harmonious passion the activity is seen as one that one loves
and finds meaningful, one should be likely to display high levels of persis-
tence in the activity. Furthermore, the openness and non-defensive style of
activity engagement should lead the person to learn from failure rather than
feel threatened by it, eventually leading to high levels of sustained long-term
performance and self-growth. However, because with harmonious passion
the person remains in control of the activity, if conditions change and the
situation dictates that it is more adaptive to stop engaging in the activity for
a while (if a runner is injured, for instance), one can readily do so with little
emotional suffering. Thus, behavioral engagement in the passionate activity
can be seen as flexible when harmonious passion is at play. Overall, harmoni-
ous passion is the type of passion more likely to lead to optimal self-growth
and positive outcomes.
On Obsessive Passion
Obsessive passion results from a controlled internalization of the activity

into the person’s identity. When obsessive passion is at play, individuals
experience an uncontrollable urge to engage in the activity that they find
meaningful and enjoyable. They cannot help but to engage in the passionate
activity. The passion must run its course as it controls the person. It reflects
the less adaptive type of passion described in Chapter 2, in which the person
is being controlled by the passionate activity or object.
With obsessive passion, the activity occupies an overwhelming space
in the person’s identity and is in conflict with other identity elements
and aspects of the person’s life. Furthermore, the controlled internaliza-
tion leads the activity representation to be out of line with the integrated
self (Ryan & Deci, 2000), thereby preventing full access to adap-
tive self-processes. Rather, the ego-invested self is activated, thereby
triggering less than optimal self-processes. Because with obsessive pas-
sion one has only limited access to adaptive self-processes, the person
does not engage in the activity one is passionate about with a secure sense
of self-esteem and with full flexibility and an openness to experience
the world in a non-defensive (Hodgins & Knee, 2002), mindful manner
(Brown & Ryan, 2003). Thus, obsessively passionate people experience
some sense of insecurity and uncertainty and readily experience adverse
situations as posing self-threats. With such a fragile and contingent
sense of self-esteem (e.g., Crocker, 2002; Kernis, 2003), people are likely
to engage in self-protective or self-enhancement processes following
threatening events such as failure and losses. Furthermore, such an inse-

cure engagement in the activity should be conducive to less adaptive (or
even maladaptive) experiences. Thus, when engaged in the activity out of
obsessive passion, people should be less able to fully focus on the task at
hand. They should also show a relative lack of concentration and experi-
ence little flow. In addition, they should experience conflicted affect. If
they do well during activity engagement, they should experience some
positive affect but negative affect as well, because often they engage in
the passionate activity when they should not. They should then experi-
ence guilt and shame. However, if they do not do well, then low levels of
positive affect and high levels of negative affect should be experienced. In
addition, after task engagement they should mainly experience negative
emotions (e.g., guilt). Such negative emotions are to be expected because
obsessive passion often leads people to engage in the activity when it is
ill-advised to do so.
In addition, obsessive passion should lead to ruminations after activity
engagement about the passionate activity that should make people want to
cling to the passionate activity and less likely to focus on other important
life tasks. Thus, there should be conflict between the person’s passionate
activity and his or her other life activities. Rather than focusing his or her
attention and energy on other life tasks that need to be engaged in, the
individual will ruminate about the passionate activity. It is as if the person
lives his or her life in brackets, waiting to resume engagement with the
beloved activity.
Being more aligned with the ego-invested self leads the person to adopt
internally controlling self-processes. Such self-processes entail the phenom-
enological experience of feeling controlled by something inside the person
that pushes him or her to engage in the activity that he or she loves. Such a
pressured engagement should have negative implications for outcomes expe-
rienced both during task engagement, as seen above, as well for the person’s
life in general. For instance, internally controlling self-processes promotes
the adoption of a defensive manner when engaging in the passionate activ-
ity, which should facilitate negative affective and cognitive states that, when
experienced on a repeated basis, can have adverse effects on both physical
health (Steptoe, et al., 2005) and psychological well-being (e.g., Fredrickson &
Joiner, 2002). Furthermore, experiencing and displaying negative emotions
during activity engagement should also have adverse effects on the develop-
ment and maintenance of interpersonal relationships within the purview of
the activity that one is passionate about. In addition, because one’s passion
for the activity is in conflict with other aspects of the person’s life, adverse
effects should take place in other areas of one’s life. For instance, the quality
of one’s relationships with family members and friends not involved in the
passionate activity may suffer greatly.
Finally, with obsessive passion, one has developed a controlled form

of activity engagement that facilitates a highly reactive defensive style of
activity engagement. One of the consequences of such a reactive style is
to feel threatened by, rather than to learn from, failure. Although in the
short term, self-threats may have some advantages, such as mobilizing
high levels of energy to perform at high levels, in the long term, such a
strategy should take its toll on the individual both physically (e.g., physi-
cal symptoms and illnesses) and mentally (e.g., burnout). Finally, it should
be reiterated that with obsessive passion, the person feels controlled by
the activity that he or she loves and cannot resist the urge to engage in it.
Therefore, if the situation dictates that one should stop engaging in the
activity for a period of time, one may not be able to do so. Even if one could,
he or she would have some difficulty doing that without experiencing some
emotional suffering. Thus, behavioral engagement in the passionate activ-
ity can be seen as rigid when obsessive passion is at play, with potentially
negative effects.
As can be seen, passion can lead to a number of outcomes. Furthermore, the
quality of the outcomes depends on the type of passion at play. Harmonious
passion typically leads to more adaptive outcomes than obsessive passion.
We will have a look at a variety of outcomes discussed above in Chapters 6
through 12.
More on Passion and the Internalization Process
The discussion above on the two types of passion makes it sound as if one
will develop either a harmonious or an obsessive passion that is perma-
nent from the start. In reality, the situation is somewhat more complex.
Although one has developed a predominant type of passion based on the
internalization process that took place initially, there still can be move-
ment in the type of passion that can be displayed at any given moment in
time. There are two reasons for such fluctuations. The first reason has to
do with the presence in all of us of a natural tendency toward self-growth.
Because such a tendency is fueled by the integrated self (Deci & Ryan,
2000; Hodgins & Knee, 2002), as we have seen in this chapter, over time
people make more use of adaptive self-processes as they grow older and
become more mature (Sheldon et al., 2005). This would imply that harmo-
nious passion should become more prominent over time during one’s life-
time. Thus, as mentioned previously, once internalized, an element moves
toward autonomy.
The second reason why the type of passion can fluctuate in differ-
ent situations pertains to the internalization process that took place
during the internalization of the activity in identity. It is important to

underscore that the internalization process is not an all-or-none pro-
cess. Therefore, although the internalization process leads to the initial
development of a predominant type of passion, where in general one type
of passion will be more prevalent than the other, both types of passion
are nevertheless present within the individual to different degrees. For
example, depending on the presence of various social and personal fac-
tors, it may be that the internalization process for a given individual is
80% autonomous in nature, leading to a prevalent harmonious passion
in this person. However, in this example, this would also mean that 20%
of the internalization process that took place was controlled in nature,
where some elements of the object of one’s passion were internalized in a
controlled fashion, leading to some level of obsessive passion in the per-
son. The fact that both types of passion are present (to different degrees)
makes it possible to trigger one or the other by making salient certain
situational factors. Thus, although the predominant type of passion is
usually in operation (in this case, harmonious passion), it is nevertheless
possible to make the other type of passion (obsessive) operative at some
point by making salient controlling situational factors. Harmonious
and obsessive passions can thus be seen as two sides of the same coin.
By pushing the right button, it is possible to make salient either side of
the coin. Furthermore, such situational changes can be internalized in
self and identity, leading to progressive changes in the original passion.
Thus, by regularly engaging in a controlling environment, one’s initial
harmonious passion may slowly decrease thereby leaving more room to
obsessive passion. Similarly, by regularly engaging in an autonomy sup-
portive environment, one’s obsessive passion may decrease progressively
and harmonious passion increase. We address these issues more fully in
Chapter 5 on the development and vicissitudes of passion.
SUMMARY
In sum, this chapter has presented the DMP and has underscored the under-
lying assumptions of the model. Specifically, an organismic approach to
self-growth was presented. Such an approach posits that passion for activi-
ties leads to the highest levels of self-growth. In addition, the issues of iden-
tity and self-processes were discussed. The role of the social environment
in the internalization process was underscored. Furthermore, two types
of internalization processes were hypothesized to take place, autonomous
and controlled, leading, respectively, to the harmonious and obsessive pas-
sions. Finally, the harmonious and obsessive passions were described, as
well as their hypothesized effects on different types of outcomes both within

and outside the purview of the passionate activity. Harmonious passion
is seen as leading to more adaptive outcomes, while obsessive passion is
hypothesized to facilitate much less positive consequences and, at times,
clearly negative outcomes.
w
C H A P T ER 4
The Method of Passion
I n this chapter, I focus on the “Method of Passion,” that is, the methodol-
ogy used to conduct passion research. This is an important issue that will
be useful as we progress through the research conducted on passion that is
reported in the other chapters of this book. This chapter is divided in two
parts. In the first section, I address the measurement issues as pertains to
passion and describe the Passion Scale, along with evidence of its validity
and reliability. This scale has been used in most studies conducted on passion
within the present framework. In the second part, I present a methodological
tool that has been recently developed, namely an experimental manipula-
tion to induce passion. It will be seen that the manipulation induction can be
used to trigger either harmonious or obsessive passion and leads to similar
findings as the Passion Scale.
ON MEASURING PASSION: THE PASSION SCALE
As noted in Chapter 3, the DMP posits that once the activity (or object, per-
son, or ideology) that one is passionate about is internalized in identity, a
predominant type of passion develops, depending on the type of internaliza-
tion process that took place. An internalization process leads to a predomi-
nant harmonious passion, and a controlled internalization process leads to
a predominant obsessive passion. However, as was seen in Chapter 3, the
internalization process is never 100% autonomous or controlled in nature,
as both types of internalization process are operative to various degrees.
Thus, each type of passion for a given activity is present within us to differ-
ent degrees. Therefore, the Passion Scale has been developed and validated to
assess these two types of passion, harmonious and obsessive, toward a given
activity that one is passionate about. The Passion Scale also includes some
( 69 )
passion criterion items. These items serve to assess whether people are pas-
sionate or not toward a given activity. These criteria refer to the definition of
passion (the extent to which a person likes or loves the activity, its valuation
[or importance], the time and energy spent on it, the extent to which it is part
of the person’s identity, and if the activity is subjectively seen as a passion by
the person). We return to these items in a subsequent section.
In this section, I do not cover all aspects of the Passion scale but focus on
the main issues. I begin with the development and the factorial structure of
the Passion Scale and then move on to the level of invariance of the scale, its
level of reliability and temporal stability, and its construct validity.
On the Development of the Passion Scale
As mentioned above, the Passion Scale (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1)

contains two subscales assessing harmonious passion and obsessive pas-
sion. In the development phase, my colleagues and I created 34 items to
reflect the definition of the two types of passion. The obsessive passion
items emphasized experiencing some “obsessive feelings” for the activity
that one loves. Harmonious passion items emphasized having control over
the activity that one loves, with the latter being in harmony with the per-
son’s other activities. Over 500 college students served as participants in
the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study and were asked to think about
an activity “that was very dear to their heart.” The word “passion” was not
used when we asked them to select the activity in order to prevent stereo-
types about passion from operating. In subsequent studies, the follow-
ing information that reflects the definition of passion (without using the
word “passion”) was used. Participants were then asked to list an activity
“that you love, that is important to you, and in which you invest a signifi-
cant amount of time on a regular basis” (the definition of passion) and to
complete the items while referring to this activity. Items were rated on
a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 7 (“completely
agree”).
In order to test the factorial validity of the Passion Scale, participants were
randomly divided into two groups. A first exploratory factor analysis (a sta-
tistical technique allowing the data to be reduced to a number of meaningful
dimensions or factors) was thus conducted with the 34 items, using the first
random group of participants. We were interested in developing two related
subscales assessing the two types of passion. Indeed, the two subscales
should reflect harmonious and obsessive passion. Although qualitatively dif-
ferent, the two subscales should nevertheless be related, as they both reflect
the construct of passion. Thus, a factor analysis positing the presence of
two factors and allowing for the presence of a correlation between the two
T h e M e t h o d o f Pa s s i o n ( 71 )
factors was run on the data. Based on the analyses, we eliminated items that
loaded on both factors, as well as those that did not fit with other items on
the intended factor. We retained items with acceptable psychometric prop-
erties that were the most representative of the harmonious and obsessive
passion factors. Thus, 14 items (7 for each factor) were retained. A second
exploratory factor analysis was then conducted with those 14 items. Results
revealed the presence of two factors, as expected. The Obsessive Passion
Factor (e.g., “ I have a tough time controlling my need to do this activity”)
and the Harmonious Passion Factor (e.g., “My activity is in harmony with
the other activities in my life”) adequately reflected the two types of passion.
Finally, a confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted on these 14 items,
using the second random group of 235 participants Results from this analy-
sis provided strong support for the two-factor solution. Indeed, all fit indices
showed highly acceptable values (see Vallerand et al., 2003, for the specifics).
Results also revealed high levels of reliability (internal consistency) for both
the Obsessive (alpha = .89) and Harmonious Passion subscales (alpha = .79),
showing that the items of each subscale are highly homogeneous.
The findings of this first study (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1) pro-
vided strong support for the psychometric properties of the Passion Scale.
Furthermore, results of the four studies reported in the Vallerand et al.
(2003, Studies 1 to 4) publication provided additional support for the con-
struct validity of the scale, as the overall findings were in line with hypoth-
eses derived from the DMP. Nevertheless, subsequently some minor changes
were made to the scale. These changes were mostly made to ensure that all
items could be used for any kind of activities. The two subscales now con-
tain 6 items each (instead of 7). The refined versions of the two subscales are
highly similar to the original versions, and the original and the refined ver-
sions of the Passion Scale are highly correlated (typically above .80). It is the
refined 12-item version that has been used in most studies. The items of the
refined Passion Scale appear in Table 4.1. As can be seen, the various items
reflect the harmonious and obsessive passions.
The psychometric properties of the refined version of the Passion Scale
have been recently tested in an archival study conducted with the collabora-
tion of Professor Herb Marsh and colleagues and graduate students (2013).
In this study, the archival data of over 3,500 males and females who had
completed the refined 12-item version of the Passion Scale were fully ana-
lyzed. These participants were men and women of various age groups, who
had completed the scale in either French or English, and who had engaged
in a variety of activities. These participants had been involved in their pas-
sionate activity for an average of 7 years and were currently devoting to it
an average of 11.24 hours per week. Participants in various studies included
in the archive were recruited through a variety of means (e.g., e-mail, online
advertising, in person) and were invited to participate. Participants were
Table 4.1. I T EMS OF T HE PA SSION SC A LE

“PLE A SE NA ME A N AC T I V I T Y T H AT YOU LOV E , HIGHLY VA LUE , A ND
R EGUL A R LY SPEND T IME ON A ND R ESPOND TO T HE VA R IOUS I T EMS W HILE
R EFER R ING YOUR SELF TO T HIS AC T I V I T Y.”
Harmonious and Obsessive Passion

1. This activity is in harmony with the other activities in my life.
2. I have difficulties controlling my urge to do my activity.
3. The new things that I discover with this activity allow me to appreciate it even more.
4. I have almost an obsessive feeling for this activity.
5. This activity reflects the qualities I like about myself.
6. This activity allows me to live a variety of experiences.
7. This activity is the only thing that really turns me on.
8. My activity is well integrated in my life.
9. If I could, I would only do my activity.
10. My activity is in harmony with other things that are part of me.
11. This activity is so exciting that I sometimes lose control over it.
12. I have the impression that my activity controls me.
Passion Criteria
13. I spend a lot of time doing this activity.
14. I like this activity.
15. This activity is important for me.
16. This activity is a passion for me.
17. This activity is part of who I am.
Key:
Harmonious Passion: # 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10
Obsessive Passion: # 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12
Passion Criteria: # 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
informed about the general aim of the study and were invited to complete a
questionnaire containing demographic questions and the Passion Scale.
One of the major purposes of this research was to more fully test the
psychometric properties of the Passion Scale (the refined version). Among
other things, the factor structure of the scale (does it contain two dimen-
sions, as theoretically predicted) and its construct validity (does the scale
lead to findings in line with the DMP) and reliability (the coherence of the
two subscales and their stability over time) were fully assessed. With respect
to the factor structure of the Passion Scale, two types of confirmatory fac-
tor analyses were conducted, namely, the conventional confirmatory factor
analysis, using structural equation modeling (SEM) and exploratory struc-
tural equation modeling. Both types of analyses entail specifying a priori
on which factor each item should load. However, the distinction between
the two lies in the level of orthogonality (or independence) between the fac-
tors that each type of analysis allows. Although the traditional confirmatory
factor analysis imposes independence, the other one (ESEM) allows for some
correlation between the two factors. This type of analysis would therefore
appear to better suited for the Passion Scale because both factors reflect
passion (albeit of two different types, harmonious and obsessive) and thus
should be correlated. Therefore, one would expect some correlation between
the two factors.
Results with both types of analyses provided strong support for the fac-
tor structure of the Passion Scale. Indeed, statistical (fit) indices were quite
high for both types of confirmatory analyses. Further, the contribution of
each item to its respective factor (i.e., the factor loadings) was similar for
both analyses and was quite high on the appropriate factor. Interestingly,
although the results of the statistical indices were quite high for both types of
analyses, those with the exploratory structural equation modeling approach
were even more supportive of the bifactorial structure of the scale. This was
expected, as this type of analysis allows for the possibility of a correlation
between the two factors. In sum, results from the Marsh et al. (2013) study
provided strong support for the validity of the Passion Scale.
As a final point, it should be noted that over the years, the Passion Scale has
been used in well over 100 studies. At least 20 studies have tested the factorial
validity of the scale through exploratory and/or confirmatory factor analy-
sis. Such studies have been conducted in a number of activities and contexts,
including work (Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay, 2008; Vallerand &
Houlfort, 2003); marketing (see Swimberghe, Astakhova, & Wooldridge,
2014); driving (Philippe, Vallerand, Vallières, & Bergeron, 2009); gaming
(Lafrenière et al., 2009); politics (Rip, Vallerand, & Lafrenière, 2012, Study 1);
religion (Rip et al., 2012, Study 2); the environment (e.g., Gousse-Lessard,
Vallerand, Carbonneau, & Lafrenière, 2013); romantic relationships (Ratelle,
Carbonneau, Vallerand, & Mageau, 2013); sports from the perspective of ath-
letes (Vallerand et al., 2006, Study 1), coaches (Lafrenière et al., 2008, Study 2;
Lafrenière, Jowett, Vallerand, & Carbonneau, 2010), referees (Philippe,
Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, & Brunel, 2009), and fans (Vallerand, Ntoumanis,
Philippe et al., 2008, Study 1); exercise (Parastatidou, Doganis, Theodorakis, &
Vlachopoulos, 2012); gambling (Castelda, Mattson, MacKillop, Anderson, &
Donovick, 2007; Rousseau, Vallerand, Ratelle, Mageau, & Provencher, 2002);
and literally hundreds of various leisure activities in various countries
(Balon, Lecoq, & Rimé, 2013; Stenseng, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1).
Results of the factor analyses of all studies that have tested the factor struc-
ture of the Passion Scale have provided strong empirical support for the
bifactorial structure of the Passion Scale.
In sum, extensive support exists for the 2-factor structure of the Passion
Scale. We now turn to additional testing of its factor structure, namely the
extent to which it is equivalent (or invariant) across a number of variables
and modalities.
Invariance of the Factor Structure
Of major interest with respect to the Marsh et al. (2013) study is that the
authors went one step further than previous research on the factor validity
of the scale, conducting a number of additional analyses to test the invari-
ance of the two-factor structure of the Passion Scale as it pertains to a num-
ber of modalities. The term “invariance” in statistical terms refers to the
“equivalence” that the scale may show with respect to certain characteristics
of the sample under study. In the Marsh et al. (2013) study, invariance was
tested with respect to the language of the scale (English vs. French), gender,
and types of activities. It is important to mention that tests for invariance
allow researchers to test different levels of invariance, from the least to the
most constraining. Such tests allow researchers to determine, for instance,
whether the contribution of the various items on their respective factor in
the factor analysis, the means of the items, and the correlations among the
items are equivalent as a function of different factors and modalities (lan-
guage, gender, and type of activities).
Originally, the Passion Scale was developed in French, but it was sub-
sequently translated into English using the back-translation technique
(Brislin, 1970; see also Vallerand, 1989). It should be mentioned that the
Passion Scale has been translated into several other languages (e.g., Spanish,
Chinese, Russian, etc.). However, the archival data from the Marsh et al.
study included only French and English. It was hypothesized that the fac-
tor structures for the French and English versions would be equivalent. The
results were very eloquent and provided strong support for the complete
invariance of the two solutions. In other words, the English and French ver-
sions of the Passion Scale can be seen as fully equivalent with respect to all
elements typically assessed. It should be underscored that scales rarely show
such a high level of “full” invariance. Thus, these findings provide remark-
able support for the complete equivalence of the French and English versions
of the Passion Scale.
The second type of invariance that was tested pertained to gender. Such
invariance is important if one wants to provide valid comparisons between
men and women. Indeed, if the structural components of the scale differ
as a function of gender, then such biases could explain different results for
each gender. Similar to language, it was hypothesized that the Passion Scale
would be reasonably invariant over gender. Once more, the results provided
strong support for the full invariance of the scale with respect to the factor
structure of the scale as a function of gender. Additional analyses revealed
that there was a gender X age interaction on the Obsessive Passion subscale.
Specifically, these results showed that across age, obsessive passion was
higher for males than females. In addition, for men, there was tendency for
obsessive passion to decrease over time, with the presence of a smaller ten-
dency for women’s obsessive passion to slightly increase later in life. Overall,
these gender and age effects are subtle and may be due in part to the high
number of participants (n = 3,570) that render significant most comparisons.
Nevertheless, these findings are intriguing and deserve attention in future
research. No effects due to age or gender were found with respect to harmo-
nious passion.
Finally, respondents to the Passion Scale had been asked to describe
the activity about which they were passionate prior to completion of the
instrument. For practical purposes, these activities were grouped in five
different categories referring to over 100 specific activities: leisure (e.g.,
reading novels, playing the guitar), sports (e.g., basketball, swimming),
social (e.g., parenting, romantic relationships), work (including full-time
and part-time work), and educational studies. An implicit assumption
underlying this research is that the same 12 Passion Scale items are equally
appropriate when applied to each of these activities. While it might be pos-
sible to develop separate instruments specific to different activities, there
are important practical and theoretical advantages to having a common
set of items that are used by all respondents (e.g., comparison of levels
of passion across the different activities). On this last issue about activi-
ties, the results were more complex. In a nutshell, while there was good
invariance overall (especially as pertains to the equivalence of the factor
loadings across activities), it was not full invariance because the means
were not found to be equivalent across the activities. However, the differ-
ent means were to be expected, as some activities might generate higher
levels of harmonious and/or obsessive passion than others. For instance,
in one study on gambling, Mageau et al. (2005) found that gambling at the
Montreal Casino was associated with higher levels of both harmonious
and obsessive gambling than gambling with other means such as lotteries.
Clearly, future research is needed in order to shed light on how activities
may affect levels of passion. Finally, with respect to the invariance of the
correlation between the two passion factors, it was found that the cor-
relation was equivalent for all activities except sports (see Schellenberg,
Gunnell, Mosewich, and Bailis, 2014 for similar findings on the invariance
of the Passion Scale across various sport activities).
Overall, the results from the Marsh et al. (2013) study are important
because they revealed that full equivalence was obtained with respect to
language and gender, while partial equivalence was obtained over types
of activities. When coupled with findings from the factor analyses (either
exploratory or confirmatory) of the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study and
of 20 additional studies, empirical support for the factor structure (or the
factorial validity) of the Passion Scale is impressive.
Reliability and Temporal Stability
In the original study of Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1), the reliability (assessed
through the Cronbach alpha) of the two subscales was assessed using the
overall sample (n = 520). Results revealed relatively high levels of reliability
(or homogeneity of the items) for both the Harmonious (alpha = .79) and
Obsessive Passion (alpha = .89) subscales. Similarly, the Cronbach alphas
for the two subscales have been adequate in all studies published so far in
the literature (more than 100). For instance, in the other three studies in
the Vallerand et al. (2003, Studies 2 to 4) article, the reliability indices var-
ied between .71 and .92. In the Marsh et al. (2013) archival study described
above, which involved more than 3,500 participants, the indices were of .83
and .86 for harmonious and obsessive passion, respectively. In addition, in
three studies on romantic relationships (Ratelle et al., 2013), results showed
high levels of internal consistency for both types of passion (between .76
and .90). It should also be underscored that laboratory studies that have
used the Passion Scale have yielded levels of internal consistency, similar to
studies conducted in field settings. For instance, in nine studies conducted
in lab settings, the Cronbach alphas of the two subscales varied between .70
and .89 (Bélanger, Lafrenière, Vallerand, & Kruglanski, 2013a, 2013b). Thus,
irrespective of where the study is conducted (in a number of field settings
and activities or in the lab), the internal consistency of the Passion Scale is
adequate.
Other studies have looked at the temporal stability of the Passion Scale,
or the extent to which the scale measures the same thing over time. For
instance, in one study with regular gamblers (Rousseau, Vallerand, Ratelle,
Mageau, & Provencher, 2002), the Passion Scale for gambling was completed
by regular gamblers twice over one month. The scale showed high levels of
temporal stability. For harmonious passion, the correlation was .89, while
it was .84 for obsessive passion. Similarly, in a study on passion for one’s
work (teaching), approximately 500 teachers completed the Passion Scale for
teaching twice over three months (Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay,
2008). High levels of temporal stability were also obtained with the harmo-
nious (r = .80) and obsessive passion (r = .88) subscales. Of additional impor-
tance, results of the Rousseau et al. study also revealed that the two subscales
were unrelated to a scale of social desirability. In other words, people seem
to respond to the Passion Scale truthfully, rather than with the goal of being
perceived positively by others.
Finally, in a study on people’s passion for their romantic relationships
(Ratelle et al., 2013), it was found that moderately high levels of temporal
stability were achieved by both types of passion. Specifically, correlations
supported the moderately high temporal stability of the scale (r = .63 for har-
monious passion; r = .77 for obsessive passion). It is interesting to note that
the temporal stability in the romantic sphere seems somewhat lower than
that in the other studies. One possibility is that there might be more ups
and downs in romantic passion than in other activities, thereby triggering
fluctuations in the two types of passion. Future research is needed to more
firmly determine the long-term stability of romantic passion.
In sum, the internal consistency (reliability) of the Passion Scale is excel-
lent. Similarly, the temporal stability of the scale is high. This last finding
underscores the fact that people would appear to have a predominant type of
passion for a given activity that is fairly stable, although it would appear that
temporary fluctuations also take place. Finally, it also appears that the two
subscales are relatively free from social desirability (Rousseau et al., 2002).
The Passion Criteria Items
As mentioned previously, the Passion Scale also includes some passion crite-
ria items. These items serve to assess whether people are passionate or not
toward a given activity. These criteria refer to the definition of passion (the
extent to which people like or love the activity, its importance, the time and
energy spent on it, the extent to which the activity is part of one’s identity,
and if the activity is seen as a passion by the person). These items appear in
the lower portion of Table 4.1. These items are important because typically
researchers should first look at the criteria to determine if people are pas-
sionate or not toward a given activity. Then, once passionate individuals are
identified, one can look at the other two subscales to determine the levels of
harmonious and obsessive passion that are present in each individual. Most
studies on passion published to date have been conducted with participants
who had been selected because they were hypothesized to be passionate
about a given activity (athletes, video gamers, etc.) and had been for sev-
eral years. This is because researchers wanted to look at the role of passion
(and thus at its presence and not its absence) in outcomes. Thus, typically,
researchers have not used the criterion items in these studies because it was
expected that the participants would be passionate.
It should be noted that in research where it was hypothesized that par-
ticipants were passionate, some researchers have used the criterion items.
Such research allows us to determine whether participants were indeed pas-
sionate for the activity. For instance, in their study with approximately 500
elementary and high school teachers, Carbonneau et al. (2008) used four of
the five criteria of passion (i.e., activity valuation, time investment, love for
the activity, and activity being perceived as a passion) to assess the pres-
ence of passion for teaching. In line with past research (e.g., Vallerand and
Houlfort, 2003), teachers with a mean score on the sum of the four crite-
ria at the midpoint (4) or above on the 7-point response scale were deemed
to be passionate. Using this cut-off score, over 93% of the teachers were
found to be passionate. Similarly, in research with French national and
international soccer referees (the best referees from France, including pro-
fessionals) Philippe, Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, and Brunel (2009, Study 1,
Sample 1) used the same criteria and found that 100% were passionate for
soccer. It can thus be safely assumed that participants in past research who
were selected because it was hypothesized that they were passionate, were
indeed passionate for their beloved activity. The use of the Harmonious and
Obsessive Passion subscales was therefore justified.
In addition to determining if participants are passionate or not for
a given activity, the criterion items are important with respect to at least
two additional issues. First, the passion criteria items are important when
charting the development of passion from its origins. For instance, Mageau,
Vallerand, et al. (2009, Study 3) used these items to determine which stu-
dents would develop a passion for music over a period of five months. We
return to this issue in the next chapter. A second issue of greater interest for
the present chapter in terms of criterion items relates to their use to ascer-
tain the construct validity of both the Harmonious Passion and Obsessive
Passion subscales. Because both types of passion are hypothesized to reflect
the construct of passion, then each subscale should positively correlate with
the different passion criteria. Of course, in addition to similar positive cor-
relations with the passion criteria items, the two forms of passion should
also correlate differently with different outcomes to evidence more fully the
construct validity of the Passion Scale. We turn to this issue below.
Construct Validity of the Passion Scale
As mentioned above, at least two issues are important with respect to the
construct validity of the Passion Scale as posited by the definition of passion
(Vallerand et al., 20103). First, how do the two subscales correlate with the
definitional elements of the passion construct? Specifically, if the harmoni-
ous and obsessive passions indeed reflect the passion construct, they should
both positively correlate with the definitional components of passion (e.g.,
activity liking or loving, activity valuing, time and energy involvement in
the activity, the activity being seen as part of one’s identity, and the activ-
ity being perceived as a “passion”). Second, the two types of passion should
relate differently to some different modes of functioning and basic outcomes,
as hypothesized by the DMP.
Two major studies have performed these two tasks with a large num-
ber of participants and are thus in a position to provide an assessment of
these two aspects of construct validity of the Passion Scale. The first study
is that of Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1). This study assessed four of the five
definitional elements (i.e., activity valuing, time and energy involvement,

the activity as part of identity, and the activity being perceived as a “pas-
sion”). The identity measure was the Aron et al. (1992) Inclusion of the Other
in the Self (IOS) scale. The IOS scale is a single-item pictorial instrument
intended to measure the extent to which another person has been internal-
ized in one’s self (or in this case, one’s identity). In this study, the IOS was
slightly modified so that the activity, instead of another person, was depicted
in one of the circles. Thus, participants were asked to select the diagram that
best described the extent to which the activity was part of their self from a
set of Venn-like diagrams, each representing a series of increasing degrees
of overlap between themselves (“myself” in one circle) and the activity (“the
activity” in the other circle). There were 7 diagrams and thus a 7-point scale.
The higher the degree of overlap between the two circles, the more it can be
inferred that the activity is part of one’s identity. In addition to the passion
criteria, Vallerand et al. (2003) also measured perceptions of conflict between
the activity and other aspects of one’s life, the extent to which one ruminates
about the passionate activity when not engaged in it, and perceptions of flow
(or being one with the activity; Csikszentmihalyi, 1978). In the second major
study, Marsh et al. (2013) measured all of these variables except the identity
and the flow measures. In addition, Marsh et al. (2013) measured the crite-
rion of activity liking/loving and the outcome of life satisfaction (the Diener,
Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985, measure).
With respect to the first element of construct validity discussed previously,
it was first hypothesized that both the Harmonious and Obsessive Passion
subscales would be positively related to all passion criteria. The results of
the correlations appear in Table 4.2. It can be seen that all hypotheses were
upheld in both studies. First, with respect to the correlations between the
two passion subscales and the criterion items, it can be seen that they were
all positive. It should be noted that most correlations were moderately high
and very similar, except for those involving identity. Here, although both
partial correlations (controlling for the relationship with the other passion
subscale) were significant, the correlation with obsessive passion was stron-
ger (r = .49) than the correlation with harmonious passion (r = .16). This was
to be expected because obsessive passion comes to take more space in one’s
identity than harmonious passion. In a subsequent study on soccer fans in
the United Kingdom (Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al., 2008, Study 1), the cor-
relation (Pearson correlations, this time) involving obsessive passion and a
measure of fandom identity (Wann & Branscombe, 1993) was also stronger
than that with harmonious passion, although both correlations were stron-
ger than in the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study. Similar findings were
also obtained with high-level musicians and athletes (Mageau et al., 2009,
Study 1). Thus, support exists overall for the fact that both the harmonious
and obsessive passions reflect the definition of the passion construct.
Table 4.2. COR R EL AT ION TA BLE IN VOLV ING T HE T WO PA SSIONS

W I T H T HE CR I T ER I A A ND T HE OU TCOMES OF T HE VA LLER A ND ET A L .
(20 03, ST UDY 1) A ND T HE M A R SH ET A L . (2013) ST UDIES
Vallerand et al. Marsh et al.
(2003, Study 1) (2013)
HP OP HP OP
Passion Criteria
Liking/Loving – – .55 .22
Activity Valuation .37 .57 .58 .42
Time/Energy Invested .35 .20 .38 .55
Inclusion in Self (Identity) .16 .49 – –
Activity Is a Passion .43 .46 .54 .51
Passion Outcomes
Flow (Challenge) .38 –.01* – –
Conflict .11* .50 .05* .67
Rumination .06* .54 .27 .81
Life Satisfaction – – .47 –.07*
Results from the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study are based on partial correlations with 539 par-
ticipants, while those from the Marsh et al. (2013) study are based on Pearson correlations with 3,571
participants from a meta-analysis that contained a number of studies.
* Correlations with an asterix (*) are non-significant, p <.05.
An important issue with respect to the correlations between the two passion
subscales and the criterion items refer to the degree of “passion” subjectively
reflected in each type of passion. As was seen in the section dealing with the
factor structure of the scale, overwhelming support from several studies has
been reported for the presence of two factors pertaining to the harmonious
and obsessive passions. Still, some people may suggest that obsessive passion
is “more” of a “passion” than harmonious passion. This subjective perception
may stem from the erroneous perception that a passion that is outside one’s
control may be more of a passion than one that remains under one’s control
because feeling controlled by an activity may be experienced as highly power-
ful. However, although obsessive passion may indeed be experienced as some-
what more outside of one’s control than harmonious passion, it does not mean
that it is more of a passion than harmonious passion. Recall that in Chapter
2 the two types of passion have been identified in both the philosophical and
the psychological literatures. Rather, the DMP hypothesizes that both types of
passion equally reflect the passion construct, but in qualitatively different ways.
One way to find out if these two types of passion are indeed “passions” is to
ask passionate people how they experience each type of passion. Are the two
types of passion experienced equally as a passion by participants, or are they
perceived differently? A look at the correlations reported previously between
the two types of passion and one of the passion criteria, namely people’s per-
ceptions that their activity is a passion for them, provides an answer to this
question. As can be seen in Table 4.2, harmonious passion is experienced as a
passion just as much as obsessive passion. Indeed, the correlations between
the two types of passion and the criterion dealing with perceptions that the
activity is a passion are remarkably similar in both the Vallerand et al. (2003,
Study 1; r = .43–.46) and the Marsh et al. (2013; r = .51–.54) studies. Thus,
based on these two studies, over 4,000 passionate individuals report that
harmonious and obsessive passions reflect the construct of passion to the
same degree. These findings should put to rest the intuitive belief that obses-
sive passion is experienced more as a passion than harmonious passion. It is
simply not the case.
The second issue dealing with construct validity pertains to the discrimi-
nant validity that the two types of passion should display in their pattern of
correlations with outcomes. Specifically, even though the two types of pas-
sion are positively and similarly related to the set of passion criteria, the two
forms of passion nevertheless should reflect qualitatively different types of
passion and thus should be differentially correlated with various outcomes.
Specifically, harmonious passion is expected to be positively related to flow
and life satisfaction, but to be largely unrelated to both conflict with other
activities and rumination on the passionate activity. This is because, as we
have seen in Chapter 3, the DMP posits that due to its open, mindful, and
non-defensive type of involvement, harmonious passion should allow peo-
ple to fully immerse themselves in the activity and thus to experience flow
while engaging in the activity, as well as experiencing higher levels of life
satisfaction. Conversely, because of its rigid type of persistence, obsessive
passion was expected to be positively related to both rumination and con-
flict with other types of activities, but to be largely unrelated to flow and life
satisfaction. This is exactly what the results from the correlations in Table
4.2 reveal. For instance, harmonious passion was positively related to flow
and life satisfaction (and weakly to rumination) but unrelated to conflict.
Conversely, the opposite pattern of relationships took place with obsessive
passion, where it was positively related to rumination and conflict in both
studies, but unrelated to flow and life satisfaction. These last findings pro-
vide support for the discriminant validity of the Passion Scale. Overall, the
results from the two studies (Marsh et al., 2013; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study
1) are based on a total of more than 4,000 participants and provide strong
support for the construct validity of the Passion Scale. Both forms of passion
are indeed “a passion” as they both relate strongly and positively to indica-
tors (or criteria) of passion. Furthermore, the two types of passion relate
differently to outcomes, as hypothesized by the DMP.
In sum, the findings on the psychometric properties of the Passion Scale
are remarkable. There is strong support for the factor structure of the scale
from 20 studies. Furthermore, the results from the Marsh et al. archival
study show that the Passion Scale is fully invariant (or equivalent) over gen-
der and language and largely invariant over activities. In addition, there is
overwhelming support for the reliability of the scale as pertains to both its
internal consistency and temporal stability. Of major importance, there is
strong support for its construct validity, in particular its convergent validity
with respect to the passion criteria and its discriminant validity as pertains
to differential patterns of correlations between the harmonious and obses-
sive passions and various outcomes. As will be seen in the other chapters of
this book, another form of construct validity, namely predictive validity, will
be shown in that the two types of passion can predict different intra- and
interpersonal and even societal outcomes in line with hypotheses derived
from the DMP. Finally, it is worth mentioning again that the Passion Scale
is also free from social desirability (Rousseau et al., 2002). The Passion Scale
can thus be used in research with most activities in a variety of real-life as
well as laboratory settings.
ON EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATING PASSION
The Passion Scale is quite useful when conducting research where one
wants to relate passion to various determinants and/or outcomes.
However, such a methodological approach provides relationships between
variables and as such cannot address fully the issue of causality. Thus,
simply correlating scores from the Passion Scale with that of other scales
assessing “outcomes,” for instance, does not entitle researchers to conclude
that passion causes outcomes. In order to do so, we must experimentally
manipulate passion and subsequently assess outcomes. To do so, we need
a relevant experimental tool. Recently, Bélanger, Lafrenière, Vallerand,
and Kruglanski (2013b; see also Bélanger, Lafrenière, Kruglanski, &
Vallerand, 2013; Lafrenière, Vallerand, & Sedikides, 2013) have devel-
oped a methodology to induce either harmonious or obsessive passion.
In this section of the chapter, we focus on this recent methodological
advance.
Experimental Induction Procedures
The situational induction of passion that we have developed is in line with

theory and research to the effect that psychological constructs are dynamic
and can be operationalized both in terms of individual differences and
short-lived situations (for review and discussion, see Avnet & Higgins,
2003). Thus, passion can be seen as a psychological construct that can be
more or less like a narrow trait (someone can have a predominant harmoni-
ous or obsessive passion toward a specific activity) as well as a state (one
can be made to behave like someone who has a predominant harmonious or
obsessive passion toward a given activity at a given point in time). Thus, to
the extent that someone has a passion for a given activity, it is possible to
trigger one type of passion or the other because both types of passion have
been internalized in identity, albeit to different degrees.
The manipulation entails the following procedures. Typically, partici-
pants are asked to “identify an activity that you love, that is important
to you, and in which you invest a significant amount of time on a regu-
lar basis” (just like participants who are asked to complete the Passion
Scale). Then, participants engage in a writing task for a period of five min-
utes where they are randomly assigned to one of three writing tasks (the
harmonious passion, obsessive passion, or control condition inductions).
Basically, participants in the two passion conditions are asked to reflect
upon two of the scale items and then to elaborate in writing for a period of
about five minutes on the experience they have selected. Similar manipu-
lations have proven to be effective in activating specific psychological con-
structs, such as different regulatory focus modes (Avnet & Higgins, 2003;
Pierro, et al., 2008).
In the harmonious passion condition, participants are instructed to
[w]‌r ite about a time when your favorite activity was in harmony with other
things that are part of you and you felt that your favorite activity allowed you
to live a variety of experiences. Recall this event vividly and include as much
detail as you can to relive the experience.
These instructions are based on the following two items of the harmonious
passion subscale, namely (1) “My activity is in harmony with other things
that are part of me,” and (2) “My activity allows me to live a variety of
experiences.”
Participants in the obsessive passion condition are assigned to a similar
writing task but are instructed to
[w]‌r ite about a time where you had difficulties controlling your urge to do your
favorite activity and you felt that your activity was the only thing that really
turned you on. Recall this event vividly and include as much detail as you can
to relive the experience.
These instructions are based on the following two obsessive passion sub-
scale items: (1) “I have difficulties controlling my urge to do my activity,” and
(2) “This activity is the only thing that really turns me on.”
Finally, in the control condition, participants are instructed to
[w]‌r ite about a time when you had to borrow a book at the library. Recall this
event vividly and include as much detail as you can to relive the experience.
Clearly, here, in this last condition, the procedures simply serve to ensure
that participants engage in a similar writing task as those in the other
two conditions but this time without referring to the passionate activity.
Participants could also be asked to write about something else (e.g., ordering
a pizza). What is important is that this activity should not be something that
people can be passionate about.
Construct Validity of the Experimental

Manipulation of Passion
The above procedures have been used in several studies and the results pro-
vide support for their construct validity in two ways. First, research has
shown that inducing harmonious or obsessive passion leads people to expe-
rience the targeted type of passion. For instance, in one of the Bélanger et al.
(2013 b, Study 4) laboratory studies, participants who had been assigned to
either the harmonious or the obsessive passion condition also completed
a manipulation check that contained one key item from each of the har-
monious and obsessive passion subscales of the Passion Scale. These items
were different from those used for the induction procedures. The results
revealed that participants in the harmonious passion condition reported
experiencing higher levels of harmonious passion than obsessive passion.
Conversely, participants in the obsessive passion condition reported experi-
encing higher levels of obsessive passion than harmonious passion. Figure
4.1. illustrates these findings. Thus, these results provide at least prelimi-
nary evidence on the construct validity of the passion manipulation as it
was shown to induce the type of passion that it intends to produce.
The second type of evidence for the construct validity of the manipulation
procedures deals with the effects that such manipulation may have on out-
comes. Specifically, these manipulations should lead to the same effects on
outcomes as the correlations between the Passion Scale and outcomes. Let us
look at two studies that have shown exactly that. These studies come from the
Bélanger, Lafrenière, Kruglanski, and Vallerand (2013) study that focused
on the role of passion in favoring either multifinal or counterfinal means (or
ways of reaching one’s goals). In Arie Kruglanski’s influential goal-system
theory (Kruglanski et al., 2002), different types of means (such as activi-
ties) can be used to reach goals. Multifinal means are the type of means that
allow one to reach several goals. For instance, one may set up a study group
7 Harmonious Passion Obsessive Passion
5
Scores
2
Harmonious Passion Condition Obsessive Passion Condition
Figure 4.1:
Scores of the Harmonious and Obsessive Passion Subscales as a Function of the Passion
Conditions (adapted from Bélanger et al., 2013b, Study 4).
with friends. This would allow one to reach both academic and social goals.
Conversely, one may favor counterfinal means that favor one type of goal at
the expense of another. For example, one may decide to study late the night
before an exam. Thus, one would favor the academic goal at the expense of
the health goal. In the DMP, it is hypothesized that harmonious passion
facilitates the harmonious organization of goals. Therefore, with harmoni-
ous passion one should favor multifinal means at the expense of counterfi-
nal means. With obsessive passion, conflict is to be expected between goals.
Thus, with this type of passion one should favor counterfinal over multifinal
goals. These are the main hypotheses that were tested in the studies reported
by Bélanger et al. (2013).
In a first study (Study 1A), participants (university students) were asked to
complete the Passion Scale as pertains to their academic studies. Then, they
were asked to complete their degree of engagement in a number of both mul-
tifinal (e.g., “I usually call friends who are in my class and we quiz each other”)
and counterfinal (“I often trade sleep for studying time”) means involving
their studies. In addition, participants were asked to rate the extent to which
they felt that each of these means was effective to get good grades on a 7-point
scale. Results from multiple regression analyses provided support for the
hypotheses. Specifically, harmonious passion was found to be associated with
more favorable evaluations of multifinal means, whereas obsessive passion
was found to be unrelated to it. Conversely, obsessive passion was found to be
positively associated with more favorable evaluations of counterfinal means,
whereas harmonious passion was shown to be unrelated to it.
In Study 2A, different participants (university students) were randomly

assigned to the experimental induction of either the harmonious or the
obsessive passion toward their studies, as explained above. They were then
asked to evaluate different academic means, categorized into multifinal and
counterfinal means, with respect to the goal of getting good grades in school.
Results from a one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) revealed that participants in the harmonious passion condition
evaluated multifinal academic means more favorably than participants in
the obsessive passion condition. Conversely, counterfinal academic means
were evaluated more favorably in the obsessive passion condition than in
the harmonious passion condition. Thus, the findings obtained in Study 1A
with the Passion Scale were replicated in Study 2A with the experimental
manipulation of passion.
Other replications were also obtained in studies that pertained to roman-
tic passion (see Bélanger et al., 2013) with both the Passion Scale and the
experimental manipulation of passion. Finally, it will be seen in Chapter 8 on
psychological well-being that an experimental induction of passion leads to
the same findings as simply assessing passion with respect to one’s well-being
(Lafrenière et al., 2013, Study 2).
In sum, the findings reported here provide strong support for the valid-
ity of the experimental manipulations of harmonious and obsessive pas-
sion. Indeed, these manipulations led to the appropriate experience of the
intended type of passion as well as yielding the same findings as the Passion
Scale, in line with hypotheses derived from the DMP. We will see other
results from studies that have used these manipulations in other chapters
of this book.
SUMMARY
We have seen in this chapter that methodological tools to study passion

have been developed. First, the Passion Scale has been developed and shown
to display high levels of psychometric properties. Of particular interest is
that over 20 studies provide support for the factor structure of the scale. In
addition, results of a large-scale archival study (Marsh et al., 2013) provide
strong support for the equivalence (or invariance) of the Passion Scale over
a number of factors, including sex, language, and type of activities. Second,
experimental procedures have been found to validly induce the targeted type
of passion as intended. It is now possible to induce passion (harmonious or
obsessive) and observe its effects at a given point in time. Overall, these
methodological tools allow us to study the two types of passion, as well as
their determinants and outcomes. Research addressing these issues is cov-
ered in the other chapters of this book.
w
C H A P T ER 5
The Development of Passion
Y ears ago, Bill Bradley, the former professional basketball player for the
NBA New York Knicks and former US Senator from the State of New
Jersey, said the following about basketball: “I’m not sure exactly when my
interest turned to passion” This quote is quite interesting, as it raises at least
two issues. First, it underscores the fact that interest and passion are not
identical. As seen in Chapters 2 and 3, passion implies having more than an
interest in the activity or object of one’s passion; it implies loving an activity
that one finds meaningful, spending lots of time on it, and seeing the activ-
ity as an extension of one’s self, as part of one’s identity. Having a passion
for an activity is thus something special. One may have several interests but
only one or two passions. The second point raised by Bill Bradley deals with
the actual development of passion. How did such a passion develop? Further,
once developed, how is passion maintained or modified over time? In other
terms, what are the processes through which passion for an activity or object
first develops and then evolves?
The above issues are discussed in the present chapter. First, I address the
issue of the development of passion. Second, I conduct a review of the lit-
erature on some of the factors involved in both the initial and the ongoing
development of passion. Third, research on the role of need satisfaction in
the development of passion is reviewed. Finally, I conclude with a discussion
on the transformation of passion.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PASSION
We have seen in Chapter 3 that as humans, we have a tendency toward

self-growth. Such a tendency leads us to engage in our world in order to mas-
ter it through what Deci (1975) calls self-determined competence. That is, we
( 87 )
experience feelings of competence in trying to gain mastery in activities that

we choose to engage in. Through our dealings with the world, we start by
exploring our world and then, we show preferences for some types of activi-
ties over others. Such activities provide us with positive experiences and
with the satisfaction of some of our psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 1985,
2000). As we further engage in these activities, typically one activity will be
selected and engaged in on a regular basis, even if we don’t have to. To the
extent that this activity resonates with how we see ourselves and that the
engagement is successful, it will become highly valued and will eventually be
internalized in our identity. Depending on the prevalent social context and
personal characteristics, the internalization process can be predominantly
autonomous or controlled. While the autonomous process leads to the devel-
opment of a harmonious passion, the controlled process leads to an obsessive
passion. In sum, the DMP posits that three major processes influence the
initial development of passion toward an activity: activity selection, activity
valuation, and the internalization of the activity (object or person) represen-
tation in one’s identity, which can lead to harmonious or obsessive passion.
Below, I discuss these processes, along with available evidence.
Activity Selection
After a period of exploration where the person engages in a variety of activi-

ties, one or two activities come to be selected over others (e.g., Bloom, 1985;
Côté, 1999; Vallerand, 2010). Activity selection refers to a preference for
an activity, which leads the person to select this activity over other ones.
Activity selection can be influenced by a number of factors. A first pertains to
the physical environment. For instance, because of the colder winter climate,
Canadian children are more likely to be exposed to snow and ice and, as a
result, to select hockey as an activity of involvement, than, let’s say, Jamaican
children, who have little or no access to ice (it will be recalled, however, that
passion for bobsledding led a Jamaican team to compete in this discipline in
the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada, even though Jamaica
did not have any bobsled installations!).
Culture represents another factor that influences activity selection
through what is valued (e.g., Rogoff et al., 2007). Thus, even if ice is available
in some areas, like in Europe, the culture may dictate that soccer and not
hockey is the main sport to be engaged in. Furthermore, culture may dictate
what is appropriate for each sex. For instance, before the twentieth century,
sport was not seen as appropriate for women in most cultures. On the other
hand, it was seen as bizarre for men to engage in ballet dancing in several cul-
tures (Canada and the USA) but was revered in others (e.g., Russia). However,
culture may not always have a direct influence on the individual. This is
T h e D e v e l o p m e n t o f Pa s s i o n ( 89 )
because oftentimes the family mediates the impact of culture on the indi-
vidual (e.g., Grusec & Davidov, 2007). Thus, while a given family may adhere
to cultural values, another may not, or perhaps less so. For example, even in
Canada, not everybody plays hockey. Some parents may prefer other types
of activities (e.g., music, basketball, chess, etc.), and such preferences will
filter down to the children. According to Bloom (1985), parents’ involvement
in children’s activities is crucial to their further development in the activ-
ity because parents create a context in which children persist and engage in
activities that promote growth within the activity and eventually expertise
in it. Other researchers have also underscored the importance of parental
involvement at the beginning of children’s participation (Csikszentymihalyi
et al., 1993; Snyder & Spreitzer, 1973; Spreitzer & Snyder, 1976), as well as
maintaining subsequent activity involvement (Brown, Frankel, & Fennell,
1989; Côté, 1999).
In addition to parents, siblings and friends who engage in a given activ-
ity are likely to influence children’s behavior (e.g., Bukowsky, Brendgen, &
Vitaro, 2007; Côté, 1999; Dunn, 2007). Thus, family members and friends
with whom children identify may serve as models and should represent an
important source of influence on their activity selection. People repeatedly
report that other people are influential in leading them to initiate activity
engagement that eventually turns into a passion (e.g., Lecoq, 2012, Study
6). Thus, by making certain activities available, valued, or salient, our social
environment can orient us toward selecting activities (and objects) over
others.
Activity Valuation
A second process in the development of passion is that of valuing the activ-

ity or the subjective importance given to the activity by the person. This is
the crystallization effect that Stendhal referred to, which was discussed in
Chapter 2. Once more, the social environment can play a major part. As we
have seen above, parents, siblings, and friends can influence one’s engage-
ment in specific activities. However, they will do much more than encourage
us to engage in such activities. By leading us to engage in specific activities,
they also underscore the fact that they value these very activities and implic-
itly or explicitly convey this message to us. To the extent that we enjoy our
engagement in the selected activity and that our psychological needs of com-
petence, autonomy, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000) are repeatedly satis-
fied within the activity, we come to value the activity greatly. I will return to
the issue of needs in a later section of this chapter.
One’s sense of identity also should play a role as a determinant of activity
valuation. When an activity greatly resonates with a person’s sense of self,
then the person will begin to think of him- or herself in terms of this activ-
ity and will come to value it. It is hypothesized that individuals who come to
see an activity as contributing to their identity or as having the potential to
do so, either in the short or long term, are likely to value the activity, spend
time engaging in it, and thus become more passionate toward it. Identity
refers to an individual’s relevant features, characteristics, and experiences,
and how these are interrelated (Schlenker, 1985). Furthermore, as seen in
Chapter 3, one’s identity elements are connected to self-processes, such as
the person’s thoughts, affect, and behaviors, as a function of their centrality,
importance, and salience (e.g., Cantor & Mischel, 1979; Greenwald, 1980;
Markus, 1977). Thus, as seen previously, identity will lead a person not only
to select a given activity, but also to value it. In sum, to the extent that one
feels that the activity that one engages in reflects true choice and interests
and is consonant with one’s identity, it should promote the valuation of the
activity. The same applies to future selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), as how
one projects him- or herself in the future matters with respect to activity val-
uation. A person may not be a musician just yet, but can see him- or herself
becoming one in the future. Such a possible self can be highly motivational in
terms of valuing an activity and eventually incorporating it in one’s identity
(Markus & Nurius, 1986).
The Internalization of the Activity in Identity
As was seen in Chapter 3, activity valuation is expected to play an impor-

tant role in the internalization of the activity in identity and the develop-
ment of passion. Thus, to the extent that an object is seen as meaningful,
it is likely to find its way into the self. The DMP further posits that once an
enjoyable activity becomes highly valued, the type of passion that results
is determined by the type of internalization that is operative. An autono-
mous internalization of the activity representation is expected to lead to
the development of harmonious passion, whereas a controlled internaliza-
tion is hypothesized to lead to an obsessive passion. An autonomous inter-
nalization (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997) occurs
when individuals freely accept the activity as important in itself and with-
out any contingencies attached to it or interference from the social envi-
ronment. This type of internalization emanates from the integrated self
(Hodgins & Knee, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2003) and ensures that the inter-
nalized elements are aligned with self-processes in a coherent fashion,
thereby making available optimal adaptive self-processes. On the other
hand, a controlled internalization process (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Sheldon,
2002; Vallerand, 1997) originates from intra- and/or interpersonal pres-
sure, typically because certain contingencies are attached to the activity,
such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem, or because the sense

of excitement derived from activity engagement is uncontrollable. Such
a process limits access to adaptive self-processes, perturbs the inherent
harmony among self-elements, and creates conflict among them, and may
even lead to maladaptive processes.
The DMP proposes that one important determinant of the internaliza-
tion process is the extent to which the social environment promotes one’s
autonomy versus attempts to control it (Deci & Ryan, 1987). Much research
has shown that autonomy support (or encouraging another person to make
his or her own choices and decisions) from parents and teachers facilitates
children’s autonomous internalization of values and regulations of rela-
tively uninteresting activities such as going to school (see Grolnick & Ryan,
1989; Vallerand, Fortier, & Guay, 1997). Similarly, the DMP proposes that
autonomy support should facilitate the autonomous internalization of an
interesting activity in one’s identity, thereby leading to harmonious passion.
Conversely, once a given activity has been selected and is highly valued by
the individual, a controlling environment should facilitate a controlled inter-
nalization of the activity in one’s identity, thereby leading to an obsessive
passion for the activity.
Finally, as mentioned in Chapter 3, once developed, a passion for a given
activity or object does not end there, as the development of passion is ongo-
ing. Indeed, each new experience with the activity is an opportunity for the
further development of one’s passion. How the passion further develops is a
function of both social and personal factors. Social factors (e.g., autonomy
support from significant others) and personal factors (e.g., one’s autonomous
personality) related to the autonomous internalization process will make
operative aspects of the passionate activity that have been internalized in
identity in an autonomous fashion, thereby facilitating the further devel-
opment and/or maintenance of a harmonious passion. Conversely, factors
related to the controlled internalization process will trigger aspects of the
passionate activity that have been internalized in identity in a controlled
way, thereby facilitating the further development and/or maintenance of an
obsessive passion. Let us now turn to the empirical evidence that exists for
the development of passion.
THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF PASSION:

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
Before we delve into research that has looked at the initial development of
passion, it would appear important to address two issues. First, who becomes
passionate? And second, what types of activity are passionately pursued? We
address these issues next.
Who Becomes Passionate?
As seen in Chapter 3, the DMP makes the assumptions that it is in our very
nature to seek to achieve self-growth, and further, that passion for activi-
ties with self-growth affordances provides the greatest potential to extract
self-growth from activity engagement. Then, one corollary of these assump-
tions is that most people should develop a passion for a given activity. Is this
the case? In other words, what is the prevalence of passion in the general
population? In order to answer this question, research should assess the level
of passion in a large group of individuals toward their favorite activity and,
further, these people should be as randomly selected as possible. Thus, they
should not be selected because they may be passionate. This excludes people
who engage in forums and Internet exchanges about a given type of activity
because they would be likely to have a passion toward the activity, and this
would inflate the prevalence rate of passion in the population.
At least two studies (Philippe, Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009, Study 1;
Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1) are in a position to provide some answers
to the prevalence question. In the Vallerand et al. initial study (2003, Study
1), over 500 college students completed the Passion Scale in classrooms
with respect to an activity that was “dear to their heart.” They indicated the
name of this activity and then completed the Passion Scale as pertains to
this activity. As was seen in Chapter 4, the Passion Scale also contains items
that assess the passion criteria. In this particular study, Vallerand et al. used
one of the key elements of the Passion Criteria subscale, namely, if people’s
favorite activity was perceived as a “passion” for them. Using a cutoff point
of at least 4 out of 7, on a 7-point scale, it was found that 84% of the par-
ticipants indicated that they had at least a moderate level of passion for at
least one activity in their lives. Furthermore, they engaged in this activity
an average of 8.5 hours per week and had been engaging in this activity for
almost six years. Clearly, the activity engagement is meaningful, represent-
ing close to 10% of people’s waking hours. In addition, participants did not
show a fleeting interest toward the activity, as they had been engaging in it
for close to six years. In fact, on average the participants have spent more
than 2,500 hours on the passionate activity. Given that these participants
were on average around 20 years of age, it would appear that for most indi-
viduals in the study, initial engagement in the passionate activity started in
their teen years. These findings would tend to support the position of authors
who posit that adolescence represents a crucial period of identity construc-
tion (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1967). Even more, these results suggest that
finding an object of passion may actually be part of the identity construction
process.
While the above findings provide support for the high prevalence of pas-
sion in people’s life, three points are in order. First, only college students
participated in the Vallerand et al. study. Thus, the findings on the preva-
lence of passion pertain only to the college student population and not to
the general population. Second, only one of the passion criteria was used
to determine whether people displayed a passion. All of the passion criteria
items should be used. Third, Vallerand et al. used a moderate level of passion
cutoff point (at least 4 out of 7 on a 7-point scale). What if a more stringent
cutoff point were used, thereby reflecting a high level of passion? Philippe,
Vallerand, and Lavigne (2009, Study 1) have conducted a study that meets
these criteria. In their study, they had over 750 participants, largely taken
from the general population, with an age ranging from 18 to 90 years, to
complete the Passion Scale. They used the four passion criteria of love, value,
time spent on the activity, and passion for the activity as criteria and a cutoff
point of an average of 5 and more on a 7-point scale on the Criteria subscale
(the criterion of identity was not used in this study). The results revealed that
75% of people reported having a high level of passion for at least one activity
in their life! Once more, these results provide strong support for the fact that
there is a high level of prevalence of passion in the general population.
There is one last issue that needs to be addressed before one can firmly
conclude that the majority of people are passionate toward a given activity
in their life. Specifically, we need to ensure that people are not motivated to
respond in a biased way, indicating that they are passionate. If that would
be the case, then the prevalence rate would be inflated. We have seen previ-
ously in Chapter 4 that the Passion Scale is unrelated to social desirability
(Rousseau et al., 2002). Thus, this possibility is unlikely. In any event, addi-
tional evidence of the discriminatory function of the Passion Scale would be
welcome. In a study to be discussed below, Mageau et al. (2009, Study 3) fol-
lowed over a five-month period teenagers enrolled in a music course who
had never touched a musical instrument before. The music course was not an
elective course but rather a compulsory course that all high school students
had to take in their first year of high school at this particular school. Thus, as
such, only a limited number of students should display a passion for music.
Using a 4-point cutoff score with the criterion items, the results showed that
only 36% of the students were found to be passionate for music. Thus, these
findings underscore the fact that while the majority of people will develop a
passion for an activity, such passion is unlikely to develop for just about any-
thing they engage in like with the music students. The nature of the activity,
and how it relates to the person’s identity, matters greatly in the process.
What Types of Activities Are Passionately Pursued?
As mentioned in Chapter 3, the DMP posits that at least three elements are
needed for someone to consider an activity as passionate: (1) the activity
contains at least some inherent interesting properties that lead someone

to love it; (2) the person perceives this activity as meaningful (personal
valuation of the activity); and (3) the activity resonates with elements of
the person’s identity. Everything considered, these three elements can be
found in many activities. Therefore, a number of activities should be per-
ceived as passionate by at least some people. While some activities may be
more popular than other ones with respect to becoming passionate, a very
high number of activities should be considered as passionate by at least
some people.
One study that has addressed the issue of which activities are seen as
passionate is the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study discussed previously.
In this study, it was found that over 150 different activities were described
by participants as passionate. If one considers that most participants (84%)
displayed at least a moderate level of passion, then most of these 150 activi-
ties were considered as passionate by the participants. The 10 most popular
activities, in descending order, were dance, hockey, skiing, reading, swim-
ming, strength training, volleyball, soccer, playing the guitar, and basket-
ball. Activities were coded into 8 categories, ranging from individual sport/
physical activity (e.g., jogging; 34.85%) to engaging in intimate relationships
(e.g., talking with friends; 1.98%). Table 5.1 presents the 8 different catego-
ries, with examples of activities for each one. Thus, these findings support
the fact that a high number of activities can become passionate; there is
something for everyone.
Table 5.1. T Y PES OF PA SSIONAT E AC T I V I T IES A ND T HE PERCEN TAGE

OF PEOPLE ENGAGING IN E ACH ONE
Activities Types of Activities % of Participants
1. Individual sports/physical Cycling, jogging, swimming 34.85

activity
2. Team sports Playing basketball, hockey, football 25.54
3. Passive leisure Listening to music, watching movies 15.05
4. Active music Playing the guitar, playing the piano 10.01
5. Reading Reading a novel, reading poetry 4.95
6. Active arts Painting, photography 3.96
7. Work/education Part-time work, reading in one’s 3.56
area of studies
8. Interpersonal relationships Being with friends or family 1.98
*Based on the response of over 539 college students.

Adapted from Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1).
In a study with university students in Norway, Stenseng (2008) obtained

very similar categories with similar percentages to those found in the
Vallerand et al. study (2003, Study 1). In another study conducted in France
by Balon, Lecoq and Rimé (2013) with over 200 participants, a total of 12
categories were obtained, including categories similar to those obtained by
Vallerand et al. Some peculiarities were notable, however, in the Balon et al.
study, such as engaging in activities with animals (horseback riding; 19.4%),
group activities (e.g., running scouts movement; 5.1%), and multimedia
activities (e.g., surfing the Internet; playing video games; 2.4%). These dis-
tinctions may be cultural in nature, or again may be due to the fact that some
participants in this study were contacted through Internet forums devoted
to specific activities.
In sum, it thus appears that most people can become passionate. Further,
one’s passion can be experienced toward one of a variety of activities. While
some activities may be more likely to instill passion than others, it neverthe-
less remains that a number of activities can potentially be passionate at least
for some individuals.
The Role of Social Factors in the Initial Development of Passion
Let us look at some of the factors involved in the initial development process.
The DMP posits that the dialectic between the person and the environment
leads to the following elements being important in the initial development
of passion: engaging in the activity and eventually selecting it above other
activities; displaying activity valuation toward the activity; seeing the activity
as part of one’s immediate or future identity; and receiving autonomy support
from one’s social context pertaining to the activity. The role of the latter social
factor deserves special attention. Autonomy support (or its opposite, control-
ling behavior) should play a special role in the development in two ways. First,
autonomy support is crucial in the initial phase of activity engagement in
order for one’s passion, irrespective of its form, to bloom. Without autonomy
support, one cannot truly feel that a choice has been made with respect to
the activity. For example, if one feels forced to play the piano early on, then
at best some form of extrinsic motivation will take place, but not passion.
Second, later on, after the child (or person) has selected a given activity for
more intense involvement, then the type of behavior from the social environ-
ment as pertains to one’s autonomy will dictate the type of internalization
that will take place, and consequently the type of passion that will develop.
If autonomy support is still present on a permanent basis down the road, it
will trigger the autonomous internalization process and thus facilitate the
development of harmonious passion. In contrast, if the social environment
(e.g., teachers, parents, coaches) behaves in a controlling fashion toward the
child once he or she has decided to invest in an activity, then such behavior
should facilitate the controlled internalization process and the development
of obsessive passion in children.
Mageau, Vallerand, Charest, et al. (2009, Study 3) have conducted a short
longitudinal study to test the above hypotheses. Participants were roughly
200 first-year high school students who had never played a musical instru-
ment before. All students were enrolled in a compulsory music course at a
particular school. Thus, all participants started the music experience at the
same level and because it was not an elective course, initial preference was
controlled for. By following participants who had never played a musical
instrument before over the course of their first semester in a music class
(from “Time 0”), we sought to predict who would develop a passion for music
at the end of the term, and, among those who did, to predict those who would
develop a harmonious or an obsessive passion.
Participants completed a series of three questionnaires over a five-month
period. The first questionnaire contained measures of personal variables
(personal identification with music and personal preference for activity spe-
cialization), which were assessed during the first or second music class of the
semester. The second questionnaire comprised measures of interpersonal
variables (perceived autonomy support from teachers and parents, perceived
parental valuation of the activity, and perceived parental preference for spe-
cialization), which were measured two months later in the semester. This
second questionnaire was assessed later, in order to allow interactions to
occur between children and their social environment (i.e., the music teacher
and parents) with respect to the musical activity. The last questionnaire was
completed at the end of the semester and assessed students’ passion using
the Passion Scale. As seen in Chapter 4, the Passion Scale includes subscales
assessing the harmonious and obsessive passions and also the passion crite-
rion items, allowing us to determine if the participants were passionate or
not toward music.
In line with previous research (Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003), a two-step
procedure was used to create three different groups of students pas-
sionate for music: harmoniously passionate, obsessively passionate, and
non-passionate. First, the passion criteria items were used to differenti-
ate between the non-passionate and passionate people. Individuals with
a mean score on the passion criterion items situated at midpoint or above
(an average of 4 and more on a 7-point scale) on the response scale were
classified as passionate. It was possible to identify that 36% of the sample
met this cutoff point. Thus, 36% of the students were found to be at least
moderately passionate for music at the end of the term (5 months after
first touching a musical instrument). The fact that only a minority of stu-
dents developed a passion for music was to be expected because the music
course was a compulsory part of the curriculum and did not necessarily
reflect a personal choice on the students’ part. More generally, these find-
ings suggest that people do not develop a passion for any or all activities
that they engage in.
What factors distinguished those who became passionate for music from
those who did not? Results of a discriminant function analysis revealed
that students who ended up being passionate for music (36% of the sample)
at the end of the term had reported higher levels of activity valuation and
specialization (and thus activity selection), identity processes, and parental
and teacher autonomy support earlier in the term than those students who
didn’t turn out to be passionate. Thus, these results provide strong support
for the hypotheses derived from the DMP. Being passionate should not be
viewed as a personality trait but as a special relationship that one develops
with a specific activity. Clearly, passion entails a person-activity interface
that is unique to each person. People cannot be passionate toward all activi-
ties. Rather, a match between one’s interests and abilities and the task may
be necessary for passion to develop. However, although clearly important,
such a match is not sufficient to lead to the development of passion. Indeed,
as the results have shown, the social environment (e.g., autonomy support)
also plays an important role in the internalization process of a given activity
in identity, thereby leading to passion.
The second result of importance pertained only to the 36% of students who
ended up being passionate for music at the end of the term. How did the two
types of passion develop in these two groups of students? The harmoniously
passionate musicians were differentiated from those who were obsessively
passionate by comparing the standardized scores on the two passion sub-
scales. Students were classified in one of the two passion groups as a function
of their highest standardized score on the two subscales (see Vallerand &
Houlfort, 2003). Thus, those who had a higher standardized score on the har-
monious passion subscale were categorized as harmoniously passionate, and
those who had a higher standardized score on the obsessive passion subscale
were categorized as obsessively passionate. Another discriminant function
analysis was conducted, this time with only the passionate students. Results
revealed that high levels of autonomy support from close adults (parents and
music teachers) were conducive to the development of harmonious passion
in children. However, high levels of autonomy support were negatively related
to obsessive passion. These findings suggest that perceptions of low levels of
autonomy support (or its opposite, namely controlling behavior) from impor-
tant adults and perceiving that one’s parents highly valued the activity both
predicted the development of obsessive passion in students several months
ahead of time.
Of interest is the qualitative research of Coleman and Guo (2013), which
indicates that passion may develop at different ages depending on the
activity (e.g., acting, reading, math, filmmaking, etc.). Because the social
environment plays an important role in the initial development of passion

and the type of passion likely to develop, their findings suggest that dif-
ferent types of individuals (e.g., parents, teachers, coaches, etc.) may play a
more important role at certain ages than others as a function of the activity.
Future research on this issue would appear in order.
In sum, these results provide support for the DMP and the hypothesized
role of activity selection and valuation, identity processes, and especially
autonomy support from significant adults in the initial development of a
passion for music. It thus appears that people who start to value an activ-
ity such as playing a musical instrument, who prefer it over other activities,
who believe that the activity fits with their identity, and believe so without
any undue pressure from significant others will start to develop a passion
for this activity. Furthermore, should high levels of autonomy support from
others persist in the environment wherein students engage in the activity,
then harmonious passion is likely to develop. However, should there be a
lack of freedom (or autonomy support) while engaging in the activity, as well
as high parental pressure conveyed by very high activity valuation by the
parents, early on, then no passion should develop. However, if some sense of
choice in engaging in the activity exists early on and subsequently the social
environment becomes less autonomy supportive and more controlling, then
obsessive passion is likely to develop from such a sequence.
Personal Factors and the Initial Development of Passion
We have just seen above that the social environment represents an

important determinant of the internalization process that takes place,
leading to the initial development of passion. In a similar fashion, per-
sonal factors (i.e., individual differences) constitute a second important
determinant of the internalization process and thus, indirectly, of the
type of passion that initially develops (on this issue, see Vallerand, 2010;
Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2007). The DMP pos-
its that personal factors that orient the individual toward autonomy will
facilitate the autonomous internalization process and thus lead to the
initial development of harmonious passion. Conversely, personal factors
that lead the person to feel controlled while engaging in the activity will
trigger the controlled internalization process and will lead to the devel-
opment of obsessive passion.
Past research (for reviews, see Vallerand, 1997; Vallerand & Ratelle,
2002) has shown that an autonomous personality orientation (having a ten-
dency to do things out of pleasure and/or choice) leads to the internaliza-
tion of uninteresting activities in the self, whereas a controlled personality
orientation (a tendency to do things out of external and/or inner pressure)
leads to the controlled internalization of uninteresting activities (see Guay,

Mageau, & Vallerand, 2003; see also Vallerand, 1997, 2001). It thus appears
that an autonomous personality orientation is associated with the autono-
mous internalization process, whereas a controlled personality orientation
is associated with a controlled internalization style. In light of the above,
to the extent that people highly value an enjoyable activity, those with an
autonomous personality should be more likely to develop and maintain a
predominant harmonious passion. On the other hand, to the extent that the
person values the enjoyable activity, a controlled personality should be more
conducive to obsessive passion.
Research by Vallerand et al. (2006) tested the above hypotheses.
Specifically, Vallerand et al. (2006, Study 1) had collegiate basketball play-
ers complete the Passion Scale for basketball, a scale to assess basketball
valuation, and the Global Motivation Scale (Guay et al., 2003) to assess the
autonomous and controlled personality orientations. A structural equation
modeling analysis was conducted and provided support for the proposed
model. Specifically, results showed that valuation of the sport activity and
an autonomous personality orientation jointly predicted harmonious pas-
sion. In contrast, a controlled personality orientation jointly with activity
valuation predicted obsessive passion. These findings appear in Figure 5.1.
Furthermore, these findings were replicated in a second study (Vallerand
et al., 2006, Study 3) using a short longitudinal design over a four-month
period.
The results presented above provide support for the role of personal
factors, specifically, that of the autonomous versus controlled personal-
ity orientations, in the development of passion. However, there were some
Autonomous .43 Harmonious

Personality Passion
.51
Sport Valuation
.63
Controlled .22 Obsessive

Personality Passion
Figure 5.1:
Structural Equation Model Involving the Determinants (Personality Orientations and
Sport Valuation) of Harmonious and Obsessive Passion.
limitations in this study, including the fact that participants in both the
Vallerand et al. (2006, Studies 1 and 3) studies had been playing their
respective sport for some time already at the time of the study. Thus, as
such, these findings are probably more relevant to the ongoing, than the
initial, development of passion.
Recent research (Lafrenière, Vallerand, Mageau, & Charest, 2014) has
attempted to look more directly at the role of the autonomous versus
controlled personality orientations in the initial development of passion
through an analysis of additional data in the Mageau, Vallerand, Charest,
et al. (2009, Study 3) study. In this study described previously, the music
students had also completed the Global Motivation Scale (Guay et al.,
2003) at Time 1 and, as we have seen previously, the Passion Scale and
a scale assessing music valuation four months later. Results from a path
analysis using structural equation modeling replicated the results from
Vallerand et al. (2006, Studies 1 and 3). That is, music valuation positively
predicted both harmonious and obsessive passion. Furthermore, the auton-
omous personality orientation predicted harmonious passion, while the
controlled personality orientation predicted obsessive passion. Moreover,
these results held up, even controlling for autonomy support provided
by music teachers and parents. In fact, both the social factor (autonomy
support from the music teacher and parents) and the personal factor (the
autonomous vs controlled personality style) had independent effects, as
theoretically hypothesized on harmonious and obsessive passion. Because
this study looked at the development of passion from “Time 0” (recall that
these participants had never played a musical instrument prior to the start
of the study), we can be relatively confident that both social and personal
factors play a key role in the initial development of passion. Nevertheless,
future research is necessary to replicate these findings with other types of
activities and participants.
In sum, research reviewed in this section provides support for the tenets
of the DMP regarding the initial development of passion. Specifically, both
social (e.g., autonomy support versus controlling behavior) and personal
(e.g., autonomous and controlled personality orientations) variables operate
in the initial development of passion. Clearly, future research is needed in
order to determine how other variables may play a role in the initial develop-
ment of passion.
ON THE ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF PASSION
The DMP posits that once a passion for a given activity has initially devel-
oped, the development of passion continues as it is ongoing. Because one’s
involvement for a given activity may endure for several years, so will one’s
ongoing development of passion. In this section, we look at some of the fac-

tors involved in the ongoing development of passion.
Bloom (1985) has identified three phases of activity involvement that
characterize sustained involvement in a given activity (see Côté, 1999,
for a similar three-stage sequence for sport involvement). The first phase
refers to activity introduction and focuses on exploration and play. The
second phase entails specialization in the activity after several months
of activity involvement. Finally, the last stage pertains to engaging in
the activity on a full-time basis leading to expert-level performance.
Typically, one needs around 10 years of sustained involvement to reach
this stage (Ericsson & Charness, 1994; Simon & Chase, 1973). Of inter-
est is that in their three studies on the development of passion, Mageau,
Vallerand, Charest, et al. (2009) had selected participants who were at
one of Bloom’s three stages of activity involvement. The results revealed
that different percentages of passionate people were found at each of
these stages. Specifically, only 36% of beginners (Study 3) were found to
be passionate, 92% at stage 2 (with 3 years of activity engagement; Study
2), and 100% of experts with an average of 10 years of activity engage-
ment (Study 1). This linear progression in the percentage of passionate
people over time suggests that people’s passion increases and therefore
changes over time. It is thus possible that persistent engagement in the
activity for years may lead participants to become even more passion-
ate. Of course, it is possible, even likely, that with time the less passion-
ate people may lose the little passion they initially had for the activity
and eventually are weeded out of the activity. However, even this latter
hypothesis underscores the fact that passion changes. Indeed, passion
may change over time; it can go up or down and may qualitatively change
and become more harmonious or perhaps more obsessive with time, or it
may vanish.
The DMP posits that the presence or absence of social and personal factors
that pertain to the autonomous versus controlled internalization process
will influence the ongoing development of passion in a corresponding fash-
ion. As highlighted in Chapter 3, the internalization process is not an all-or-
none process and, once developed, both types of passion are nevertheless
present within the individual to different degrees. Thus, it should be possible
to trigger one or the other type of passion by making salient certain social
or personal factors that pertain to the autonomy versus control dimension
underlying the internalization process. In other words, although a predomi-
nant type of passion (e.g., a harmonious passion) is usually in operation, it is
possible to further reinforce the predominant passion or to make the other
type of passion (e.g., obsessive passion) operative, depending on which type
of social or personal factors is made salient. Below, we look at research that
has addressed these issues.
The Role of Social Determinants in

the Ongoing Development of Passion
A number of social factors have been related to the harmonious and obses-
sive passions. These include autonomy support, leadership, organizational
support, and organizational culture. As will be seen, although research has
been conducted in a number of field settings, passion for work in particu-
lar has recently attracted much scientific attention (see Perrewé et al., 2014;
Vallerand, Houlfort, & Forest, 2014).
Autonomy Support
A first variable directly relevant to the autonomous internalization process is

that of autonomy support. We have seen in the Mageau, Vallerand, Charest,
et al. (2009, Study 3) study that autonomy support plays an important role
in promoting the initial development of harmonious passion. Similarly, the
DMP posits that autonomy support should also help facilitate the ongoing
development (or at least the maintenance) of harmonious passion once it has
been initially developed. Conversely, controlling behavior (or the absence
of autonomy support) should facilitate the further development (or at least
the maintenance) of obsessive passion once the passion has been initially
developed.
Several studies have tested the above hypotheses. For instance, in the
article by Mageau and colleagues (2009) discussed earlier, another study
was conducted in which the role of autonomy support from significant
adults in young adults’ passion was assessed (Study 1). In this study (Mageau
et al., 2009, Study 1), high-level musicians and national-level athletes who
had been engaged in their specific activity for an average of 10 years com-
pleted a questionnaire that contained a number of variables, including
the Passion Scale and a scale assessing perceived autonomy-support from
significant adults in their activity. The results revealed that relative to
those with a predominant obsessive passion, performers with a predomi-
nant harmonious passion reported receiving significantly higher levels of
autonomy support from the adults they interact with within the purview
of their passionate activity (teachers or coaches and parents). Thus, these
findings suggest that autonomy support is indeed important in facilitat-
ing the ongoing development of harmonious passion once it has developed.
Lack of autonomy support, however, facilitates the ongoing development
of obsessive passion.
Other studies have replicated and extended the above results. Thus, in
two studies involving large samples (over 1,300 employees) from China,
Liu, Chen, and Yao (2011) have demonstrated that perceived autonomy
support from one’s immediate work team, as well as from one’s larger unit,
was positively associated with harmonious passion for work (Studies 1 and
2) and was negatively related to obsessive passion (Study 2; obsessive pas-
sion was not assessed in Study 1). Of interest is the authors’ finding that
when autonomy support was not provided by one’s team, then autonomy
support at the larger level of the unit was sufficient to preserve harmoni-
ous passion. Thus, it appears that receiving autonomy support at work at
some level of the hierarchy is sufficient to maintain one’s harmonious pas-
sion for work.
It should be mentioned that in all studies reported so far in this sec-
tion, the autonomy support scale was responded by the same person who
completed the Passion Scale. Thus, it is difficult to determine if it is auton-
omy support from the actual environment or the perception of such auton-
omy support, as colored by the respondent’s personality, that creates the
relationship between the two constructs. A study by Mageau et al. (2009,
Study 2) provides some resolution to this issue. In this study, children
who had been involved in the passionate activity for over three years com-
pleted the Passion Scale for their activity. In addition, their parents com-
pleted a scale assessing the level of autonomy support that they provide to
their children while the children engage in the passionate activity. Results
from a discriminant function analysis replicated the same picture found
in the other two studies in the Mageau et al. (2009) paper. Specifically, the
parents of harmoniously passionate children reported providing higher
levels of autonomy support to their children than parents of obsessively
passionate individuals.
The results of the Mageau et al. study (2009, Study 2) are important
because they show that autonomy support as perceived by the passionate
individuals or as reported by the significant adults who emit such behavior
leads to the same results. One can thus be relatively confident that autonomy
support plays an important role in the development of harmonious passion.
However, this study (and those studies discussed so far on autonomy sup-
port) did not assess the other side of the picture, that is, the role of control-
ling behavior as such (and not simply the absence of autonomy support) in
the ongoing development of obsessive passion. As discussed previously, the
DMP posits that a controlling behavior from significant adults triggers pro-
cesses related to a controlled internalization that facilitates the ongoing
development of obsessive passion. In a study on the persistence of music
students, Bonneville-Roussy, Vallerand, and Bouffard (2013, Study 2) had
students enrolled in a collegiate music program complete the Passion Scale
and a scale assessing their perceptions of both the autonomy support and
the controlling behavior provided by their music teachers. Results revealed,
as expected, that autonomy support positively predicted students’ harmoni-
ous passion, while teachers’ controlling behavior positively predicted their
students’ obsessive passion.
Leadership
If autonomy support from others can influence passion, then perhaps other
interpersonal factors can also affect passion. In a recent study conducted in
the field of work, Houlfort, Vallerand, and Koestner (2013, Study 2) assessed
the role of leadership provided by the immediate supervisor in subordi-
nates’ passion. They focused on two types of leadership, namely transfor-
mational and transactional leadership. Transformational leadership (Bass,
1985) entails providing subordinates with intellectual stimulation, indi-
vidualized consideration, and inspirational motivation provided in a charis-
matic fashion. As such, this type of leadership should facilitate harmonious
passion because it makes the task more interesting and valued, while sup-
porting autonomy through individualized consideration. On the other hand,
transactional leadership (Bass, 1985) refers to using resources in order to
have subordinates act as expected by the leader. Thus, through the monitor-
ing of subordinates’ behavior and the use of contingent rewards, the leader
seeks to obtain from subordinates what he or she feels is equitable. Because
it sets up the environment in a manner that is conducive to a controlling
climate, transactional leadership should promote obsessive passion. In this
study, Houlfort et al. (2013, Study 2), participants completed scales assess-
ing their perceptions of their supervisor’s style of leadership (Bass, 1985), as
well as the Passion Scale to assess their passion for work. Results from a path
analysis revealed, as expected, that transformational leadership positively
predicted harmonious passion for work. On the other hand, transactional
leadership positively predicted obsessive passion. Similarly, in a study on
employees’ harmonious passion toward the environment at work, Robertson
and Barling (2013) also found that transformational leadership, as assessed
by the leaders, positively predicted the harmonious passion of the employees.
Harmonious passion also positively predicted engaging in environmentally
friendly behavior at work. Obsessive passion and transactional leadership
were not assessed in this study.
Organizational Support and Culture
We have seen earlier in the Liu et al. (2011) study that team and unit auton-
omy support facilitated harmonious passion. Other research has looked at
the role of a similar factor in passion at the organizational level, namely
organizational support. Organizational support refers to the extent to which
members perceive that the organization as a whole values their contributions
and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchinson, &
Sowa, 1986). Organizational support, then, would be akin to autonomy sup-
port provided to the individual by the organization. Thus, it can be hypoth-
esized that organizations that value their members’ contribution and that
make a genuine effort to provide them with a healthy, flexible, and secure
environment, where their opinion is valued, create conditions that should
facilitate harmonious passion. No relationship should exist with obses-
sive passion. A recent study (Houlfort, Vallerand, & Koestner, 2013, Study
1) tested this hypothesis. In this study, individuals who had been working for
several years in various organizations completed a questionnaire assessing
their perceptions of organizational support, work valuation, and the Passion
Scale toward their work. Results from a path analysis revealed that organi-
zational support and work valuation both positively predicted harmonious
passion. Further, as hypothesized, organizational support proved to be unre-
lated to obsessive passion; only work valuation predicted obsessive passion.
Results from the above study revealed that a social factor at the organiza-
tional level, such as organizational support, matters with respect to harmo-
nious passion. Another organizational factor that would also appear relevant
is the prevalent organizational culture. Based on the work of Cameron and
Quinn (2006), two particular types of cultures would appear important,
namely the clan and market cultures. Whereas the clan culture refers to an
environment that promotes positive relationships and caring for the individ-
ual, the market culture facilitates a more cut-throat environment wherein
within-group competition rather than cooperation is promoted. It would
thus be expected that a clan culture should promote harmonious passion,
whereas a market culture should facilitate obsessive passion. This hypothesis
was examined in a second study by Houlfort, Vallerand, and Koestner (2013,
Study 2). In this study, regular workers completed scales assessing the orga-
nizational culture (clan vs. market) prevalent in their organization, and the
Passion Scale regarding their work. Results from a path analysis revealed, as
expected, that the clan culture positively predicted harmonious passion for
work. On the other hand, the market culture positively predicted obsessive
passion.
Task Autonomy, Demands, and Resources
Thus far, we have looked at how the social environment influences passion.
Thus, autonomy support from one’s supervisor, type of leadership, organi-
zational support, and the prevalent culture in a given setting have all been
found to influence the type of passion that will be displayed in a given envi-
ronment. However, the task itself may also provide an important influence
on one’s passion. Certain tasks provide the affordances to be more auton-
omous than other tasks. For instance, some tasks will allow one to make
more decisions, while others will force one to simply execute. In line with
the DMP, these types of tasks should facilitate different types of passion.
Tasks that provide room for autonomy should trigger the type of passion
that has been internalized in an autonomous fashion, namely harmonious
passion. Conversely, lack of autonomy (or even thwarted autonomy) should

make operative the type of passion that has been internalized in a controlled
fashion, namely obsessive passion.
Fernet, Lavigne, Vallerand, and Austin (2014) recently conducted two
studies to test the above hypotheses in a work context. In the first study,
novice teachers were asked to complete the Passion Scale and the Job Content
Questionnaire (JCQ; Karasek, 1985) to assess work autonomy (e.g., “This
work allows me to make a lot of decisions on my own”). Results from struc-
tural equation modeling revealed that task (in this case, teaching) autonomy
positively predicted harmonious passion but negatively predicted obses-
sive passion. These findings were replicated and extended in another study
(Fernet et al., 2014, Study 2), again with teachers, using a cross-lagged panel
design over a 12-month period. Results from structural equation modeling
showed that task autonomy predicted an increase over time in harmonious
passion for teaching and a decrease in obsessive passion. Of importance, the
two types of passion did not predict changes in task autonomy, suggesting
that the direction of causality is from task autonomy to passion, and not the
other way around.
Other task elements may also affect the type of passion that will be acti-
vated when engaging in the activity. Two of these are the task demands
and task resources (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Task demands refer to
task-imposed pressure or restrictions that one has to cope with while engag-
ing in the activity. On the hand, task resources can be seen as various types
of support that one has access to in order to better perform one’s task.
Because task demands should be experienced as controlling in nature, they
should connect with elements that have been internalized in a controlled
fashion and that therefore facilitate obsessive passion. Thus, the more one
experiences pressure to perform a demanding activity, the more likely one
is to mobilize and use obsessive passion to get the job done. In addition,
experiencing pressure to get the job done could even undermine harmoni-
ous passion, as such pressure may disrupt harmony among one’s various life
domains. Conversely, task resources can be seen as affordances to efficiently
perform the task as one chooses to do so. Thus, it should trigger elements
that have been internalized in an autonomous fashion, including harmoni-
ous passion. Indeed, knowing that one has access to resources and support
to perform a task that one loves his or her way should lead one to experience
harmonious passion for the task. In sum, task resources should facilitate
harmonious passion, while task demands should facilitate obsessive passion.
Trépanier, Fernet, Austin, Forest, and Vallerand (2014) conducted a
large-scale study with over 1,000 nurses to test the above hypotheses.
Participants completed the Passion Scale for their work, a scale to assess job
demands (e.g., “I have to display high levels of concentration and precision at
work”) and job resources (e.g., “I have access to useful information that helps
me carry out complex tasks”). Results from structural equation modeling

provided support for the hypotheses. Specifically, task resources were found
to positively predict harmonious passion, while task demands positively pre-
dicted obsessive passion. In addition, task demands were found to under-
mine harmonious passion. In other words, having an inordinate amount of
work to do fosters obsessive passion and may diminish harmonious passion.
The research reviewed in this section on the role of social factors on the
ongoing development of passion is important for at least three reasons. First,
such research provides support for the DMP as it pertains to the important
role that social factors play in the ongoing development of harmonious and
obsessive passion once passion has developed. Second, as demonstrated in
the Mageau et al. (2009, Study 2) study, social variables such as autonomy
support and controlling behavior are not simply present in the passionate
individual’s mind but derive from the actual behavior of individuals serving
as supervisors (parents, teachers, bosses). It would thus appear that individ-
uals in positions of authority influence the very nature of the environment
in which the passionate activity is performed and thus contribute in impor-
tant ways to instilling and maintaining a harmonious or obsessive passion
in their subordinates. Finally, task characteristics such as task autonomy,
demands, and resources play an important role in making operative either
the harmonious or obsessive passion of the subordinates. Thus, in addition
to the social environment, task properties need to be taken into account
when attempting to explain and predict the passion displayed toward a given
activity.
The Role of Personal Factors in the Ongoing

Development of Passion
Researchers have started to study the role of personal factors in the ongoing
development of passion. Below, we look at broad personality factors such as
the Big Five, as well as other personal individual factors such as perfection-
ism, values, and signature strengths.
Broad Personality Factors
Personality and individual differences may also represent a passion deter-

minant. For instance, it was seen previously that people who have an
autonomous personality orientation will tend to develop a harmonious
passion, while those who have a more controlled personality orientation
will be likely to develop an obsessive passion for a given activity or object
(Vallerand et al., 2006, Studies 1 and 3). Other studies have used more
omnibus personality questionnaires. As mentioned in Chapter 3, passion
as seen by the DMP is not a personality disposition. Indeed, if most people

are passionate (Philippe, Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009, Study 1; Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 1), then it is unlikely that being passionate (versus
non-passionate) reflects the influence of a certain personality. Rather,
passion reflects a specific person-activity interface that can vary from one
person to the next. However, it is possible that certain personality factors
may influence the type of predominant passion that will develop. Thus, it
is plausible that harmonious passion may be rooted in some personality
variables and obsessive passion in others.
Research by Tosun and Lajunen (2009) provided some support for
the above hypothesis. These authors have looked at three elements of the
Eysenckian “normal” personality dispositions—extroversion, neuroticsm
(i.e., being tense and moody), and psychoticism (i.e., being solitary, insen-
sitive to others, and aggressive)—and how they relate to passion for the
Internet. Over 400 university students who use the Internet every day com-
pleted the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised and the Passion Scale
for the Internet. Results revealed that the correlations involving the person-
ality dimensions and the two types of passion were rather weak, ranging
from .03 to .20. For instance, psychoticism was found to be positively related
to both the obsessive (r = .20) and harmonious passions (r = .13), while extra-
version only related significantly to obsessive passion (r = .13).
Other studies have looked at how the Big Five personality factors (e.g.,
Costa & McRae, 1988) relate to passion. This perspective posits that much of
human behavior can be explained by five major personality traits: openness
to experience (i.e., the originality and breadth of one’s experiences), consci-
entiousness (i.e., willingness to work hard for one’s goals), extraversion (i.e.,
to experience positive affect), agreeableness (i.e., to connect positively with
others), and neuroticism (i.e., the experience of negative affect). In a study
conducted on the Internet, Balon, Lecoq, and Rimé (2013) had adults com-
plete the NEO Personality Revised Instrument (that assesses the Big Five)
and the Passion Scale for “the activity dearest to their heart.” The results
appear in Table 5.2. Although the correlations were moderate at best (i.e.,
correlations of .30 or lower), some consistent patterns emerged. The find-
ings with harmonious passion were as expected. Specifically, significant
positive correlations were obtained between harmonious passion and open-
ness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion. In
contrast, the results with obsessive passion were less revealing, with only
one significant correlation emerging. While the significant negative correla-
tion with agreeableness was expected, the lack of significant positive rela-
tionships with neuroticism and conscientiousness was somewhat surprising.
One explanation may have to do with the fact that the short form of the
NEO Personality Inventory was used. This short version does not assess the
underlying facets, or more specific dimensions, of the traits. It is possible
Table 5.2. COR R EL AT IONS BET W EEN BIG FI V E DIMENSIONS A ND T HE T WO

T Y PES OF PA SSION (H A R MONIOUS A ND OBSESSI V E) FOR A N AC T I V I T Y
Big Five Dimensions Harmonious Passion Obsessive Passion
Conscientiousness .30*** .04

Agreeableness .23** –.19**
Openness .20** .08
Extraversion .18* .03
Neuroticism –.01 .11
*p <.05; **p <.01; ***p <.001.

Adapted from Balon, Lecoq, & Rimé (2013).
that the harmonious and obsessive passions relate more specifically to some
facets and not to others. Future research is needed to test this hypothesis.
Perfectionism
Individuals who are passionate about a given activity not only care a great deal
about the activity, but also typically want to do it very well. Thus, a relevant
personal determinant of passion should be perfectionism. Perfectionism
refers to holding excessively high standards of achievement (Hewitt & Flett,
2002). These authors have proposed a multidimensional model of perfection-
ism that includes three types of perfectionism, two of which are particularly
important for the present purposes. Self-oriented perfectionism represents
the first type of perfectionism. It refers to holding excessively high standards
for oneself and not for others. This type of perfectionism is under the per-
son’s control and involves standards that may be changed by the person in
a proactive manner. Thus, although it may lead to some negative outcomes,
it has been found to be more positive than the other type of perfectionism
and to lead to some positive outcomes (see Miquelon, Vallerand, Grouzet, &
Cardinal, 2005). The second type of perfectionism of importance is socially
prescribed perfectionism. It refers to the perception that significant oth-
ers are imposing excessively high standards on oneself and that one must
meet these standards in order to please others. It typically leads to nega-
tive outcomes (see Miquelon et al., 2005, for a review). Because the first type
of perfectionism takes origin in the integrated self, one would suggest that
it should primarily predict having a harmonious passion toward an activity
that we highly value. On the other hand, because the second type of perfec-
tionism (i.e., socially prescribed perfectionism) is rooted in the ego-invested
self, one would predict that it should primarily lead to obsessive passion.
Verner-Filion and Vallerand (2014) recently tested some of these hypoth-
eses in two studies. In Study 1, university students completed the Passion
Scale for their studies, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Cox et al.,
2002), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). Results from
structural equation modeling analyses revealed that self-oriented perfec-
tionism positively predicted harmonious passion, but also obsessive pas-
sion to a lesser degree. In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionism only
predicted obsessive passion. In turn, only harmonious passion was found to
positively predict life satisfaction. These findings underscore the fact that
harmonious passion results from the more adaptive form of perfectionism,
while obsessive passion is predicted by both the adaptive and less adaptive
forms of perfectionism.
In the second study, Verner-Filion and Vallerand (2014) sought to pro-
vide an in-depth analysis of the psychological dimensions underlying the
two types of perfectionism. This was done in order to better understand
why self-oriented perfectionism is positively related to both harmonious
and obsessive passion and why socially prescribed perfectionism negatively
predicts harmonious passion. Research by Campbell and DiPaula (2002)
has shown that both types of perfectionism are rooted in two psychologi-
cal dimensions each. Specifically, self-oriented perfectionism contains the
psychological dimensions of a “striving for perfection” and the “importance
of being perfect.” On the other hand, socially prescribed perfectionism con-
tains the dimensions of “conditional acceptance from others contingent on
reaching high standards” and “high standards from others.” Verner-Filion
and Vallerand (2014) reasoned that within self-oriented perfectionism,
striving for perfection should positively predict harmonious passion. This is
because striving for perfection is likely to be experienced as growth oriented,
proactive, and non-controlling and thus should connect one with elements
of the integrated self. In contrast, the importance of being perfect should be
experienced as controlling and pressuring. As such, it should connect with
elements of the ego-invested self and thus positively predict obsessive pas-
sion. With respect to the socially prescribed perfectionism, it was predicted
that conditional acceptance dimension would be positively related to obses-
sive passion while being negatively related to harmonious passion, largely
due to its controlling nature and its link to the ego-invested self. Finally, it
was predicted that high standards from others would be unrelated to the
two types of passion. Results of a path analysis with undergraduate students
who were moderately passionate for their studies provided support for all
hypotheses.
Overall, the findings of these two studies on the role of perfectionism in
passion underscore at least three points. First, perfectionism represents an
individual difference that can influence passion. The results of both stud-
ies were entirely consistent. However, it should be noted that these studies
were all correlational in nature, and future research using longitudinal and
experimental designs is needed to replicate the present findings. Second, it
appears that the underlying dynamics of perfectionism as a determinant of

obsessive passion are less adaptive than those involving harmonious pas-
sion. Indeed, obsessive passion is rooted in the importance of being perfect
and the conditional acceptance of others, while harmonious passion results
from the striving for perfection and the absence of conditional acceptance.
Behaving so as to please others is far from ideal in a quest for self-growth.
Further, the vague notion of the importance of being perfect is not as adap-
tive as the more proactive dimension of striving to be perfect. Finally, third,
some elements of perfectionism, namely the conditional acceptance of oth-
ers, can undermine harmonious passion. Thus, as hypothesized by the DMP,
perfectionism can increase or decrease passion, depending on the subtype of
perfectionism and the type of passion at play.
Personal Values
Another personal factor that should affect passion is the values held by
the individual. Past research (e.g., Kasser, 2002; Kasser & Ryan, 1993,
1996) has shown that people can have at least two types of values: intrinsic
and extrinsic. Intrinsic values refer to those values that are consonant with
the integrated self and thus are inherently satisfying to pursue. Intrinsic
values of self-acceptance, affiliation, and community feeling are particu-
larly important. On the other hand, extrinsic values reflect the relative
importance of social praise and rewards. They typically reflect a means to
some other ends. Financial success, image, and popularity represent typical
extrinsic values. The DMP posits that these different types of values orient
individuals toward one of the two types of passion. Because the intrinsic
values are rooted in the integrated self (Hodgins & Knee, 2002; Kasser,
2002) and harmonious passion has access to adaptive self-processes from
the integrated self, then intrinsic values should positively nurture harmo-
nious passion. In contrast, because extrinsic values take origin from the
ego-invested self and obsessive passion is connected to less adaptive pro-
cesses from the ego-invested self, extrinsic values should facilitate obses-
sive passion.
Grenier, Lavigne, and Vallerand (2014, Study 2) have conducted a study to
test the above hypotheses. Participants were individuals who had been col-
lecting stones and stamps on average for 22 years. They were contacted at a
collector show and were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained the
Passion Scale for collecting and the Aspiration Index that measures intrin-
sic and extrinsic values (Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996). Results from a path
analysis revealed that intrinsic values positively predicted the adoption of
harmonious passion, whereas extrinsic values predicted obsessive passion.
These findings do support the hypothesis that values represent an important
personal factor that serves to facilitate or maintain a predominant type of
passion that has been present for several years within the individual (in fact,
for over 20 years for the collectors!).
Signature Strengths
Research in positive psychology has shown that using our signature

strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), that is, focusing on what we do best,
such as using our social skills or our sense of humor, has a positive impact
on a variety of outcomes. Similarly, the use of signature strengths at work
has been shown to influence workers’ optimal functioning and well-being
(e.g., Govindji & Linley, 2007; Seligman et al., 2005; Park et al., 2004).
However, little is known about the processes through which using our signa-
ture strengths leads to positive outcomes. In a recent study, Forest, Mageau,
Crevier-Braud, Bergeron, Dubreuil, and Lavigne (2012) reasoned that using
our signature strengths should facilitate harmonious passion for the activity
that, in turn, should lead to positive outcomes. Indeed, when people have a
harmonious passion for an activity, they thrive and are at their best. They
engage in the activity for long hours and develop an expertise in it. Thus,
encouraging people to use their strengths within the activity that they are
passionate about should nurture their harmonious passion and facilitate the
experience of positive outcomes such as one’s psychological well-being.
In their study, Forest et al. (2012) had part-time workers (all students) com-
plete a questionnaire that contained a measure of psychological well-being
(e.g., vitality, life satisfaction), the Passion Scale for one’s part-time work,
and the Values in Action Survey (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). This last scale
serves to identify the five main strengths (or signature strengths) that char-
acterize people. After having identified their five signature strengths, partic-
ipants were asked to visualize themselves at their personal best in their job.
Finally, participants were asked to actually use at least two of their signature
strengths in new ways while working. Another set of participants served as
a control group. Two months later, participants completed the same ques-
tionnaire again, as well as a scale assessing whether participants had been
using their strengths. The results showed that the intervention successfully
increased participants’ use of their signature strengths relative to a control
group. More important, the results of a path analysis revealed that the use of
signature strengths, following the experimental program, led to an increase
in harmonious passion over the two-month period. In turn, harmonious pas-
sion at Time 2 predicted increases in psychological well-being from Time 1 to
Time 2. Obsessive passion was not affected by the manipulation and was not
related to the outcomes. It would thus appear that one reason why using one’s
signature strengths leads to positive outcomes is that it facilitates the expe-
rience of harmonious passion, which, in turn, leads to adaptive processes
and outcomes (to this effect, see also Dubreuil, Forest, & Courcy, 2014).
In sum, results presented in this section provide preliminary support for

the DMP as it pertains to the ongoing development of passion. Specifically,
social and personal factors that are relevant for the internalization process
remain involved in the ongoing development of passion. Additional research
is needed in order to determine more clearly the vicissitudes of the newly
developed passion as a function of prevalent social and personal factors in a
variety of contexts.
THE ROLE OF NEED SATISFACTION IN

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PASSION
We have seen in Chapter 3 that the DMP posits that need satisfaction is impli-
cated in the development of passion for an activity that one loves. That is,
passionate activities are not only enjoyable, they should also satisfy people’s
basic psychological needs (Vallerand, 2010). Specifically, because passion for
an activity leads people to engage in it on a sustained basis, they should even-
tually gain skills and develop feelings of competence over time (Deci & Ryan,
1994). In addition, engaging in the activity that one loves provides feelings
of autonomy, especially if it is engaged in freely. Finally, if the activity is
shared with others, people have the opportunity to experience relatedness.
Of course, if one engages in the activity out of obsessive passion, the level of
need satisfaction may not be as high as that experienced with harmonious
passion. This is because with obsessive passion, the person does not have full
access to the integrated self and adaptive self-processes. For instance, the
person may have his or her self-esteem hinged on doing well in this activity,
and this may prevent the person from being mindful and “in the moment.”
Therefore, such an ego-invested state of mind may take away some of the
need satisfaction that people with a harmonious passion experience during
activity engagement. Over time, people continue to engage in the passion-
ate activity on a repeated basis in order to satisfy their psychological needs.
Therefore, need satisfaction experienced inside the activity should represent
an important determinant of both types of passion, but perhaps more so for
harmonious passion.
At the same time, other sources of need satisfaction, such as those out-
side the passionate activity, might also represent important determinants of
passion. Indeed, a lack of need satisfaction outside the activity may lead one
to compensate by becoming dependent on the passionate activity because it
may represent one of the few areas in his or her life where some need satisfac-
tion is experienced. For instance, recurrent need satisfaction deprivation in
some key life areas (e.g., work, school) may lead one to compensate in another
area, such as the passionate activity where need satisfaction may be readily
experienced. However, in such a situation, the quality of one’s passionate
engagement may not be optimal because it is then colored by less effective or

even maladaptive regulatory processes such as ego-involvement and activity
self-contingencies that accompany compensatory motivation (Deci & Ryan,
2000; Kasser, Ryan, Zax, & Sameroff, 1995; Vallerand, 1997). Thus, it would
appear that the two sources of need satisfaction may differentially affect
harmonious and obsessive passion. While harmonious passion may simply
result from need satisfaction within the purview of the passionate activity,
obsessive passion may be triggered by the presence of some need satisfaction
derived from engagement in the passionate activity, coupled by a relative lack
of need satisfaction in other key areas of one’s life.
Perhaps an example might be appropriate here. Linda and Peter share a
passion for bowling. They both love and highly value the sport and devote a
significant amount of time and energy to it every week. This activity satisfies
their needs because they feel free to play the way they want, they feel com-
petent in their abilities, and they enjoy the company of their friends when
they play. When asked to describe themselves, they virtually always bring
up the fact that they are “bowlers” and that they are passionate about it. This
activity has become a part of their identity. Where Linda and Peter differ,
however, is with respect to the place that bowling occupies in their life. While
Linda identifies strongly with bowling, she also devotes time and energy to
other activities that she enjoys. For instance, she loves her work as a teacher
and has a great family life with her husband and children. As such, bowl-
ing fits harmoniously in her life because she manages to maintain a balance
between this activity and her other life activities. Bowling adds to her quality
of life. Peter, in contrast, experiences things differently. Things are not going
well for him at work. In fact, he hates his job at the mill. In addition, things
could be better at home. Both Peter and his wife are working long hours and
they experience a lot of stress with their young children. There is a lot of yell-
ing at home. Right now, it seems that bowling is the only thing that seems to
be going right in his life. He has even started to put aside other important life
activities in order to do more bowling. In fact, he spends increasingly more
time bowling, perhaps more than he should. Even when he’s not bowling, he’s
thinking about it, looking forward to the next outing and perhaps the per-
fect game. Consequently, Peter’s life is rather unbalanced, and although he
derives some benefits from his involvement in bowling, his life feels empty
away from the game.
As seen in the example above, the need satisfaction experienced inside
the passionate activity (bowling) should lead to the development and main-
tenance of both the harmonious and obsessive passions toward bowling (in
both Linda and Peter). However, in addition, the lack of need satisfaction
experienced in the rest of his life should lead Peter to compensate in bowl-
ing and thus to develop an obsessive passion for it, especially to the extent
that he finds need satisfaction within the activity as well. This is in line
with research that indicates that obsessive passion is associated with escape
motives as if the activity served as a refuge from something negative tak-
ing place in the person’s life (see Fuster, Chamarro, Carbonell, & Vallerand,
2014; Lafrenière et al., 2009; Stenseng, Rise, & Kraft, 2012). Recently,
Lalande and colleagues (2014) have conducted a series of studies to test the
proposed model. These studies used different participants (students and
members of the general population) and different passionate activities (e.g.,
Internet gaming, music, basketball, and work). Because they lead to remark-
ably similar findings, I report only Study 4 here. In this study, Lalande and
colleagues had middle-aged adults complete questionnaires twice over six
months. Such a prospective design allows researchers to predict changes in
both passion and outcome variables. The questionnaire at Time 1 included
the Passion Scale for work, scales assessing need satisfaction inside the pas-
sionate activity (i.e., at work) and outside it (i.e., need satisfaction in one’s
life in general) using an adaptation of the Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, and Kasser
(2001) need satisfaction scale. In addition, participants also completed the
Subjective Vitality Scale (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). At Time 2, six months
later, participants completed again the Passion Scale and the Subjective
Vitality Scale. Measuring an outcome such as vitality was important for con-
ceptual reasons. Specifically, if need satisfaction inside the activity leads to
both harmonious and obsessive passions, it becomes important to show that
the two types of passion differentially lead to outcomes in line with hypoth-
eses derived from the DMP. Such a differentiation in predicting outcomes
then allows researchers to make the claim that the two types of passion are
conceptually distinct, even though they take origins in the same determi-
nant, namely, need satisfaction inside the passionate activity. In addition,
the two types of passion were hypothesized to be differentially affected by
the second determinant, namely, the lack of need satisfaction outside the
passionate activity.
Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted and the results
appear in Figure 5.2. As expected, the results revealed that need satisfaction
at work (in the passionate activity) predicted increases in both the harmo-
nious and obsessive passions for work that took place over the six months.
Of interest, the path from need satisfaction at work to harmonious passion
was stronger than that involving obsessive passion. Further, a lack of need
satisfaction in life in general (outside the passionate activity) predicted an
increase in obsessive passion. No effects were found on harmonious passion.
Finally, only harmonious passion predicted an increase in vitality over the
six-month period.
In sum, as posited by the DMP, need satisfaction plays an important role in
the development that takes place in passion. Need satisfaction that is experi-
enced inside the passionate activity is important to the development of both
forms of passion. In contrast, the lack of need satisfaction experienced in
TIME 1 TIME 2
General
Need
Satisfaction
–.24*
Need
Satisfaction .17†
at Work
Harmonious
.11* Passion for .29*
.65* Work
Harmonious
Passion for Vitality
Work
Obsessive
Passion for
Obsessive .58* Work
Passion for
Work
.54*
Vitality
Figure 5.2:
The Role of Need Satisfaction Inside and Outside the Activity in Passion.
Adapted from Lalande et al. (2014, Study 4).
one’s life in general (or in one’s important life domains) leads to some form
of compensatory function that translates into an obsessive passion for what
may be one of the only sources of satisfaction in one’s life. Interestingly,
these findings are in line with research that reveals that escaping personal
problems predicts obsessive, but not harmonious, passion (Stenseng, Rise, &
Kraft, 2011, Study 1). It should be noted that the present series of studies
by Lalande and colleagues focused on the ongoing development of a passion
already in place. Future research is needed to replicate the present findings
with the initial development of passion.
THE TR ANSFORMATION OF PASSION
We have seen in this chapter that, although one’s passion can be predomi-
nantly harmonious or obsessive, just about anyone’s passion can be made
harmonious or obsessive at a given point in time by pushing on the right
(situational) button. In other words, social factors can temporarily induce
one type of passion or the other. A related issue that needs to be addressed
in closing this chapter is the transformation that passion, once devel-
oped, can go through over time. Several types of transformation can take
place: passion can diminish in intensity, transfer to another object, remain

latent (or dormant for a while) and then reappear, or simply die. We have
seen in Chapter 3 that passion is made up of four constitutive elements: love
of the activity, activity valuation, time and energy investment in the activity,
and the activity being part of identity. (There is also a fifth element of pas-
sion, namely, one’s perception of the activity as being a passion. Because it is
a subjective summative element and not a passion characteristic as such, it
will not be discussed here.) To the extent that one or more of these elements
is modified substantially, then, passion should change. Let us explore some
of the implications of such a situation.
A first possibility is that love for the activity is gone. If it is so, then so
is passion, because love for the activity is one key element of passion. As
mentioned in Chapter 3, we are partially dependent on the environment to
experience the necessary affordances for us to find a passion for an activity
or object and thus to grow psychologically. But if the conditions of activity
engagement change, and what we used to love disappears, then we should
lose our passion for it. Fredricks, Alfeld, and Eccles (2010) have shown that
gifted students who used to love certain school subjects end up replacing
passion by boredom when they find themselves out of advanced classes and
in regular classrooms with boring teachers and unchallenging subjects.
What they used to love has changed and is no longer available. Of course,
one’s passion for a specialized subject like biological diversity, for instance,
may lead one to supplement boring courses with one’s own readings at the
library. But what if the library is an hour away from home? What if it is not
“hip” or “cool” to be seen at the library? Then, two identity dimensions clash
and, as suggested by Lewin (1936) years ago, in such situations the path of
least resistance is chosen. Oftentimes, the environment wins! And passion
is gone. Love for the activity may also be reduced because one has found
another activity that he or she loves even more (e.g., Feltz & Petlichkoff,
1983). Depending on conditions prevalent in the person’s life (e.g., time
available) and the person’s psychological makeup, passion for the old activ-
ity may then be put aside temporarily or may be pushed away completely in
favor of the new activity.
If for some reason the activity stops being valued or meaningful, then
here again, passion is gone. Loss of meaningfulness may be due to some per-
sonal experiences. For instance, near-death experiences often lead people to
change their perspective on life and to prioritize their values differently (e.g.,
Broth-Marnat & Summers, 1998; Noyes, 1980). Thus, what used to be pas-
sionately pursued may not be seen as worthwhile anymore. If the other pas-
sion elements remain, especially love of the activity, then the former passion
may now simply transform itself into one of several interests in the person’s
life. If, however, love for the activity has gone down, in addition to being seen
as meaningless, then the activity might simply be put aside permanently.
Identity also is important to consider with respect to the transforma-

tion of passion. People change, and in so doing, they may want to maintain
a sense of coherence among new identity elements (Swann, 2012). This may
mean putting aside what one used to love in order to create or maintain a
coherent sense of identity. For example, the young adult who used to love
his motorcycle rides may later decide that it does not jive with the image of a
Wall Street banker that he has become and may erase biking from his iden-
tity. Passion for biking is then greatly diminished and may even disappear.
In research with entrepreneurs, Murnieks, Mosakowski, and Cardon (2012)
have shown that entrepreneurial passion rises and fall as a function of
entrepreneur identity centrality, or the extent to which one’s entrepreneurial
identity remains central in identity. What the findings of the Murnieks et
al. study suggest is that passion may fluctuate even if the activity representa-
tion remains in identity. What may matter is whether it is high or low in the
hierarchy of identity elements. If the activity is thrown out of one’s identity
completely, then just like our Wall Street banker, passion for biking may be
gone permanently, or at least for a long time. Future research on this issue
would appear important.
The issue of devoting less time and energy to the activity (or even com-
pletely stopping activity engagement) is a final element that also has impor-
tant implications for the transformation of passion. Of importance is why
engagement has ceased. If engagement cessation is due to a temporary cause,
due to situational conditions like an injury, this may not affect passion
unduly and may even lead to an increase in passion when one returns to the
activity. Indeed, time away from one’s passionate activity (or partner, as in
long-distance relationships) may lead one to re-engage in the object of one’s
love with renewed energy and enthusiasm. However, if a more long-term or
even permanent cause is involved, then it may affect one’s passion to the
point of killing it. For instance, if a passionate runner has a car accident and
loses his or her legs, there is a strong possibility that one’s passion for run-
ning may die. Without the means to engage in the activity regularly, passion
is likely to disappear. However, one should not be surprised if one’s passion
may be so strong that it will lead the person to overcome the obstacle and to
resume engagement in the beloved activity, perhaps in some other forms,
such as wheelchair racing. This is likely the case, especially if the activity is
firmly entrenched in one’s identity. However, if further engagement in the
activity proves impossible, then one’s passion for running may transform
itself into something related, like a passion for coaching running. Many ath-
letes, when they become too old to play competitively, see their passion for
their sport being transformed into passion for coaching or refereeing in their
sport. Similarly, passionate singers may later turn into agents, producers, or
singing coaches.
An interesting question that follows from the above discussion is, “What
happens to old flames?” In other words, what happens to old passions that
have been either replaced by new ones or simply let go? We intuitively know
from our romantic experiences that first loves often seem to remain special
in our hearts. Research on attitudes and social cognition tends to support
this intuitive hypothesis (e.g., Petty, Tormala, Brinol, Jarvis, & Blair, 2006;
Wilson, Lindsey, & Schooler, 2000), as it suggests that what we used to love
does not simply vanish. What has been loved and internalized may remain
lurking in the dark, in our unconscious. Thus, passion may remain dormant
or latent, and perhaps under the right conditions, it may be rekindled. A cru-
cial factor determining if the passion can be re-ignited is whether activity
engagement is still possible. If engagement in the former passionate activity
is no longer possible, then in all likelihood, passion will die. However, to the
extent that activity engagement is still possible and time allows for it, then
passion may be rekindled. This often takes place around middle age. Because
their children are now older and more autonomous, thereby providing more
personal time, many adults return to what they used to love when they were
teenagers or young adults and re-engage in former passionate activities
such as sports and music. Is passion for the activity now the same as before?
Perhaps passions that are re-ignited later in life are influenced by psychologi-
cal maturity that takes place over time (Sheldon & Kasser, 2001) and thus
are more harmonious in nature. Or, one’s passion may simply resume where
it was before, with even more intensity in order to make up for lost time.
Future research on this issue would appear exciting.
A related issue that merits attention deals with the implications for
self-processes of having to continue involvement in the activity that is no
longer a passion for the person. One possibility is that passion is replaced by
self-regulation toward the activity. For instance, the gifted children who used
to be passionate for science described by Fredricks et al. (2010) may now go
to the boring science classes out of external regulation if value for the activ-
ity has gone down (e.g., they simply attend classes to get their high school
diploma). Or again, they may go to the science classes out of identified regu-
lation if value has remained high for science (e.g., they feel that everything in
life comes down to science). Of course, it should matter if one’s passion was
initially predominantly harmonious or obsessive. With harmonious passion,
one has access to the integrated self and adaptive self-processes. Thus, even
if love for the activity is gone, self-regulation should remain self-determined
in nature (identified regulation). Such should not be the case for obsessive
passion. Because it does not give access to adaptive self-processes, obses-
sive passion would not be expected to change into a self-determined form of
self-regulation. Rather, external or introjected regulation would be expected
to take place. Future research is needed to test some of these hypotheses.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have addressed the issue of the development of passion.

First, processes relevant to the initial development of passion were dis-
cussed. Second, a review of the literature on some of the factors involved
in both the initial and ongoing development of passion was presented.
A number of social and personal factors were found to be relevant. Factors
that sustain one’s autonomy as it pertains to activity engagement will
facilitate the initial and maintenance of harmonious passion. Conversely,
factors that will impose pressure and control on the individual will foster
the development and maintenance of obsessive passion. Third, research on
the role of need satisfaction in the development of passion was reviewed.
Two types of need satisfaction were found to be important: that expe-
rienced within the passionate activity, and that experienced in the rest
of the person’s life. While within-activity need satisfaction fosters both
types of passion, lack of need satisfaction in one’s life produces a compen-
satory function that facilitates only obsessive passion. Finally, the trans-
formation of passion was also addressed, and several directions for future
research highlighted.
PA RT I I I
xwx
Intrapersonal Consequences
w
C H A P T ER 6
Passion and Cognition
A s far back as we can go, cognition has always been an important part of
psychology. In fact, when defining psychology in his classic book, The
Principles of Psychology, William James (1890) leaves ample room for cogni-
tion: “Psychology is the science of mental life, both of its phenomena and
their conditions. The phenomena are such things as we call feelings, desires,
cognitions, reasoning, decisions and the like …” (p. 1; italics are mine). And
there is good reason for this emphasis on cognition. As René Descartes pro-
posed centuries ago, “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”). Thinking
is indeed a fundamental characteristic of being human. But cognition goes
beyond the mere act of thinking. It also includes perceiving and attending to
some stimuli, being aware of one’s surroundings, judging other people, mak-
ing decisions, and even some automatic cognitive processes.
In this chapter, I focus on the role of passion in cognition. Based on the
DMP, it would be expected that passion influences cognitive processes in
important ways. Indeed, because they are highly involved in an activity, pas-
sionate people are likely to be more attentive and aware of what is happening,
to be “in the moment,” and even to be in flow when engaged in the activity.
They may even think about the activity, more often than non-passionate peo-
ple would, when not engaged in the activity—even when, perhaps, it might
be more adaptive to concentrate on something else. One of the contributions
of the DMP is that it makes specific predictions not only about the level of
use of one’s cognitions (e.g., being more or less attentive), but also about the
quality of one’s cognitive processes as a function of the type of passion at
play. Specifically, it is hypothesized that harmonious passion should lead one
to use the more adaptive type of cognitive processes more often. This is so
because with harmonious passion, adaptive integrative self-processes are at
play, leading the person to fully partake in the passion activity with an open-
ness that is conducive to mindful attention, concentration, and flow. One
( 123 )
can also make decisions without one’s ego clouding the issue. The situation
is different when obsessive passion is at play because ego-invested processes
are involved (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Such processes lead individuals to have
one eye on the task, but the other on external elements, such as the out-
comes and other participants. With such a defensive orientation in opera-
tion, only a partial cognitive investment in the activity becomes possible.
Although it may at times trigger adaptive forms of cognitive process, more
often than not, obsessive passion should lead to cognitive processes of lesser
quality than those that originate from harmonious passion.
In the sections of this chapter, I review research that has ascertained the
role of passion in a number of cognitive processes and outcomes, including
attention and concentration, experiential cognitive states (mindfulness and
flow), decision-making, and rumination. I also address the role of passion in
self-perceptions (or cognitions about the self), as well as in cognitive goals
and how these are cognitively organized. A final section addresses the issue
of social perception of passion, or perceiving passion in others.
ATTENTION AND CONCENTR ATION:

THE FACILITATIVE ROLE OF HARMONIOUS PASSION
The very first prerequisite for being able to do well or at least to enjoy oneself
when engaging in an activity is to be able to fully concentrate on what one
is doing. This should not be too difficult if you love the activity, right? Well,
let’s see. Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) conducted a first study on the role
of passion in people’s level of attention (or concentration) while engaged in
the passionate activity. Over 500 participants were asked to complete the
Passion Scale for their favorite activity, as well as a scale assessing high lev-
els of concentration while engaging in the passionate activity (e.g., “When
I engage in my activity, I feel completely concentrated on what I do”). Results
from partial correlations (controlling for the correlation between the two
types of passion) revealed that only harmonious passion positively predicted
high levels of concentration. There was no significant correlation between
obsessive passion and concentration. Thus, harmonious passion seems to
positively contribute to concentration, while obsessive passion does not.
The Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study involved college students. Can
these results be replicated with other populations, such as middle-aged
adults? Forest et al. (2011) had middle-aged adults complete the Passion
Scale for their work and a scale assessing concentration at work. Results
revealed that harmonious passion for work was positively related to concen-
tration at work, while obsessive passion was unrelated to concentration. In
another study conducted in the realm of work (Ho, Wong, & Lee, 2011) the
experimenters had insurance company workers complete the Passion Scale
Pa s s i o n a n d C o g n i t i o n ( 125 )
for work and a scale assessing attention (e.g., “I pay a lot of attention to my
work”). Results from structural equation modeling revealed that harmoni-
ous passion was positively and strongly related to attention, while obsessive
passion was negatively related to attention.
In the Ho et al. (2011) study, the authors also measured another cogni-
tive construct related to attention, namely absorption. Absorption is seen
as involving a more intense level of concentration and immersion in the
activity (e.g., “When I am working, I am completely engrossed in my work”).
Ho and colleagues found that harmonious passion was positively related
to absorption, while obsessive passion was unrelated to it. Shi (2012) rep-
licated the relationships involving the two types of passion and absorption
with employees in China. Finally, in a study with students, Stoeber, Childs,
Hayward, and Feast (2011) assessed the relationship between the two
types of passion for their studies and the level of absorption while studying
using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale as adapted to school (Schaufeli,
Salanova, et al., 2002). Results revealed that the harmonious and obsessive
passions were both positively correlated with absorption, but harmonious
passion was significantly more positively related to absorption than obses-
sive passion. In another study with athletes, the relationship between pas-
sion and the opposite of absorption, namely psychological disengagement,
was assessed (Caudroit, Stephan, Brewer, & Le Scanff, 2010). Results revealed
that both types of passion were negatively related to disengagement follow-
ing the event. In sum, in most cases, relationships involving harmonious
passion and either concentration, attention, or absorption were more posi-
tive than those involving obsessive passion. The findings involving obses-
sive passion with absorption are particularly intriguing as they were either
non-significant (Ho et al., 2011; Shi, 2012) or positive (Stoeber et al., 2011),
or negative for disengagement (Caudroit et al., 2009), the opposite of abso-
prtion. One methodological difference in these studies is that some involved
work, whereas others pertained to studies or athletics. Future research is
needed in order to determine if the nature of the task moderates the link
between passion and absorption.
The above studies looked at the relationship between the harmonious
and obsessive passions and attention/absorption in general. However,
another important question deals with the role of passion in maintaining
one’s concentration when things go bad. In other words, which type of
passion can provide someone with the resilience that allows one to remain
concentrated under stress? In a study with soccer referees from France,
Philippe, Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, and Brunel (2009, Study 2) focused on
this issue. They asked high-level referees to first respond to the Passion
Scale and then to indicate to what extent they would experience some con-
centration problems right after having made a bad call in an important
game. The results of partial correlations revealed that harmonious passion
correlated negatively with the concentration problems, while there was no

significant correlation with obsessive passion. In other words, harmoni-
ous passion allows one some protection against concentration problems
following a mistake. With harmonious passion, one remains resilient in
the face of adversity. Such is not the case with obsessive passion. Similar
findings have been obtained with teenage athletes, where harmonious
passion was found to positively predict mental toughness (as assessed by
the teenagers’ parents), while obsessive passion negatively predicted it
(Gucciardi, Jackson, Hanton, & Reid, 2014).
The different studies reported above all involved “positive” activities such
as work, sports, reading, and the like. What if the activity could have some
negative implications for the person? Would it matter with respect to the
relationship between passion and concentration? Does engaging in an activ-
ity that can lead to negative outcomes affect the positive effects of harmo-
nious passion on concentration? One activity that may yield some negative
outcomes is gambling. Indeed, much research reveals that gambling can lead
to pathological involvement and important negative outcomes, such as los-
ing important sums of money or even one’s job, and it can lead to divorce
and in some cases suicide (see Walker, 1992). Ratelle, Vallerand, Mageau,
Rousseau, and Provencher (2004) assessed the relationship between passion
for gambling and concentration while gambling. They had men and women
who engage in casino gambling complete the Passion Scale for gambling and
a scale assessing levels of concentration while gambling. Results from partial
correlations showed that both the obsessive and harmonious passions were
negatively related to concentration (correlations were -.33 for obsessive pas-
sion and -.17 for harmonious passion). The difference between the two cor-
relations was significant. Thus, although both types of passion led to lower
levels of concentration while gambling, the effect was less severe for harmo-
nious passion.
Before we make a strong case for gambling leading to different effects
than other activities, it should be noted that in another study on passion for
gambling (Mageau, Vallerand, Rousseau, Ratelle, & Provencher, 2005), both
types of passion were positively related to levels of concentration while gam-
bling (here again, the correlation was stronger for harmonious passion than
for obsessive passion). These findings thus run contrary to those of Ratelle
et al. The difference between the two gambling studies may lie in the differ-
ent types of gambling activities. In the Ratelle et al. study, participants were
mostly involved in casino activities, while in the Mageau et al. study they
were mostly involved in the lottery. Clearly, the lottery is much less danger-
ous in terms of outcomes than casino games. It is possible that the casino
players end up gambling more money and, in turn, higher wagers may create
a stressful ambience that may perturb one’s level of attention. In any event,
the possibility remains that the nature of the activity and its psychological
implications for the person may moderate the effects of passion on concen-
tration; future research is needed to address this issue.
Another form of concentration was empirically scrutinized in research
with English soccer fans (Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al., 2008, Study 1). In
that study, Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. studied the effects of an upcom-
ing soccer match on the concentration that passionate soccer fans were able
to display during other life activities that took place during the day of the
upcoming night game. This represents an interesting fresh perspective on
concentration. Specifically, does one’s passion for an upcoming event or
activity produce some dysfunctional (or perhaps facilitative) effects on one’s
concentration on other tasks that take place before the event? In this study,
soccer fans completed the Passion Scale for supporting their soccer team, as
well as a scale assessing concentration during a game day. Results revealed
that obsessive passion for soccer prevented full concentration on other life
activities during the day of the game, whereas this was not the case for
harmonious passion. Interestingly, these results were replicated by Ratelle
(2002) in regard to romantic love. Specifically, participants’ obsessive (but
not harmonious) passion for the loved one led to low levels of concentration
on other life tasks when one was prevented from seeing his or her partner.
In sum, it would appear that overall, harmonious passion facilitates
on-task attention and absorption. Conversely, obsessive passion is either
unrelated or negatively related to attention and absorption during activ-
ity engagement. Furthermore, obsessive passion about an upcoming activ-
ity seems to disrupt attention on other tasks while waiting to partake in
the passionate activity. The nature of the task (as in gambling) remains an
issue where additional research is needed, as it may moderate the results,
although the effects are always more positive with harmonious passion than
with obsessive passion.
COGNITIVE EXPERIENTIAL STATES:

MINDFULNESS AND FLOW
Experiential states are cognitive states wherein one’s level of consciousness

has been altered. Mindfulness and flow represent two such experiential
states. Below I review research on the relationships between passion and
mindfulness and flow.
Harmonious Passion Facilitates Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to an experiential mode of processing (Teasdale,

1999) that concerns a receptive, open, and nonjudgmental state of mind.
With mindfulness, the focus is on the awareness of present experience, on

the here and now, by simply observing what is taking place with a receptiv-
ity of both internal and external stimuli as they occur, without attempting
to filter them through some evaluations or cognitive reappraisal (Brown &
Cordon, 2009). Mindfulness focuses on keeping one’s consciousness alive to
the present reality without being bogged down with past and future con-
siderations. Our consciousness encompasses both awareness and attention.
While these are related, they nevertheless differ. With awareness, one con-
stantly monitors inside and outside stimuli. Awareness of stimuli can be
achieved without these being at the center of attention. Attention, on the
other hand, refers to a process of focusing conscious awareness on a lim-
ited range of experience. Awareness and attention work together. Awareness
surveys experience as a whole, while attention focuses more centrally on
some elements (Brown & Ryan, 2003). However, mindfulness limits itself
to experience and does not include more elaborated forms of cognition, or
reflexive consciousness such as self-awareness. In fact, one may even say that
mindfulness is a selfless form of processing information in which one’s ego
does not come into play. The focus is on the current experience as it takes
place, without any evaluation or defensive reaction. Mindfulness represents
an important element of healthy self-regulation, as it has been found to be
associated with autonomous forms of self-regulation (Brown & Ryan, 2003),
less defensive processing of threat (Baer, 2003), reduced emotional reactiv-
ity and greater tolerance to unpleasant states (Arch & Craske, 2006; Eifert &
Heffner, 2003), and more adaptive responding in threatening social situa-
tions (Barnes, Brown, Krusemark, Campbell, & Rogge, 2007).
The DMP posits that because it results from an autonomous internaliza-
tion process, harmonious passion provides access to adaptive self-processes,
including mindfulness. Thus, one should expect a positive correlation
between harmonious passion and mindfulness. On the other hand, because
it emanates from a controlled internalization process, obsessive passion
does not provide access (or at best limits access) to mindfulness. Therefore,
a negative (or no) relationship should exist between obsessive passion and
mindfulness. So far, only one study has assessed these relationships. In a
preliminary study, Verner-Filion, Lafrenière, and Vallerand (2013) asked
soccer fans to complete the Passion Scale for following their favorite soccer
team and then to complete the dispositional form of the Mindful Attention
Awareness Scale (MAAS). This scale is a valid and reliable measure of trait
mindfulness (see Brown & Ryan, 2003). Results from partial correlations
revealed, as expected, that harmonious passion was positively related to
mindfulness, while obsessive passion was negatively related to it. Additional
research is needed in order to replicate and extend these findings. However,
these results provide preliminary support for the DMP’s assertion to the
effect that harmonious passion facilitates, but obsessive passion impedes,

mindful processing.
Harmonious Passion Positively Contributes to Flow
Another experiential state of interest is flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1978;

Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993). Flow refers to a desirable
state that people experience when they feel completely immersed in the activ-
ity (e.g., “I have a feeling of total control”). According to Csikszentmihalyi
(1978), this is likely to take place when one feels that there is a match
between the demands of the task and one’s skills. Of course, such a match
is always subjective and dynamic such that at one point one’s skills may be
perceived as lower than the task demands, while a few moments later one’s
skills may be perceived as being on top. Thus, in order to experience flow, one
should not overreact too strongly to ongoing events. Because harmonious
passion allows the person to fully partake in the passionate activity with a
secure sense of self-esteem, flexibility, and openness to experience the world
in a non-defensive, mindful manner, it should be conducive to focusing on
the task at hand with a relatively even keel and consequently to experienc-
ing flow. Conversely, with obsessive passion, internally controlling, rather
than integrative self-processes, are at play, leading the person to engage in
the activity with a fragile and contingent sense of self-esteem (e.g., Crocker,
2002; Kernis, 2003), and eventually becoming defensive rather than open to
experience. Such a state should not be conducive to the experience of flow.
A series of studies have looked at the relationship between passion and
flow in a variety of activities. In a first study, C. K. J. Wang, Khoo, Liu,
and Divaharan (2008) looked at the role of passion in flow in online gam-
ing. Participants completed the Passion Scale for gaming, as well as a scale
assessing flow while gaming. Results from cluster analyses revealed that pas-
sionate individuals experienced more flow relative to less passionate indi-
viduals. Although these findings are useful, as they reveal that passionate
“gamers” experience higher levels of flow than non-passionate individuals,
these findings do not provide information regarding the potential differ-
ence between the harmonious and obsessive passions. In the initial study of
Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1), participants involved in a variety of activi-
ties completed three subscales from the Jackson and Marsh (1996) Flow
Scale (including the Challenge, Absence of Self-consciousness, and Control
dimensions of flow), as well as the Passion Scale. The results from partial
correlations revealed, as expected, that harmonious passion was positively
related to the experience of flow as assessed by the three subscales, whereas
obsessive passion was not.
The results from the Vallerand et al. study have been replicated in a num-
ber of studies, including some in sports. For instance, in a study (Philippe,
Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, & Brunel, 2009, Study 1) with some of the best
soccer referees from France (90 national and international soccer referees),
correlations were computed between the Passion Scale and two dimensions
of the Jackson and Marsh (1996) Flow Scale (Challenge and Control). Results
showed that harmonious passion was positively related to both forms of
flow, while there were no significant relationships with obsessive passion.
The results of the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) and Philippe, Vallerand,
Andrianarisoa, and Brunel (2009, Study 1) studies appear in Figure 6.1.
The pattern of relationships obtained by Vallerand et al. and Philippe
et al. was replicated in the work domain (Forest, Mageau, Sarrazin, & Morin,
2009; Forest et al., 2008; Lavigne, Forest, and Crevier-Graud, 2012, Study 1),
in Internet gaming (Wang, Liu, Chye, & Chatzisarantis, 2011), and in gam-
bling, although there were some notable differences again (Mageau et al.,
2005). Specifically, in the Mageau et al. study, both the harmonious and
obsessive passions were positively related to the Flow–Challenge subscale
(but significantly more so for harmonious passion). However, only harmoni-
ous passion was positively related to the Flow–Control subscale. There was
no relationship for obsessive passion.
A final study on passion and flow deserves our attention. In an important
study, Lavigne et al. (2012, Study 2) assessed passion and flow (the Control
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
Partial Correlations
0.25
0.2 HP
0.15 OP
0.1
0.05
0
–0.05
–0.1
Challenge Abs. of Self-Cons. Control Challenge Control
Flow
Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) Philippe et al. (2009, Study 1)
Figure 6.1:
The Role of Passion in Flow.
Adapted from Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) and Philippe et al. (2009, Study 1).
and Autotelic Experience subscales from the Jackson & Marsh, 1996, Flow
Scale) in workers twice over a six-month interval. Because Lavigne et al.
assessed passion and flow at both points in time, they were in a position
to conduct cross-lagged panel design analyses and to test the direction of
the relationship involving passion and flow. Two important findings were
obtained. First, passion was found to predict changes in flow that took place
at work over the six-month period, with harmonious passion significantly
predicting increases in flow and obsessive passion being weakly but positively
related to flow. Thus, Lavigne et al. basically replicated past findings on the
positive role of harmonious passion in flow. Second, Lavigne and colleagues
also found that flow at Time 1 did not predict changes in passion from Time
1 to Time 2. Although an experimental design was not used in this study and
should be used in future research, this last result suggests that passion (and
especially harmonious passion) may play a causal role in changes that take
place in flow, while the reverse does not seem to take place.
In sum, the literature reveals that harmonious passion is positively
related to experiential states of mindfulness and flow, while obsessive pas-
sion is negatively related to mindfulness and in general is unrelated to flow.
DECISION-MAKING
We have seen so far that passion can affect several types of cognitive pro-
cesses, such as attention, concentration, mindfulness, and flow. Another
important type of cognitive process refers to decision-making. Thus, one
may ask the following question: Does one’s passion make a difference in the
quality of one’s decision-making? For instance, do people who are harmoni-
ously passionate for a given activity make better decisions in this activity
than those who are obsessively passionate? Decision-making, like most cog-
nitive processes, is typically most revealed in real-life situations (Neisser,
1976) and especially under pressure. This is because such situations typically
entail making important decisions that need to be made quickly. It is thus
possible to unveil optimal decision-making processes. One such real-life
situation takes place in sport refereeing after having made a bad call (e.g.,
Dorsch & Paskevich, 2007). Referees’ reactions and strategies to deal with
their own mistakes vary drastically, ranging from rumination over the error,
lack of concentration, to even engaging in makeup calls (i.e., favoring on
the next call the party or team that has been unjustly penalized by the poor
call [Wolfson & Neave, 2007]). Makeup calls are particularly interesting, as
they amount to deliberately making a second poor decision, after the first
error. Makeup calls represent the type of decision-making processes that
referees should try to avoid at all costs, as they can potentially entrap them-
selves in a vicious circle of unending poor decisions. On top of that, such
decision-making processes can drive players crazy because refereeing then

becomes unpredictable. Pretty soon, the game can get out of hand.
Based on the DMP, it can be hypothesized that passion might account
for the different ways in which referees react after having committed an
important error. Because harmonious passion provides access to adaptive
self-processes like mindfulness, making an error should be accepted as such
(an error) without dwelling on it and without experiencing a self-threat that
one needs to remove through an immediate overt correction (i.e., a makeup
call). Consequently, with harmonious passion, it should prove possible to deal
with the situation without using makeup calls to repair the first mistake.
Conversely, with obsessive passion, the person’s identity is attached contin-
gently to the activity so that doing well on the passionate activity becomes
important for one’s self-esteem. Therefore, making an error becomes highly
self-threatening, leading one to seek to remove the threat through a makeup
call. Philippe, Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, and Brunel (2009, Study 2) con-
ducted a study to test these hypotheses. High-level European soccer referees
completed the Passion Scale as well as reporting their tendency to engage
in makeup calls after having made an important mistake. Results revealed,
as expected, that subsequent to an important error, obsessive passion was
positively associated with engaging in makeup calls. Conversely, harmonious
passion was negatively associated with makeup calls.
The above findings suggest, as hypothesized, that obsessive passion seems
to undermine, whereas harmonious appear to facilitate, optimal cognitive
functioning and decision-making, especially under stress. Future research is
needed, however, in order to replicate the present findings with other types
of participants in other real-life situations. Furthermore, additional research
should also look at the role of passion in other forms of decision-making
involving accuracy and speed in a variety of situations (see Thorgren &
Wincent, 2013a, for such preliminary work).
PASSION AND LESS ADAPTIVE COGNITIONS:

RUMINATION
On Rumination
Ruminative thoughts are defined as conscious thoughts about a particu-

lar theme that recur in the absence of immediate environmental demands
requiring these thoughts (Martin & Tesser, 1996). These recurrent, unin-
tentional, off-task thoughts are hypothesized to reflect people’s current
concerns (Klinger, 1975, 1977) and unattained goals (Martin & Tesser,
1989). Rumination is thus a manifestation of people’s tendency to per-
sist in goal-directed actions until goals have either been reached or have
been discarded (Carver & Scheier, 2001; Klinger, 1977; Zeigarnik, 1938).
Furthermore, Carver (1996) suggests that the information available in con-
sciousness is what is most valued at the present moment. The content of
ruminative thoughts can thus be considered as being more important than
whatever the person is presently doing.
It goes without saying that if it prevents you from focusing on other impor-
tant parts of your life, then ruminating about the activity you love is not an
optimal form of cognitive process. It should be underscored, however, that
rumination may, at times, serve an adaptive purpose (Joorman, Dkane, &
Gotlib, 2006). For instance, ruminating about a problem to find a solution
may be adaptive in the short term in helping find the solution. Ruminating
about the problem does not always do the trick, however, because if one
keeps brewing things over and over, it is likely to lead to both personal and
interpersonal problems (Kashdan & Roberts, 2007). Furthermore, even in
the short term, focusing on the problem may not be the most adaptive form
of problem resolution. Indeed, research reveals that the best way to find a
solution to a problem is to momentarily disengage from the problem so as
to subsequently engage fully in the solution-focused process (e.g., Greene &
Grant, 2003; Wrosch et al., 2003).
The Differential Effects of the Harmonious

and Obsessive Passions on Rumination
In Chapter 3, we have seen that harmonious passion entails a form of open,

non-defensive, and mindful engagement in the passionate activity that
allows the person to have access to adaptive self-processes. As was seen
in this chapter, some of the positive outcomes that one derives from such
adaptive self-processes include being able to fully concentrate on the task,
experiencing flow while doing so, and being mindfully aware or being in the
moment. Thus, it would be unlikely that with harmonious passion one would
ruminate about the activity when not engaging in it. Rather, the open and
non-defensive approach adopted with harmonious passion should allow one
to move on and to fully focus on other activities, even if things did not go
well in the passionate activity. Conversely, when at play, obsessive passion
nurtures a defensive and rigid form of engagement that prevents full access
to adaptive self-processes. Such rigid persistence should lead one to get stuck
and to dwell on mistakes and to use defensive ploys and self-enhancement
strategies to protect the self from self-threats. Thus, with obsessive passion,
one should be more likely to ruminate about past events on the passionate
activity, especially if things did not go well.
Several studies have tested the passion-rumination relationship. For
instance, in one study, Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. (2008, Study 1) had
soccer fans from the United Kingdom complete the Passion Scale for being a
soccer fan of one’s favorite team and the five-item version of the Rumination
on Sadness Scale, adapted for soccer fandom (Conway, Csank, Holm, & Blake,
2000; e.g., “In general, when I do something else than watching soccer, I con-
stantly think about the upcoming soccer game”). Results from partial corre-
lations revealed that obsessive passion was strongly and positively correlated
to rumination, but harmonious passion was not. Other studies conducted in
other fields such as work (Forest et al., 2011), gambling (Ratelle et al., 2004),
or one’s favorite activity (e.g., Carpentier et al., 2012; Vallerand et al., 2003,
Study 1) yielded almost identical results: obsessive passion is strongly related
to rumination, while harmonious passion is unrelated to it.
While the above correlations provide support for hypotheses derived
from the DMP, one may have expected a negative correlation between har-
monious passion and rumination. After all, if it gives access to a mindful
mode of functioning, then it might be expected that harmonious passion
protects one from engaging in rumination. The fact that a non-significant
correlation has been systematically obtained between harmonious passion
and rumination may be a function of the methodological strategy employed
in research involving rumination. Typically, participants have been asked to
complete a rumination scale about the passionate activity in general, across
situations. Yet, situations do matter, as some situations may be more chal-
lenging than others. It might be the case that in these challenging situations,
an individual’s adaptive resilient responses come through to protect the per-
son. It will be recalled that in the Philippe et al. (2009, Study 2) study, soc-
cer referees were asked to indicate their cognitive reactions during the game
after having made a bad call in an important game. Referees also completed
a small scale on rumination during the game after the bad call (e.g., “I replay
the error in my mind”), along with the Passion Scale. Results revealed that
while there was a slight positive correlation between rumination and obses-
sive passion, there was a significant negative correlation with harmonious
passion. So, these findings, although preliminary, would tend to support the
hypothesis that harmonious passion may protect one against rumination,
especially when it is needed the most, in specific situations such as after fail-
ure or under stress. More research is needed on this issue.
I have suggested previously that rumination may have a number of out-
comes for the person. We have just seen that rumination can negatively
affect the quality of one’s experience during activity engagement by rumi-
nating about an error (Philippe, Vallerand, et al., 2009, Study 2). In addi-
tion, I suggest that rumination can also negatively affect the quality of one’s
engagement in other activities following one’s participation in the passion-
ate activity. Specifically, one’s obsessive passion should facilitate the pres-
ence of ruminative thoughts about the passionate activity, which, in turn,
should prevent people from fully engaging in a subsequent activity. One
important consequence of such disruption is that it prevents people from

experiencing flow in this other activity, and consequently it may rob them
from deriving psychological well-being from full engagement in this other
activity. For instance, if someone was making great progress at work on a
project, his or her obsessive passion may lead him or her to ruminate about
it during the evening, even in the presence of family members. These are
not the best conditions for enjoying family life. This is in line with past
research that has shown that rumination hinders the experience of flow
(Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) and happiness (Killingsworth &
Gilbert, 2010). Such research is also in accord with past work that shows that
obsessive passion for a given activity conflicts with other dimensions of the
activity (Thorgren & Wincent, 2013b) and of the person’s life (e.g., Caudroit,
Boiché, Stephan, Le Scanff, & Trouilloud, 2011; Stenseng, 2008; Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand, Paquet, Philippe, & Charest, 2010; Young, De
Jong, & Medic, 2014). Rumination may be one of the factors through which
conflict occurs.
It is therefore hypothesized that through its impact on ruminative
thoughts, obsessive passion should be negatively related to, and thus con-
flicts with, flow in other activities and ultimately undermines well-being.
Harmonious passion, being unrelated to ruminative thoughts (Ratelle et al.,
2004), should not undermine flow in other life domains. In fact, through the
harmonious integration of the passionate activity with other life activities,
harmonious passion may even promote flow in other activities. Carpentier,
Mageau, and Vallerand (2012) have tested the above model. They asked
undergraduate students to complete the Passion Scale for their favorite
activity, scales assessing flow experiences in their favorite activity as well
as when engaged in their studies, the Conway et al. scale on ruminations
about their favorite activity when studying, and a scale assessing psychologi-
cal well-being. It was hypothesized that the more people have an obsessive
passion toward their favorite activity, the more they should ruminate about
it while engaging in their studies. These ruminations, in turn, should pre-
vent people from experiencing flow in this other activity. In contrast, har-
monious passion was expected to be unrelated to ruminative thoughts and
even to promote involvement and flow in both the passionate and in other
activity. Flow, in turn, in both activities was expected to predict psychologi-
cal well-being. Results of structural equation modeling provided support for
the model.
In sum, passion matters with respect to rumination. Obsessive passion
facilitates the experience of ruminations about the passionate activity when
engaged in other pursuits. Such ruminations, in turn, may have some del-
eterious effects on the person’s quality of engagement in other activities and
ultimately on his or her psychological well-being. On the other hand, har-
monious passion is typically unrelated to ruminations and may even protect
one from experiencing such thoughts, especially under stressful or negative

situations.
COGNITIONS ABOUT THE SELF
Cognitions deal not only with the environment but also with the self. In this
section, relationships between passion and global self-esteem, and contex-
tual self-esteem, such as physical self-worth, self-contingencies, self-dis-
crepancies, and self-enhancement, are addressed.
Passion and Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is defined as an evaluation of, or an attitude toward, oneself

(Sedikides & Gregg, 2003, 2008; Sedikides & Strube, 1997). Self-esteem can
be high or low, and it can be assessed at the global level (in general), at the con-
textual level (in one specific life domain like sport or education, in general),
or at the situational level (right here and now on the task that I’m doing).
Thus, an individual with a high sense of global self-esteem might agree with
the following statement: “I feel that I have a number of good qualities”; some-
one with low self-esteem might disagree with such a statement. Although it
is not clear whether having a high level of global self-esteem actually causes
high levels of psychological functioning (see Baumeister, Smart, & Boden,
1996), much research has shown that a high level of global self-esteem is
associated with an adaptive level of psychological functioning (Baumeister,
Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003).
We have seen in Chapter 3 that the DMP posits that harmonious pas-
sion is rooted in a secure sense of self and is aligned with the integrated self,
thereby providing access to adaptive self-processes, including flexibility and
an openness to experience the world in a non-defensive and mindful man-
ner. Therefore, harmonious passion should be positively associated with high
self-esteem. In contrast, obsessive passion is not fully aligned with the self
and leads people to experience some sense of insecurity and uncertainty and
to readily experience adverse situations as posing self-threats. Obsessive pas-
sion should therefore be either unrelated or negatively related to self-esteem.
A certain number of studies have assessed the relationship between pas-
sion and global self-esteem. For instance, in one study, Vallerand, Ntoumanis,
et al. (2008, Study 2) asked English soccer fans to complete the Passion
Scale for soccer fandom and a measure of global self-esteem, the Rosenberg
self-esteem scale (1965). The results from partial correlations revealed that
harmonious passion was positively correlated with self-esteem, but not
obsessive passion. Similarly, in another study, Stenseng and Dalskau (2010,
Study 1) found that harmoniously passionate individuals reported higher

levels of self-esteem on the Rosenberg scale than obsessively passionate
individuals.
In other studies, self-esteem was assessed at the contextual level. In one
study dealing with exercise, Halvari, Ulstad, Bagoien, and Skjesol (2009)
found that the harmonious passion for exercise of university students
enrolled in a physical education program was positively related to perceived
competence in physical activity. Obsessive passion was not assessed in this
study. In a subsequent study, Caudroit, Stephan, Brewer, and Le Scanff
(2010) assessed the link between the two types of passion for sports and
physical self-worth (contextual self-esteem specifically in physical activity).
French male athletes completed the Passion Scale and an abbreviated trans-
lated form of the Physical Self Inventory (Fox & Corbin, 1989). The results
from correlations revealed that harmonious passion was positively related to
physical self-worth, but obsessive passion was unrelated to it.
Of interest is that people may also possess self-esteem in both explicit
and implicit forms. Explicit self-esteem refers to what we have seen so far in
this section, namely, a conscious and reflective evaluation of one’s self (e.g.,
Rosenberg, 1965). In contrast, implicit self-esteem refers to an unconscious
evaluation of one’s self (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). The two modes represent
rather distinct conceptualizations and functional properties of self-esteem
(Greenwald & Banaji, 1995; Greenwald & Farnham, 2000). Indeed, explicit
and implicit measurements of self-esteem are weakly but positively cor-
related (e.g., Rudolph, Schröder-Abé, Schütz, Gregg, & Sedikides, 2008).
Lafrenière et al. (2011) conducted a study to assess the relationship between
the two types of passion and the two types of self-esteem. In line with past
research seen above, the authors reasoned that harmonious passion should
be positively related, and obsessive passion should be unrelated to an explicit
global measure of self-esteem (the Rosenberg scale). In contrast, Lafrenière
et al. hypothesized that individuals low on implicit self-esteem would expe-
rience higher levels of obsessive passion. Indeed, past research has revealed
that low implicit self-esteem is positively related to signs of defensiveness
and ego fragility (e.g., Gregg & Sedikides, 2010; Jordan, Spencer, Zanna,
Hoshino-Browne, & Correll, 2003). Because individuals with a predominant
obsessive passion have also shown signs of ego fragility, individuals with
low implicit self-esteem should also display high levels of obsessive passion.
However, such should not be the case for people with high levels of harmoni-
ous passion, who show no proofs of such fragility. Undergraduate students
completed the Passion Scale and the Rosenberg measure of self-esteem. In
addition, they also came to the laboratory and completed an implicit mea-
sure of self-esteem, the Implicit Associations Test (Greenwald & Farnham,
2000). Such a test implies response latencies in which the faster that peo-
ple respond that positive attributes characterize them and that negative
attributes do not characterize them, the higher their implicit self-esteem.

Based on the participants’ responses, Lafrenière et al. conducted a structural
equation modeling anaylsis. Results revealed that high explicit self-esteem
positively predicted harmonious passion, while low implicit self-esteem pre-
dicted obsessive passion.
While only preliminary, these findings are in line with the self-esteem
literature that shows that high explicit self-esteem is associated with adap-
tive functioning such as harmonious passion, while low implicit self-esteem
is associated with less adaptive functioning such as obsessive passion. These
findings provide support for the DMP, which posits that harmonious passion
is positively associated with a secure sense of self, while obsessive passion is
rooted in an insecure sense of self.
Passion and Self-Contingencies
One key assumption of the DMP is that the two forms of passion differ with
respect to the type of contingencies underlying engagement in the passionate
activity. Specifically, it is hypothesized that with obsessive passion certain
contingencies are attached to the activity, such as self-esteem. With obses-
sive passion, one needs to do well at the activity in order to maintain one’s
high self-esteem. Actually, doing well on the activity may serve to boost one’s
sense of competence and self-esteem that otherwise would be low. However,
such is not the case with harmonious passion, which is hypothesized to be
relatively free from such contingencies. Harmonious passion is rooted in a
secure sense of self. Therefore, one’s self-esteem should be relatively constant
irrespective of one’s performance on the activity. Furthermore, one should
not have the need to enhance one’s self-esteem on the passionate activity, as
it should be already fairly high and stable. Past research on self-esteem con-
tingencies (e.g., Crocker & Park, 2004) has shown that people who have high
self-esteem contingencies with respect to a variable source (e.g., one’s per-
formance on a given activity) will see their self-esteem fluctuate more than
those with lower contingencies. In other words, those with high self-esteem
contingencies as pertains to performance on the passionate activity will see
their self-esteem go up and down as a function of varying performance on
the activity. It thus follows from the above that the self-esteem of obses-
sively passionate individuals should fluctuate much more in situations of
success and failure than that of harmoniously passionate individuals.
In order to test the above hypothesis, Mageau, Carpentier, and Vallerand
(2011) carried out a study with young adults who were passionate about
Magic The Gathering card games. This card game represents a battle between
wizards who use creatures, items, and spells to defeat opponents who may
counteract such ploys with cards of their own to protect themselves. A huge
community of Magic players exists, and players engage regularly in tourna-

ments. In the Mageau et al. (2011) study, the authors organized their own
tournament that was run exactly like regular tournaments. Participants
were recruited through various ads and came to the lab to participate in a
Magic The Gathering tournament. Before the first game of the tournament, par-
ticipants completed a first questionnaire, which included measures of pas-
sion (Vallerand et al., 2003), self-esteem contingencies (of the Magic card
game; using an adapted version of the Crocker et al., 2003 scale), and global
(Rosenberg, 1965) and state self-esteem (McFarland & Ross, 1982). All par-
ticipants then played at least five rounds, with the top eight players of each
tournament playing three additional rounds. Actual performance for each
round was recorded, and players completed measures of state self-esteem
after each round.
Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were conducted on the
self-esteem data. These analyses thus allowed the researchers to exam-
ine within-individual (situational) and between-individual (dispositional)
sources of variance on one’s state self-esteem. The results revealed that
actual performance was a significant within-person predictor of state
self-esteem, with games won overall producing higher levels of state
self-esteem than games lost. At the between-person level, as expected,
global self-esteem positively predicted state self-esteem. Of major inter-
est, results showed that obsessive passion moderated the relationship
between actual performance and state self-esteem. This interaction
revealed that the more people reported an obsessive passion toward the
Magic card game, the greater was the positive impact of the outcome on
their state self-esteem. Wins led to higher levels of state self-esteem than
ties or losses. However, this effect was only true for people high in obses-
sive passion. As expected, harmonious passion did not moderate the rela-
tionship between actual performance and state self-esteem. Additional
analyses revealed that the self-esteem contingencies scale (for the Magic
card game) yielded the same findings as obsessive passion. Further, when
both obsessive passion and self-esteem contingencies were incorporated
in the same analyses, the effects of obsessive passion disappeared, show-
ing that contingencies mediate the effects. Using a different methodol-
ogy, Stenseng and Dalskau (2010) also showed that obsessively passionate
athletes also make use of self-esteem contingencies in their sport activi-
ties. Specifically, sport-specific self-esteem remained high to the extent
that obsessively passionate athletes engaged in social comparison that
revealed that they did better than other athletes. Such was not the case
for athletes who were harmoniously passionate. It would thus appear that
the effects of obsessive passion on state (or activity) self-esteem operate
through self-esteem contingencies processes. Such is not the case for har-
monious passion.
Passion and Self-Enhancement Strategies
We have seen so far that overall, harmonious passion is associated with more
adaptive forms of self-perceptions. In contrast, we have also seen that the
self-esteem of obsessively passionate individuals is highly dependent (or
contingent) upon doing well on the activity that they are passionate about.
In fact, their state self-esteem goes up and down as a function of their per-
formance on the activity. They can be portrayed as being relatively inse-
cure and uncertain about their worth in the activity. Given their defensive
approach to self-threats and potential failure, one strategy that they may
resort to using would be self-enhancement. Self-enhancement refers to per-
ceiving oneself more positively than others (Alicke & Govorun, 2005) and
more positively than objective facts warrant (John & Robins, 1994). For
instance, one person may say, “In the context of my activity, I feel superior.”
Self-enhancement typically takes place on central traits or attributes. This
should include one’s passionate activity. Thus, in light with the above, the
more people have an obsessive passion for a given activity, the more they
should use self-enhancement strategy to obtain psychological benefits from
activity engagement. However, such should not be the case for harmonious
passion because it allows one to engage in the passionate activity with a
non-defensive and secure frame of mind.
The above reasoning was tested by Lafrenière, Vallerand, and Sedikides
(2013) in two studies. In the first study, participants completed the Passion
Scale, self-enhancement scales specifically related to the passionate activ-
ity, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). Results from
multiple regression analyses revealed, as hypothesized, that harmonious
passion positively predicted life satisfaction. Furthermore, there was an
obsessive passion X self-enhancement interaction. Analysis of the interac-
tion revealed that when obsessive passion is at play, life satisfaction was only
high when self-enhancement was high. These findings provide support for
the DMP in that with obsessive passion, people need to resort to employ-
ing self-enhancement strategies in order to maintain their well-being. Such
was not the case for harmonious passion. However, can these results be
replicated using experimental manipulations? In Study 2, Lafrenière et al.
(2013) randomly assigned participants to one of six experimental conditions
resulting from the 3 (Passion: harmonious, obsessive, or control) X 2 (self-
enhancement or no self-enhancement) experimental design as pertains to
an activity they were passionate about. We have seen in Chapter 4 that both
harmonious and obsessive passions can be experimentally induced. This is
exactly what Lafrenière et al. did, in addition to using a control condition.
Furthermore, they also experimentally manipulated self-enhancement.
Following these manipulations, participants completed the life satisfaction
measure. Results revealed the same findings as in Study 1 (see Figure 6.2).
Self-Enhancement Control
6
Life Satisfaction 5
0
Harmonious Pasion Obsessive Passion Control
Experimental Conditions
Figure 6.2:
Life Satisfaction as a Function of the Passion and Self-Enhancement Conditions.
Adapted from Lafrenière et al. (2013, Study 2).
Specifically, there was a main effect for harmonious passion that showed
that it increased life satisfaction relative to both the obsessive passion and
no passion conditions. There was also the presence of an obsessive passion X
self-enhancement interaction. In the high obsessive passion condition, life
satisfaction was high only when self-enhancement was at play. In the no self-
enhancement condition, the obsessive passion condition led to low levels of
life satisfaction. The results of Study 2 are important because they show that
passion does cause some effects on well-being (as we will see in Chapter 8).
Specifically, harmonious passion will cause increases in life satisfaction no
matter what. However, obsessive passion will cause increases in life satis-
faction only when it takes place jointly with self-enhancement. Research
reveals that self-threats lead to greater use of self-enhancement strategies
(Campbell & Sedikides, 1999). Future research is needed to determine if self-
threats represent the triggering process that leads those with obsessive pas-
sion to make use of self-enhancement strategies.
PASSION AND COGNITIVE GOALS

On Achievement Goals
Cognitive goals have a long history in psychology, going at least back to

Tolman (1932). In contemporary psychology, one type of goals that has
attracted a lot of scientific attention is achievement goals (e.g., Nicholls,
1984; Roberts, 2001). Achievement goals represent the competence-based
aims that an individual seeks to accomplish in an achievement setting
(e.g., Dweck, 2006; Elliot, 1997). The work of Andrew Elliot, in particular,
has been found to be important. Elliot and colleagues (Elliot, 1997; Elliot &
Harackiewicz, 1996) have distinguished between different types of achieve-
ment goals, including three that have important implications for one’s moti-
vated involvement in the passionate activity: mastery goals (which focus on
the development of competence and task mastery), performance-approach
goals (which focus on the attainment of competence relative to others), and
performance-avoidance goals (which focus on avoiding incompetence rela-
tive to others). As we will see in Chapter 10, these three different goals have
important implications for performance. However, for now, I would like to
underscore the fact that these three goals imply a different type of activ-
ity involvement. Specifically, while mastery goals focus solely on activity
improvement and a self-referential perspective, the performance goals imply
a more competitive orientation and an other-referential perspective where
social comparison is involved at the expense of self-improvement. Thus,
mastery goals seem much more in line with a growth-oriented perspective.
Conversely, the performance goals would appear to be more conducive to a
defensive stance.
The Differential Role of the Harmonious and Obsessive

Passions in Achievement Goals
Passion reflects a strong investment in an activity, which implies that the

individual is committed to engaging in that activity in a competent man-
ner. Accordingly, it seems likely that both types of passion should lead indi-
viduals to adopt and pursue achievement goals for their activity. The DMP
posits that the achievement goal process should differ as a function of the
type of passion underlying activity engagement. Specifically, because it
reflects an autonomous form of motivational process, harmonious passion
should trigger the adaptive goals of mastering achievement-related activi-
ties (Duda, 2001; Dweck, 1986). Because harmonious passion is based in
a self-growth perspective oriented toward self-improvement within the
purview of the activity, it is not expected to be linked to performance
goals of either type. Thus, a clear and task-focused achievement goal pro-
cess is posited to be induced by harmonious passion. Conversely, being
a more pressured, internally controlled, and somewhat insecure form of
motivational process, obsessive passion should trigger a conflicted regula-
tory process, whereby the individual feels compelled to pursue any and all
forms of approaching success and avoiding failure at the activity, includ-
ing mastering the task, trying to beat others, and trying to avoid doing
poorly relative to others. As such, obsessive passion should be positively
related to mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance

goals. However, because of the insecure sense of self that the controlled
internalization process creates, the link should be particularly strong with
performance-avoidance goals.
At least three studies have tested the above hypotheses in the domains
of education (Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2), sports (Vallerand, Mageau
et al., 2008, Study 2), and music (Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2011). The
methodological strategy of the three studies is very similar. Participants
are contacted in the field at the location where they engage in the activ-
ity. They complete the Passion Scale and the Achievement Goals Scale
(see Elliot & Chruch, 1997). Then, Structural Equation Modeling analy-
ses are performed to determine the links from the two types of passion
to the three types of achievement goals. The results of the three studies
are almost identical. As hypothesized, harmonious passion strongly and
positively predicts only mastery goals. It does not lead to the other type
of comparative goals of performance approach and performance avoid-
ance goals. On the other hand, obsessive passion leads to the adoption of
all three types of goals. However, there are differences in the preference
of the type of goals used. Specifically, in descending order of importance,
obsessive passion predicts the adoption of performance-avoidance,
performance-approach, and mastery goals. Thus, with obsessive passion,
not looking “bad” in the eyes of others (performance-avoidance goals)
and, if possible, being able to “beat” others are the preferred goals. Trying
to master the task, wherein no comparison to others is present, comes
in last.
In sum, different achievement goals are adopted as a function of the type
of passion. While harmonious passion leads only to a focus on task-oriented,
mastery, goals, obsessive passion leads to the adoption of a variety of goals,
including some dealing with the task (mastery), but mainly comparative
goals dealing with the fear of doing worse than others and that of trying to
outdo others. We will see in Chapter 10 on performance that such goals have
dire implications for high-level performance.
THE FUNCTIONING MIND OF PASSIONATE INDIVIDUALS
When people are passionate about an activity, they not only think a lot about
this activity, they also have goals for this activity. They may formulate goals
about the next time they will engage in the activity, how they will do so,
for how long, and so on. In addition, such goals are not the only goals that
they may have in their mind. People also typically have a number of goals
regarding work, family, friends, and so on. How do these various goals relate
to those dealing with the passionate activity? What are the effects of these
various relationships among these goals? We now turn to the issue of the
functioning mind of the passionate individual.
On Pursuing Activity Goals Differently

as a Function of Passion
In lots of ways, our cognitive processes function like a computer. And

this is particularly true as pertains to our goals. As Arie Kruglanski pos-
its in his goal-system theory (Kruglanski et al., 2002), we can focus on
simply one goal, or we can engage in multitasking and seek several goals
at the same time. And this can take place outside our awareness, while
our “computer” is doing other stuff. The number of goals we seek has
a number of implications for the means we select to reach them. Some
means help us reach one and only one goal, while others may help us
reach several goals simultaneously. For instance, in my life, I may seek to
reach certain goals such as having a social life, being healthy, and feeling
competent. I can decide to reach these goals through one means each.
Thus, I may go out certain evenings with friends (social goal), exercise
at the university three times per week (the health goal), and feel com-
petent through playing the guitar. Or again, I can reach all three goals
by playing basketball with friends who are excellent players (spending
time with my friends, exercising, and playing basketball at a high level
of competence). Means that allow you to seek only one goal with a high
level of expectancy are called unifinal means, while those that allow
you to seek more than one goal with a slightly lower level of expectancy
are termed multifinal means (Kruglanski et al., 2002). There is also one
other type of means that, while allowing one to seek one goal with a high
level of expectancy, becomes detrimental to other goals. Such means are
called counterfinal means. For instance, pursuing the goal of competence
through the means of playing the guitar with a rock band each evening
after work until late at night runs counter to other goals, such as spend-
ing time with one’s children and spouse and taking care of one’s health.
Counterfinal means maximize the expectancy of reaching one goal but
will be detrimental to other goals. In contrast, multifinal means allow
one to seek to reach several goals and thus maximize one’s sense of plea-
sure or satisfaction.
Ultimately, the type of means that one chooses to pursue may depend
on the situation at hand (see Kruglanski et al., 2002). If a student has a
number of important goals that he or she wants to reach (studying, spend-
ing time with friends) and does not feel under pressure to attend specifi-
cally to any one goal in particular, then multifinal means may be selected
(e.g., studying with one’s friends). However, if one goal is supremely impor-
tant in a given situation (final exam period), then this student may select
a counterfinal means to reach it (studying alone for two weeks), even if it
comes at the expense of other goals (e.g., social goals).
The Role of Passion in Selecting Different Types

of Means to Reach One’s Goal
Personal characteristics may also determine which type of means is pursued.

For instance, one’s type of passion may represent an individual difference
that will determine which type of means is selected to pursue one’s goals.
Because it is rooted in an insecure sense of self, obsessive passion should lead
one to entertain low levels of expectancy (or high insecurity) with respect to
reaching one’s goal associated with the passionate activity, which, in turn,
should lead one to prefer counterfinal means that afford greater expectancy
of goal achievement but that are detrimental to other goals. Conversely,
being associated with a secure sense of self (Vallerand, 2010), harmonious
passion should positively predict high levels of expectancy of goal achieve-
ment, which, in turn, should predict preference for multifinal means that
allow one to reach other goals in the process. In other words, individuals
with high levels of obsessive passion should prefer counterfinal means over
multifinal means because counterfinal means reassure them that their goal
will be attained, whereas individuals with high levels of harmonious passion,
being more certain of attaining their goals, should prefer maximizing the
added value of reaching several goals.
Such selection of means is also influenced by the way the passionate activ-
ity has been internalized in the person’s identity, and therefore by the type
of goal web that has developed in the self. With harmonious passion, the
activity has been internalized in harmony with other elements of the per-
son’s self through the autonomous internalization process. Thus, in a sense,
the goal of pursuing the passionate activity is already part of a web of goals
that are positively interconnected. The person is thus more likely to make use
of multifinal means to reach the goal associated with the passionate activity
(and other goals) than to resort to counterfinal means that would disturb
the existing web. Conversely, with obsessive passion, the activity has been
internalized in one’s identity through a controlled internalization process,
thereby creating a web of goals wherein conflict, rather than harmony, takes
place between the goal of pursuing the passionate activity and other goals
in the self. Resorting to the use of counterfinal means is to be expected with
obsessive passion because conflict is already present.
Bélanger, Lafrenière, Kruglanski, and Vallerand (2013) have conducted
a series of studies to test the above hypothesis with respect to the type of
means that would be preferred as a function of the type of passion. For

instance, in one study (Study 1B) they asked participants involved in a
romantic relationship to complete the Passion Scale with respect to the
loved one and then to complete scales with respect to engagement fre-
quency in both multifinal (e.g., “I usually include my romantic partner
with my leisure activities”) and counterfinal means (e.g., “I have aban-
doned some of my leisure activities so I can focus on my romantic part-
ner”). Results from multiple regression analyses revealed, as predicted,
that harmonious passion predicted more frequent engagement in multifi-
nal means, while obsessive passion predicted more frequent engagement
in counterfinal means. These results were replicated in another study
(Study 1A) with participants who were passionate about their studies.
Furthermore, these findings were replicated when participants were ran-
domly assigned to either a harmonious passion or an obsessive passion
experimental induction as pertains to one’s studies (Study 2A) and one’s
romantic relationship (Study 2B).
Finally, Bélanger and colleagues sought to determine why people with a
predominant harmonious passion preferred engaging in multifinal means
activities, while those who are predominantly obsessively passionate pre-
ferred the counterfinal means activities. In line with the DMP, they rea-
soned that because it entails a sense of self-uncertainty and vulnerability,
obsessive passion would lead people to have low expectations for the goal
they pursue. In turn, low expectancy of goal achievement should lead them
to prefer counterfinal means because such means are generally associated
with greater expectancy of success due to their very nature of focusing on
only one goal (see Klein, 2011). In contrast, because harmonious passion has
been consistently found to be associated with a secure and non-defensive
mode of functioning, harmonious passion should be associated with high
expectancies of goal success. In turn, high expectancy of goal achievement
should lead to the adoption of multifinal means because when expectancy
is no longer a concern, one can afford to choose means that provide greater
value by fulfilling multiple goals simultaneously. Bélanger and colleagues
(2013, Study 4A) conducted a study to test these hypotheses. They had par-
ticipants who were passionate about their studies complete the Passion Scale
for their studies, scales assessing multifinal and counterfinal means for their
studies, and a scale assessing the expectancy of academic goal achievement,
the Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (Fibel & Hale, 1978; “In the
future, I expect to carry through my academic responsibilities successfully”).
Results from a structural equation modeling anaylsis provided support for
the hypothesized model. Specifically, harmonious passion positively, while
obsessive passion negatively, predicted success expectancies that, in turn,
positively predicted the use of multifinal means but negatively predicted
the adoption of counterfinal means. These findings were also replicated in a

study on romantic passion (Study 4B).
In sum, it appears that the two types of passion entail different beliefs
about their success expectancies within the realm of the passionate activity,
with different consequences for the type of activities (or means) in which
they engage to reach their goals, and for other dimensions of their life as
well. With harmonious passion, people believe that they can attain the goal
related to the passionate activity and, therefore, they can allow themselves
to use multifinal means. While multifinal means allow people to reach the
goal relevant to the passionate activity, they also have the bonus effect of
allowing them to reach other life goals as well. In contrast, with obsessive
passion, the insecurity of being unable to reach a very important goal leads
people to engage in counterfinal means, at the expense of other important
life goals. People are then willing to sacrifice a part of their life to ensure suc-
cessful engagement in the passionate activity.
Automatic Cognitive Functioning Underlying the Means

Use Differs as a Function of the Type of Passion
One of the consequences of engaging in counterfinal or multifinal means is

that over time, people develop different types of cognitive functioning and
behavior patterns that can become self-sustaining (Kruglanski & Sheveland,
2013). The more frequently people select certain types of means, the more
frequently they will subsequently use these means, especially if they seem
to work. Eventually, by repeatedly using certain types of means, people will
start automatizing the use of such means. People with a harmonious passion
will typically remain open to affordances by pursuing multiple goals simul-
taneously, while those with an obsessive passion will focus only on the goal
of engaging in their passionate activity and, through the use of counterfinal
means, will push aside other goals. How does such automatic process operate
in various situations?
The DMP posits that people with a predominant obsessive passion for an
activity will learn to automatically protect the passionate activity from other
goals. Obsessive passion is a very jealous passion. It will try to shield itself
from other influences that may detract from one’s passion. We have seen in
the preceding section that with obsessive passion, counterfinal means are
preferred. Counterfinal means actually shield the goal of engagement in the
passionate activity from other goals. For example, the obsessively passionate
casino gambler will find ways to detract from other goals, such as spending
time with the family, exercising, or working on the house, to ensure that he or
she goes to the casino. Conversely, with harmonious passion, the activation
of the goal associated with the passionate activity can harmoniously coex-
ist with other goals in the person’s cognitions. Thus, on the one hand, with
harmonious passion, one can think about the passionate activity and still
think about other activities openly without having to protect the passion-
ate activity from other goals. People with a harmonious passion can thus
engage in multiple goals (such as in multitasking) without experiencing goal
conflict. However, with obsessive passion, one engages in a defensive form of
cognitive processes in which one’s passionate activity can conflict with other
goals. In order to avoid such an aversive, conflicted state of mind, one will
protect the passionate activity from other goals. One way to ensure doing
so is through a process termed “goal shielding” (Shah, 2005). Goal shield-
ing refers to automatically regulating one’s attentional focus by inhibiting
potentially distracting alternative goals. Eventually, over time, one learns to
develop automatic cognitive processes whereby one’s goal associated with the
passionate activity is protected from other goals by engaging in goal shield-
ing. With harmonious passion, there is no need to engage in goal shielding,
as multiple goals can peacefully coexist.
Bélanger, Lafrenière, Vallerand, and Kruglanski (2013b) have tested the
above hypotheses in a series of studies. The experimental paradigm of the
first two studies was the same. First, upon arrival at the lab, participants
were ushered to a private room. Participants were told to “determine an
activity that you like, that is important to you, and in which you invest a
significant amount of time on a regular basis” (the definition of passion), and
then were asked to respond to the Passion Scale for this activity (Vallerand
et al., 2003). Participants were then asked to indicate a second important
activity (the alternative goal) that they enjoyed engaging in on a regular
basis. Finally, participants were asked to report an activity they had never
performed before but thought could be pleasant to do (the pleasant activity).
At that point, participants were ushered to a different room to engage in a
lexical decision task on the computer. Using a methodology similar to that
employed by Shah et al. (2002), participants judged whether a target word
represented an important activity or not. Participants were instructed to do
this as quickly as possible. Unbeknownst to participants, a subliminal prime
word was presented for a period of 17 milliseconds before the presentation of
the target word. The primes and target words included in the lexical decision
task were the name of the passionate activity (e.g., basketball), the alterna-
tive goal (e.g., one’s studies), the pleasant activity (e.g., going bowling), and
two neutral words (i.e., table and chair). No trials contained the same prime
and target words simultaneously. Each possible prime-target combination
was presented six times. Several trials (120) were presented. Participants had
to judge as fast as possible whether a target word represented an important
activity or not. The goal-shielding index entailed comparing reaction times
to a word associated with the target goal (e.g., one’s studies) after subliminal
exposure to either a neutral (e.g., chair) or goal prime (e.g., a word associated
with basketball). Slower reaction times to the target goal (e.g., one’s stud-
ies) construct after exposure to a goal prime (e.g., basketball), as opposed
to a neutral prime (e.g., chair), are assumed to reflect inhibitory processes.
The higher the index, the less the subliminal prime interfered with reaction
time (and thus the less the inhibitory processes were at play). Other studies
in the Bélanger et al. series provided methodological additions and refine-
ments, such as controlling for the level of importance of the different goals
involved (Study 2), replicating the findings using an experimental manipula-
tion of passion as seen in Chapter 5 (Studies 3 and 4), using an interesting
task never engaged in before as the alternative activity and controlling for
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Study 4), and finally, assessing the cogni-
tive demands of such goal-shielding effect (Study 5).
Results of this series of studies can be summarized as follows. First,
across all studies, there was a goal-shielding effect. When a word related to
the passionate activity was subliminally primed (e.g., basketball), partici-
pants were slower to respond to a word related to the alternative activity
(e.g., one’s studies) than when they had to respond to a neutral word (e.g.,
chair). However, this effect only took place when one’s passion was obses-
sive. The goal shielding effect did not take place if the participant’s passion
was harmonious. Thus, there is overwhelming support for the major hypoth-
esis on the different cognitive functioning involved with harmonious and
obsessive passion. With obsessive passion, one’s cognitive processes protect
(shield) the passionate activity from alternative activities. In some ways, this
is the cognitive functioning involved with the counterfinal means. The per-
son puts aside (momentarily here) the other goals, does not pay attention to
them, so as to focus solely on the goal associated with the passionate activ-
ity. Such is not the case with harmonious passion, as the person continues to
pay attention to all goals. Second, the goal-shielding effect did not take place
when the alternative activity (e.g., one’s studies) was primed and the pas-
sionate activity word (e.g., basketball) was responded to. This result is highly
important as it shows that it is the passion primes associated with obsessive
passion that create the goal-shielding effect, and not any kind of primes.
A third finding of major importance is that the same results were obtained
when passion was assessed with the Passion Scale and when passion was
experimentally induced with the manipulation described in Chapter 4. This
finding is important for two reasons. First, with the experimental manipula-
tion of passion, one can now conclude that obsessive passion actually causes
the use of goal shielding and is not merely correlated with it. In addition,
second, as discussed previously, the different types of goal association net-
works present in people’s mind can be chronic (Higgins, 1996) and thus rela-
tively permanent, reflecting individual differences in passion, or they can be
momentarily induced through experimental manipulations. In other words,
with the right induction, everybody can be made to think like an obses-
sively passionate or a harmoniously passionate individual and made to use
goal shielding or not. Fourth, the goal-shielding effect is learned. Indeed,
although the goal-shielding effect with the alternative activity takes place
from the start of the trials, the results of Studies 2 and 4 with the new activ-
ity (never engaged in) revealed that the goal-shielding effect took place pro-
gressively as more and more trials were conducted with this new activity.
Finally, although the goal-shielding effect is learned and automatized and
takes place unconsciously, over time it nevertheless depletes one’s mental
energy (Study 5). One of the important consequences of this effect is that
when a subsequent demanding cognitive task needs to be performed, the
person who uses goal shielding has less cognitive energy available and per-
formance is diminished.
In sum, taken together these two series of studies (Bélanger, Lafrenière,
Kruglanski, & Vallerand, 2013; Bélanger et al., 2013 b) lead to important
implications with respect to how harmonious and obsessive passions affect
our cognitive functioning. These findings suggest that the minds of people
with a predominant harmonious or obsessive passion are organized differ-
ently, as they involve different types of interconnections that are positive
(i.e., multifinal means) or negative (counterfinal means) between the pas-
sionate activity and other elements of the self. With harmonious passion,
people have access to a richer web of goals, as more positive connections
exist among goals and can be accessed when the passionate activity comes to
mind. No conflict exists with other goals. Rather, as seen in the Carpentier
et al. (2012) study, a facilitative effect from the passionate activity to another
activity can even take place. The opposite pattern exists with obsessive pas-
sion, as goal activation of the passionate activity typically curtails the links
to other goals. Of course, as shown by research in associative networks, the
quality of interconnectivity between goals can be assessed for its chronicity
or can be situationally induced and thus modified at any time. By assessing
one’s predominant type of passion, we can have access to the usual (chronic)
web of goal arrangement between that of the passionate activity and other
goals and their associated means; by experimentally inducing a given type of
passion, we create momentarily a new web of goal associations in line with
the type of passion induced.
THE SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF PASSION
So far, in this chapter, we have looked at the role of passion in our own cog-
nitive processes. In closing this chapter, we look at another aspect of the
passion-cognition relationship, namely how we perceive the passion of other
people and how such perceptions come to influence our cognitions. There is a
good reason to do so: passion surrounds us! Indeed, it seems that everywhere

we look, passionate people are active under our very eyes. We can tell that
they are passionate because we can seen them smile, laugh, display energy,
enthusiasm, and excitement, and give 100% of themselves. Thus, we should
be able to identify those who are passionate for a given activity. Or can we?
Can we tell the difference between passionate and non-passionate perform-
ers, or even between those who have a predominant harmonious versus
obsessive passion in a given area? These are important questions that can
have drastic implications for real-life decisions such as hiring.
One situation where people may be especially attuned to the passion of
others is when it matters to them. One such area would seem to be entre-
preneurial investing. Indeed, it appears that most investors believe that pas-
sion is crucial in launching and helping a venture grow. Therefore, investors
are likely to look for passion in order to determine where to invest, as sug-
gested by the following quote. “The first crucial sign I’ve learned to look for
is passion” (Jon P. Goodman, private investor and founder of EC2). Recently,
researchers have started to empirically test this assumption. Specifically,
researchers have tested the role of venture capitalists’ (often called “angels”)
perceptions of entrepreneur passion in influencing their investment deci-
sion (Cardon, Sudek, & Mitteness, 2009, Study 1; Chen, Yao, & Kotha,
2009; Mitteness, Sudek, & Cardon, 2012). This hypothesis deals with two
basic questions: (1) Can investors actually accurately perceive passion in an
entrepreneur? (This is an interesting conceptual as well as applied research
question. Indeed, is passion being accurately perceived, or is it simply in the
perceiver’s mind?); and (2) Does this perception of passion influence the
investor’s behavior of funding ventures? Let us look at these two issues.
Perceiving the Passion of Other People
The first question pertains to the accuracy of investors’ social perception

of passion. In order to answer this question, we need to relate the actual
passion of the entrepreneur to the perception that the investor makes
of the entrepreneur. In a first study, Melissa Cardon and her colleagues
(2009, Study 2) did exactly that. First, they had judges assess videotaped
screening presentations that entrepreneurs made to one of the largest
investment groups in the United States to determine the level of passion
displayed by the entrepreneur. To assess the level of displayed passion,
three coders trained by the researchers focused on nonverbal behavior
such as “energetic body movements,” “talking with a varied tone,” “show-
ing animated facial expressions,” and so on (deemed to reflect expressed
enthusiasm and excitement). An adequate level of reliability was obtained
among the coders. Then, actual investors rated each entrepreneur’s
presentation for perceived passion on two items: “CEO is very passionate

about the company” and “CEO is very enthusiastic.” Results from correla-
tion analyses revealed the presence of a positive significant correlation
between the “displayed passion” by the coders and the investors’ rating of
the entrepreneur’s passion. Although not very strong, the positive correla-
tion supports the hypothesis that the entrepreneur’s actual passion was
indeed accurately perceived by the investor.
In another study, Chen et al. (2009, Study 1) went one step further and
used an experimental paradigm. Much like Cardon et al., they first identified
in a pilot study the nonverbal elements that pertained to “displayed” pas-
sion. Then, Chen et al. retained the service of a professional actor and created
two versions of a video in which an entrepreneur (the actor) was presenting a
business plan for angel investment. In the first version of the video, the actor
presented his business plan with great passion, using the nonverbal elements
identified in the pilot study. Conversely, in the second version of the video, the
actor displayed little passion. Then, MBA students were randomly assigned
to one of the two versions of the video and were asked to play the role of
investors and to complete a “displayed passion scale” that mainly focused on
the nonverbal elements of passion (but not on perceiving the entrepreneur
as “passionate” as such). Results from analyses of variance revealed a signifi-
cant difference between the two conditions. Specifically, participants who
saw the high passion video perceived the “entrepreneur” (played by the actor)
as displaying significantly more nonverbal passionate behavior than those
in the low passion condition. Future research is needed in order to assess
the relationship between an entrepreneur’s self-assessment of his or her own
passion and observers’ perceptions of such passion. Further, research should
seek to determine if observers can accurately distinguish between those who
are harmoniously and obsessively passionate.
Acting on the Perceptions of Other People’s Passion
The results from the above studies suggest that people seem to accurately
perceive passion in other people (at least to some extent). An important ques-
tion then is, does it matter? For instance, does perceiving the entrepreneur as
passionate translate into an investment decision from the angel (investor)?
In the first study involving MBA students discussed previously, Chen et al.
(2009, Study 1) assessed the relationship between the displayed passion and
the decision to invest money in the venture. Results revealed that there was
no relationship between the investors’ perception of displayed passion by the
entrepreneur and their “decision” to invest or not in the company. However,
in their Study 2, Chen et al. asked actual investors and bankers to serve as
participants. Participants looked at both the written business plans as well
as live presentations and then rated the perceived passion of the entrepre-
neur and made a decision to invest or not. Results revealed the presence of a
small but positive and significant correlation between passion and the deci-
sion to invest. It would thus appear that perceiving passion in others could
affect our decision-making in their favor.
In the Cardon et al. (2009, Study 2) study discussed previously, it will be
recalled that actual investors were asked to assess the passion of the entre-
preneur. In addition, they were asked to make two decisions. First, is the pro-
posal interesting enough to go through the first phase? Second, would they
actually invest in the venture at the final stage? The results revealed that
passion, either as assessed by the coders or as perceived by the investors, was
not related to the actual decision to invest or not. However, the researchers
reported the presence of a path analysis where the entrepreneur’s displayed
passion (as assessed by the coders) predicted the passion perceived by the
investors, which, in turn, predicted their decision to keep the proposal in
the first phase. So, it does appear that other people’s passion is indeed picked
up by the perceiver and that perceived passion leads to some positive conse-
quences for the passionate individual. Furthermore, it appears that this is
more likely to be the case for “real” investors (Cardon et al., 2009; Chen et al.,
2009, Study 2) than for MBA students (Chen et al., 2009, Study 1). Additional
research, again with real investors (Mittnesss et al., 2012), replicated the link
between perceived passion and the decision to keep the proposal alive in the
first phase. Furthermore, the link between these two variables was stronger
as a function of certain key personal characteristics of the investor, such as
being older, more intuitive, having an open personality (on the Big Five), and
being interested in serving as a mentor. Of major interest, research reveals
that the passion displayed during the presentation of the proposal posi-
tively predicts the actual success of the company three years later (Galbraith,
DeNoble, Ehrlich, & Horowitz, 2013)! In sum, passion in others does seem
to matter with respect to some important decision-making processes made
by observers as pertains to venture funding, especially by more experienced
people. Future research should determine if the type of passion involved (i.e.,
harmonious vs. obsessive passion) matters, or if the mere fact of being pas-
sionate ensures adequate funding made by observers.
SUMMARY
In sum, research reviewed in this chapter reveals that the two types of pas-
sion can affect cognitive functioning, with harmonious passion leading to
the most adaptive outcomes and obsessive passion to the least adaptive ones.
These findings were obtained with respect to a number of cognitive of pro-
cesses including attention, mindfulness, decision-making, rumination, and
self-processes. Future research is needed to determine how social and per-

sonal factors may moderate these effects. The cognitive world of passionate
individuals was also explored and found to differ depending on whether the
passion was harmonious or obsessive. It was shown that obsessively passion-
ate people engage in goal shielding, while harmonious passion goals are more
likely to be weaved into a harmonious web. Other research has also shown
that passion can be accurately perceived in others, although such research
has not focused on the distinction between harmoniously and obsessively
passionate individuals.
w
C H A P T ER 7
Passion and Emotions
E motions are part of our daily living. They can be positive or negative. We
get upset at our supervisor, excited and curious about the prospect of a
first date, sad at the death of a dear friend, enthusiastic when playing our
favorite activity, and so on. As philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
suggested centuries ago, pleasure and pain are important dimensions of the
human condition. But where do we experience emotions the most often?
When one thinks about it, it’s in situations where one cares deeply about
what one is doing—work (or studies), relationships, and activities that we
are passionate about. As Brown and Weiner (1984) posited years ago, valu-
ation increases the intensity of emotions. We have seen so far in this book
that people care deeply about the activity they are passionate about. Thus,
they are likely to experience relatively intense emotions, and frequently so,
within the purview of the passionate activity. As qualitative research with
sport participants suggests, passion would appear to represent a necessary
condition for the functions of emotion to fully operate in achievement set-
tings (Puig & Vilanova, 2011). However, “valuation” is not the sole source of
influence on emotions because the type of passion we hold toward the activ-
ity matters as well. Indeed, as the DMP posits, the quality of activity engage-
ment engendered by passion matters with respect to the quality of emotions
that one will experience. Therefore, overall, harmonious passion should lead
for the most part to positive emotions and less to negative emotions because
it allows access to the most adaptive self-processes. In contrast, obsessive
passion should lead the most to negative emotions, especially under chal-
lenging (or negative situations), and the least to positive emotions, although
there can be exceptions.
In this chapter, I survey the research conducted on the role of passion
in affect. In the first section, I look at the definition of emotion. A number
of issues are addressed, including the various elements of emotion and its
( 155 )
functions. In the second section, I address the distinction between passion

and emotions. Then, in the third section, I focus on how passion affects emo-
tions in different contexts, such as during and after activity engagement,
when prevented from engaging in the passionate activity, and following suc-
cess and failure in the passionate activity. In the fourth section, the role of
passion in the experience of different types of emotions, such as self-related
affects and anxiety, is addressed. I conclude by surveying the role of passion
in affective forecasting (or attempting to predict how one will feel following
a given event).
ON EMOTION
The famous philosopher and psychologist William James (1884) asked 130
years ago the simple question, “What is emotion?” Although we now know
a great deal more about emotions since James asked this question, scien-
tists are still in search of the definition. Although dozens of definitions
have been submitted (see Arnold, 1968; Carlson & Hatfield, 1992; Ekman &
Davidson, 1994; Frijda, 1986; Izard, 1977; Niedenthal et al., 2006; Oatley &
Jenkins, 1996), none has been acclaimed as integrating the knowledge that
has accrued from the diverse perspectives from which emotional phenomena
have been studied. For our present purposes, emotion can be defined as “. .
. short-lived psychological-physiological phenomena that represent efficient
modes of adaptation to changing environmental demands” (Levenson, 1994,
p. 123). In this section, we focus on some of the elements of the nature of
emotion. These deal with the dimensions, components, and categories (dis-
crete emotions) of emotion. Then, we briefly look at some of the functions of
emotions.
Dimensions of Emotion
A large body of research has focused on the dimensions of emotions in the

hope of identifying the underlying properties common to all emotions.
Although a number of dimensions have been proposed (e.g., Davitz, 1969),
most researchers agree at least on two major dimensions, namely those of
pleasure/displeasure and activation (see Niedenthal et al., 2006; Watson &
Tellegen, 1985). The pleasure/displeasure dimension refers to the valence of
the emotion. It can vary from highly negative to highly positive. Feldman
Barrett (2006) has posited that valence (pleasure/displeasure) represents
“a basic block of emotional life.” According to her, affective responding to
the environment reflects a core affect, characterized as pleasant or unpleas-
ant, and is experienced as a neurophysiological state that is available to
Pa s s i o n a n d Emo t i o n s ( 157 )
consciousness. Much theorizing and research suggest that valence is indeed a

major dimension of emotion, and several researchers have conducted research
simply by distinguishing between “positive” and “negative” emotions—and
for good reason, as research reveals that these two broad types of emotions
do predict different types of effects.
Activation, on the other hand, refers to the level of emotional arousal that
takes place during the experience of the emotion. It can vary from low (e.g.,
sleep) to high (tension). Theorists and researchers favoring a two-dimensional
approach propose the existence of quadrants resulting from a 2 (high-low
pleasure) X 2 (high-low activation) design. Presumably, all emotions can be
placed in one of these four quadrants (e.g., Watson & Tellegen, 1985). For
instance, interest can be seen as being high on the dimension of pleasure and
low to moderate on the dimension of activation, while anger is low on the
dimension of pleasure and high on the dimension of activation. Although
more complex models have been proposed (e.g., Russell, 1980), it can be said
that the two-dimension model is probably the one that has garnered the
most support at this point.
Components of Emotion
Over the years, it has been proposed by many theorists (see Strongman,
1978) that emotion is composed of three main elements. The first refers to
the physiological changes that occur during emotion. These include changes
in the autonomic system, such as increases in heart rate, blood pressure, skin
response, and facial changes. Because passionate people are highly involved
in their activity, they should experience high levels of emotions that may
be perceived by other people such as “animated facial expressions,” “ener-
getic body movements,” and “talking with a varied tone.” Thus, as seen in
Chapter 6, looking at the person’s affective display may provide important
clues that help one determine if someone is passionate or not (see also Chen
et al., 2009). A second component of emotion refers to action tendencies.
According to several theorists (e.g., Arnold & Gasson, 1954; Frijda, 1986),
action tendencies represent the core element specific to each emotion. Such
tendencies may be toward or away from the object and from high versus low
intensity (see Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2010). For instance, both fear and
enthusiasm are high in intensity but opposite in direction (away vs. toward
the object). A third and final component of emotion deals with its subjec-
tive experience. This refers to what the individual experiences during the
emotional episode. The subjective component is probably the one studied the
most in research. In fact, some theorists (e.g., Leventhal, 1974) propose that
it represents the most fundamental aspect of human emotion. It is similar to
Feldman Barrett’s concept of core affect.
It should be noted that the three components of emotions do not always

cohere. Perhaps for this reason, researchers have focused on one dimen-
sion exclusively. Because of methodological heritage, most studies on emo-
tions from a personality/social psychological perspective have made use of
self-reports of the subjective experience of emotion. One of the most popular
is the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, &
Tellegen, 1988). The PANAS assesses positive and negative affect with 10
items each. The scale assesses the extent to which the person has experi-
enced various positive (e.g., interested, inspired, attentive) and negative
(e.g., nervous, afraid, ashamed) emotions using a 5-point scale frequency
scale (from “very slightly or not at all” to “Extremely”), using a variety of
possible time frames that can vary from “the present moment” to “over the
past week” to “over the past year” to “generally,” and other possibilities (see
Watson et al., 1988).
Discrete Emotions
Many theorists (e.g., Ekman & Friesen, 1971; Izard, 1977; Tomkins,
1962) believe that the richness of emotional life cannot be subsumed under
a finite number of dimensions. Rather, these researchers propose that there
are a number of primary discrete emotions and that these vary in important
ways that cannot be explained by the underlying dimensions of pleasure and
activation, for instance. Thus, to be angry is intrinsically different from expe-
riencing fear. Both emotions involve high levels of activation and displea-
sure, and yet they are experienced very differently. Several theorists (e.g.,
Arnold, 1960; Lazarus, 1991; Scherer, 1984; Smith & Lazarus, 1990) posit
that these emotions are triggered by different appraisals of the situation,
thereby leading to different emotional experiences. Research suggests that
at least six basic (discrete) emotions have been uncovered. These are anger,
disgust/contempt, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise (Ekman & Friesen,
1971). Izard (1977) adds interest to the list. Finally, it should be underscored
that the existence of all of these emotions, except interest, has been sup-
ported in various cultures (see Ekman & Friesen, 1971; see also Ekman &
Davidson, 1994), thereby providing some support for the innate basis for
these emotions.
Some authors have suggested that self-related affects, emotions that per-
tain specifically to the self, such as pride, guilt, and shame, deserve special
attention because they have important personal and interpersonal implica-
tions (see Tracy, Robins, & Tangney, 2007). While such emotions are dis-
crete, they are not basic as such because they reflect the outcome of several
appraisal processes (see Weiner, 1985). For example, according to Weiner,
following an event, people make a first appraisal that leads to a perception
of success or failure and the emotion of joy or sadness. Then a secondary

appraisal (or attribution) is made to understand why success or failure took
place. The self-related affect of pride can be seen as resulting from the second-
ary appraisal (or causal attribution) of personal responsibility (internal and
controllable attribution) for success. Similarly, guilt follows from an internal
and controllable attribution to explain a negative event. Of importance is
the fact that self-related affects serve important self-regulatory functions,
as will be seen below).
The Functions of Emotions
Different perspectives have been posited regarding the functions of emo-

tions (see Keltner & Gross, 1999). Some authors have suggested that emo-
tions are to be avoided because they disrupt reason and lead to dysfunctional
behavior (e.g., Claparède, 1928; Hebb, 1949). This position takes roots in the
rational perspective espoused by early philosophers, as discussed in Chapter
2. However, this perspective has been criticized by several authors, including
Leeper (1948), who suggested that “the whole framework of the discussion
of emotion as disorganizing has been absurdly inadequate” (p. 16). In fact,
Leeper suggested that emotions can serve some functions, including that of
being motivational. Thus, a second and highly popular perspective these days
in psychology (and especially positive psychology) is that emotion is func-
tional and may serve different purposes, depending on the type of emotion
at play (e.g., Plutchik, 2002; Smith & Lazarus, 1993). For instance, fear serves
the purpose of allowing us to survive in a dangerous situation, anger serves
the purpose of restoring injustice, and so on. Finally, a third position is that
emotion used to be functional some time ago in our phylogenetic past but
that today it is neither functional nor dysfunctional. Thus, facial expressions
that were useful millennia ago to scare people away may not be functional
anymore.
Although the functional perspective has typically focused on negative
affect (e.g., Lazarus, 1991), theorists have recently put more emphasis on the
function of positive emotions. Perhaps the most vocal contemporary propo-
nent of the adaptive function of positive emotions is Barbara Fredrickson
(2001, 2009). Fredrickson has proposed her Broaden-and-Build Theory of
Positive Emotions. This model posits that positive emotions (especially,
joy, interest, contentment, and love) serve to broaden the momentary
thought–action repertoire. Thus, when experiencing positive emotional
states, people will broaden their scope of attention and will show an
expanded use of information at their disposal (e.g., Fredrickson & Branigan,
2005; Johnson, Waugh, & Fredrickson, 2010). For example, when experienc-
ing positive emotions, individuals will show higher levels of creativity by
making more adaptive use of elements at their current disposal (e.g., Isen,
1987). Of importance, Fredrickson posits that such momentary improve-
ment in one’s attention leads to a more permanent building of physical and
psychological skills and tools that can be made available in the future when
needed. Thus, positive emotions lead to both the broadening of attentional
resources and the building of resources. Positive emotions thus can contrib-
ute to psychological growth!
In addition to contributing to one’s psychological growth, another func-
tion of positive emotions refers to what Fredrickson calls the “undo” effect.
The undo effect takes place when positive emotions can undo the negative
effects of negative emotions. This is especially the case as pertains to the
negative physiological effects of negative emotions. It is hypothesized that
experiencing positive emotions allows one to restore one’s physiological
equilibrium quicker following the experience of highly negative emotions
such as fear. For instance, Fredrickson, Mancuso, Branigan, and Tugade
(2000) have experimentally shown that positive emotions allow participants
who experienced a stressor to recuperate physiologically much quicker than
those in a control group. In another study, Fredrickson, Tugade, Waugh, and
Larkin (2003) showed that resilient people experienced more positive emo-
tions, even after a negative event such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attack. Further, it is these positive emotions that allowed resilient people to
rebound from negativity.
Self-related affects also play an important function in our behavior.
These emotions serve a self-regulatory function by providing some feed-
back regarding how successful people are at controlling immediate desires or
impulses (Tracy, Robbins, & Tangney, 2007). Guilt, for instance, may be seen
as self-punishment for having transgressed some moral barriers or having
given in to temptation. In some ways, experiencing guilt may undo the posi-
tive experience of having engaged in a pleasant activity (Hofmann, Kotabe, &
Luhmann, 2013). Conversely, pride serves as a reward function for having
behaved appropriately.
So far, the functions of emotions that we have discussed pertain mainly
to intrapersonal outcomes. However, such functions need not limit them-
selves to the individual. Emotions may also serve some social functions
(Frijda & Mesquita, 1994). Indeed, much research reveals that emotions
serve to communicate with others. For instance, emotional behavior seen at
sporting events, such as smiling, slapping hands (giving “high fives”), and
talking loudly to others, conveys that one is experiencing intense positive
emotions such as happiness and is willing to share his or her joy with others.
Such emotions are likely to lead to more positive interactions with others,
both at the dyadic (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006) and the group level (Haidt,
2003). In contrast, blushing is a manifestation of being shy and may be pro-
voked by the acknowledgment of the superiority of another person (Frijda &
Mesquita, 1994). Shyness may also lead others to feel uncomfortable, espe-
cially in cultures in which social status differences are undesirable. From a
self-related perspective, guilt may lead one to engage in reparatory behavior,
while anger may lead one to restore justice, sometimes through aggressive
acts. We will return to the social functions of emotions in Chapter 10 on
relationships.
In sum, we have seen that emotions are made up of dimensions (i.e.,
valence, activation) and components (physiological manifestations, action
tendencies, and subjective experience), can be seen as discrete (e.g., fear, hap-
piness), and can serve some functions (e.g. self-regulation).
PASSION AS DIFFERENT FROM EMOTIONS
We have seen in Chapter 2 that over the centuries, some links have been pro-
posed between the concepts of passion and emotions. In some cases, the term
“passions” was used to refer to “emotions” (see Solomon, 2000, for more on
this issue). It was with Emmanuel Kant that a clear distinction between the
two constructs was first proposed. Among other things, Kant underscored
the fact that emotion is short-lived, “tumultuous” (high intensity), affective
in nature, and reactive to a specific stimulus, while passion is long lasting
(sometimes for a lifetime, see Mullen, Davis, & Polatajko, 2012), reasoned,
entailing a desire for the object (thus, motivational), and active in nature, in
that it can be initiated by the person in the absence of an event or stimulus
involving a specific object of one’s passion. Later, Ribot (1907) and Joussain
(1928) further elaborated on Kant’s perspective. Joussain’s suggestion that
“[e]‌motion is only a temporary state of mind; passion is a way of life” is illus-
trative of the distinction between the two concepts.
Recently, Vallerand, St-Louis, and Lafrenière (2014) provided a test of the
above reasoning with a large group (n = 400) of young adults who regularly
engage in sports. Participants were asked to complete the Passion Scale as
well as the PANAS Scale to assess positive and negative emotions gener-
ally experienced during activity engagement. The first hypothesis that was
tested was whether passion and emotions are indeed independent constructs
as hypothesized. Vallerand et al. conducted a confirmatory factor analysis
postulating the presence of four factors. If passion and emotions are inde-
pendent, one should obtain four factors reflecting the presence of the four
constructs of harmonious and obsessive passions and positive and nega-
tive emotions. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis indeed pro-
vided support for a model reflecting the relative independence of the four
constructs. These results appear in Table 7.1. These findings provide strong
support for the hypothesis to the effect that passion and emotions are not
synonymous but represent different constructs.
Table 7.1. TA BLE OF T HE FAC TOR LOA DINGS OF T HE CONFIR M ATORY

FAC TOR A NA LYSIS W I T H FOUR FAC TOR S SOLU T ION
(T HE T WO T Y PES OF PA SSION A ND T HE T WO T Y PES OF EMOT IONS)
Items HP OP Positive Negative

Emotions Emotions
HP1 .63
HP2 .70
HP3 .70
HP4 .72
HP5 .73
HP6 .75
OP1 .74
OP2 .76
OP3 .76
OP4 .74
OP5 .75
OP6 .83
PE1 .70
PE2 .79
PE3 .74
PE4 .56
PE5 .79
NE1 .86
NE2 .63
NE3 .71
NE4 .82
NE5 .53
Goodness of fit: Chi = 3565; df = 231; CFI = .90; RMSEA = .07 (.06 –.07).

Chi = chi square; df = degrees of freedom; CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = Root Mean Square
Error of Approximation (and 90% confidence interval).
HP = harmonious passion; OP = obsessive passion; PE = positive emotions; NE = negative emotions.
In light of the above, it appears that passion and emotions are indeed
different constructs. So, why have they been so closely perceived over the
centuries? One reason may have to do with the fact that when passionate
about an activity or object, people experience high levels of affect. Given that
people highly value the activity that they are passionate about and that task
valuation increases affect intensity (Brown & Weiner, 1984), it follows that
being passionate for an activity should increase the affect experienced when
engaging in the passionate activity. Thus, passion and emotional intensity
should be positively correlated. The more passionate a person is toward a

given activity or object, the more intense the emotions that he or she will
experience with respect to the passionate activity—and that will be dis-
played to others. Thus, when passionately engaged in an activity, people will
display emotions. For instance, when people are walking in the street during
a protest, and protesters and the police exchange blows, observers might say
that “passions are flaring up.” In reality, passions don’t flare up. What hap-
pens is that people who are passionate about a cause become emotional, and
emotions (anger, for example) may lead people to explode and to hit mem-
bers opposed to their cause (e.g., the police). No wonder that people have
used the two terms interchangeably!
In line with the DMP, passion and emotion can be distinguished from
each other on both conceptual and empirical grounds. Further, passion can
be seen as a determinant of emotions, as it serves as an amplifier of emo-
tions. Below, we look more closely at the role of passion in the positive and
negative emotions that will be experienced in a number of contexts.
PASSION AND AFFECT IN CONTEXT
As seen above, there is evidence to the effect that passion amplifies emo-
tions. However, the DMP also posits that the affect experienced should differ
as a function of the type of passion at play and the context within which the
affect is experienced. Specifically, with harmonious passion, people volition-
ally engage in the passionate activity with an openness and a mindfulness
that allow them to fully partake in the activity, and that facilitate positive
affective experiences (Hodgins & Knee, 2002) during task engagement (e.g.,
positive affect). In addition, the lack of conflict with other life activities that
harmonious passion entails should maximize the duration of the positive
affect experienced during activity engagement and should lead one to experi-
ence positive affect long after task engagement. Furthermore, because task
engagement is volitional, one is unlikely to experience high negative affect
when unable to engage in the passionate activity (such as feelings of depen-
dence). Finally, because with harmonious passion one’s self-esteem is not on
the line, success should be experienced positively but not extremely so, and
people should not be devastated emotionally by a poor performance in the
passionate activity.
Conversely, with obsessive passion, one engages in the activity with a
defensive, rather than an open, orientation, preventing one from fully expe-
riencing the positive emotions that should be derived from engaging in one’s
favorite activity. Moreover, because engagement is often out of one’s control,
and may be performed at ill-advised times, some conflict may thus be experi-
enced with other life activities. Such conflict prevents one from fully enjoying
participation in the passionate activity, therefore leading one to experience

lower levels of positive affect and higher levels of negative affect following
task engagement (e.g., guilt, shame, anxiety). Furthermore, one is likely to
experience high levels of negative affect when prevented from engaging in
the passionate activity because engaging in the passionate activity out of
obsessive passion is experienced as an uncontrollable desire to partake in
the activity. Consequently, being prevented from engaging in the passionate
activity should lead to some sense of emotional suffering. Finally, because
with obsessive passion one’s self-esteem is contingent upon doing well (e.g.,
Mageau et al., 2011; Stenseng et al., 2012), it is expected that there should
be devastating emotional effects of failure and that success should lead to
extremely high levels of positive emotions.
Below, I review research that has tested these hypotheses in the following
contexts: during activity engagement, following activity engagement, when
prevented from engaging in the passionate activity, and following success
and failure.
Passion and Affect Experienced During Activity Engagement
A number of studies have looked at the relationship between passion and

affect experienced during task engagement. Most of these studies have used
the PANAS Scale. Other studies have used scales that assess enjoyment, or
scales that measure positive and negative affect and that were designed for
the purpose of the study. Research has taken place in a variety of fields, such
as sports and exercise, gaming (video and online interactive games), and
gambling, while other studies have been conducted with a large sample of
participants who engage in one of several types of activities. These studies
are reviewed below.
A series of three studies focused on the role of passion for sports and exer-
cise in affect during task engagement where affect was reported immediately
following engagement. A first study involved male and female competitive
high school basketball players (Vallerand et al., 2006, Study 2). Participants
were asked to complete the Passion Scale as well as the positive and nega-
tive affect subscales of the PANAS Scale, either in the gymnasium or in a
nearby classroom between scrimmages (or unofficial games) with respect
to how they were feeling during the scrimmage they had just been engaged
in. Results from partial correlations revealed that harmonious passion was
positively and significantly correlated with positive affect but unrelated
to negative affect. In contrast, obsessive passion was positively correlated
with negative affect but unrelated to positive affect. These findings were
completely replicated in studies with volleyball and basketball referees from
France who completed the PANAS Scale right after a game they had refereed
(Philippe, Vallerand, Andrianarisoa, & Brunel, 2009, Study 1) and with male
and female senior citizen exercisers asked to report their affect immediately
following an exercise bout (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008).
All other studies conducted under the present heading used a recall proce-
dure in which participants were asked to report how they generally feel when
engaged in their passionate activity. These studies were conducted in a vari-
ety of life domains and activities and used a number of different measures.
The most consistent pattern of findings was obtained in a series of four stud-
ies conducted by Philippe, Vallerand, Houlfort, Lavigne, and Donahue (2010)
on the role of passion in positive and negative emotions experienced while
engaged in the activity. Depending on the study, activity engagement took
place in a number of settings such as work, leisure activities, sports camps,
and study groups and always in the presence of others. The interpersonal
implications of these studies will be discussed more fully in Chapter 10 on
relationships. For now, the focus is on the role of passion in emotions. In
all studies, participants completed the Passion Scale. In Study 1, only posi-
tive affect was measured, while in the other three studies both positive and
negative affects were measured. Some studies used the PANAS Scale, while
other studies used other measures, such as that of Izard (1977) and Russell
(1980). Some studies assessed passion and emotions at the same point in
time, while others assessed passion at Time 1 and emotions subsequently at
Time 2, in some cases four months later. Path analyses were conducted in all
four studies. Because the studies yielded the exact same findings, they are
summarized here. First, in all four studies, only harmonious passion posi-
tively predicted positive emotions. Obsessive passion did not predict the lat-
ter. Second, obsessive passion positively predicted negative affect in all three
studies where it was assessed. So far, these findings perfectly replicate the
findings of previous studies reviewed above. However, an additional effect
was found: in all three studies where negative affect was assessed, harmoni-
ous passion was found to negatively predict it. In other terms, there was sup-
port for a buffer effect from harmonious passion against negative emotions.
The series of studies conducted by Philippe and colleagues suggests that
harmonious passion positively facilitates positive emotions but protects
against negative emotions while obsessive passion positively predicts nega-
tive affect and is unrelated to positive emotions. It should be noted that this
exact same pattern of findings had also been obtained in the Vallerand et al.
(2003, Study 1) initial study on passion and affect. However, other slightly
different patterns of findings have emerged. For instance, across a number
of other studies assessing how one generally feels when engaging in the pas-
sionate activity, harmonious passion has been consistently positively related
to positive emotions (Carbonneau, Vallerand, & Massicotte, 2010, Study 1;
Lafrenière et al., 2009; Lee, Back, Hodgins, & Lee, 2013; Mageau et al., 2005;
Parastatidou, Doganis, Theodorakis, & Vlachopoulos, 2012; Przybylski,
Weinstein, Ryan, & Rigby, 2009; Stoeber, Harvey, Ward, & Childs, 2011).
Conversely, obsessive passion has been unrelated to positive emotions in
all of these studies, except for one study on gaming, where it was found to
positively predict positive affect (Lafrenière et al., 2009) and another on gam-
bling, where obsessive passion negatively predicted enjoyment (Mageau et al.,
2005). On the other hand, obsessive passion was found to positively predict
negative emotions in all of the above studies, whereas harmonious passion
has found to be either negatively related (Carbonneau et al., 2010, Study
1; Young et al., 2014), unrelated (Lafrenière et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2013;
Stoeber et al., 2011), or even positively related to negative affect (Mageau et
al., 2005).
One of the potential reasons for these divergent findings may have to do
with the type of emotions assessed. In a study dealing with participants who
were passionate about one of a variety of activities, Lecoq and Rimé (2009,
Study 1) studied the role of passion in several positive and negative discrete
emotions. Results from partial correlations revealed that harmonious pas-
sion was positively and significantly correlated with the three positive emo-
tions (joy, happiness, and awe), unrelated to surprise, and negatively and
significantly related to disgust. On the other hand, obsessive passion was
positively and significantly related to only one positive emotion, awe, and
significantly and positively related to anxiety, fear, sadness, and shame but
unrelated to anger and disgust. These findings are important, as they show
that although the overall emotional tone is always more positive with har-
monious than obsessive passion, results may slightly change as a function of
the specific type of emotions assessed. These findings provide some support
for the theorists who favor a discrete emotion perspective, as each positive
and negative emotion may yield a slightly different relationship with the har-
monious and obsessive passions.
Research on the role of passion in affect has basically used a cross-sectional
design and has simply looked at the relationship between these two vari-
ables at one point in time. While some studies have used a time lag between
the assessment of passion and affect (see Philippe et al., 2010, Studies 3, 4;
Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008), the research reviewed so far has not looked
at changes over time in affect as a function of passion. One study that did is
that of Carbonneau and colleagues (2010, Study 2). In this study, the authors
asked men and women who regularly engage in yoga to complete the Passion
Scale at Time 1 and scales assessing the positive and negative emotions (the
PANAS Scale) and anxiety (as experienced while doing yoga) twice (at Times
1 and 2) over a three-month period. Then, using structural equation model-
ing, Carbonneau et al. were able to test whether passion leads to changes in
emotions over time. Controlling for the number of weekly hours and years
of involvement in yoga, the results revealed that harmonious passion pre-
dicted increases in positive emotions and decreases in negative emotions and
state anxiety over the three-month period. Obsessive passion only predicted
increases in negative emotions while doing yoga. Thus, the findings of the
prospective study perfectly replicated the findings of the series of studies by
Philippe et al. (2010).
Research so far, has only compared harmonious and obsessive passion.
One important question that remains is, does passion amplify emotions rela-
tive to non-passionate individuals? This hypothesis was tested in the study
described above by Vallerand, St-Louis, and Lafrenière (2014) with sport par-
ticipants. In line with the procedures outlined in Chapter 4, Vallerand and
colleagues divided participants into individuals who were non-passionate for
sports (those who scored below the midpoint of 4 on a 7-point scale) on the
mean of the passion criteria and those who were passionate (a mean average
of 4 and higher on the passion criteria items). Then, based on their z-scores
on the two passion subscales, those who were passionate were further sub-
divided into harmoniously and obsessively passionate groups. Vallerand and
colleagues (2104) compared the three groups on both positive and negative
emotions. The major hypotheses were that the harmonious passionate group
would experience higher positive affect than the non-passionate group and
that the obsessively passionate group would experience higher negative
affect than the non-passionate group.
Results from a multivariate analysis of variance provided support for the
hypotheses. As hypothesized, the harmoniously (M = 5.48 on a 7-point scale)
passionate groups experienced higher levels of positive emotions than the
non-passionate group (M = 4.20). Surprisingly, the obsessively passionate
group also reported higher positive affect than the non-passionate group
(M = 5.32). While the harmoniously passionate group reported experienc-
ing more positive affect than the obsessively passionate group, the difference
was not significant. Thus, both forms of passion were found to amplify posi-
tive emotions. The results with negative affect revealed that the obsessively
passionate group (M = 2.36) reported higher levels than the non-passionate
group (M = 2.01). The harmoniously passionate group (M = 1.96) scored
lower than the obsessively passionate group but did not differ from the
non-passionate group. Thus, these findings support the hypothesis from
the DMP to the effect that passion serves to amplify the affect experienced
during activity engagement, with harmonious passion contributing more to
positive affect and obsessive passion to negative affect.
Overall, the results of the various studies reviewed in this section on the
role of passion in the emotions experienced during activity engagement lead
to a number of conclusions. First, harmonious passion is clearly positively
associated with positive emotions (and enjoyment), while this seems to be
much less the case for obsessive passion. Overall, all correlations involving
harmonious passion and positive affect and/or enjoyment yielded a positive
relationship. Further, when groups were compared (Vallerand et al., 2014),
the harmoniously passionate group reported higher levels of positive affect

than the non-passionate and the obsessively-passionate groups. It should be
noted that a positive relationship between obsessive passion and positive
emotions was obtained in two of the studies, one in the context of gaming
where emotions were assessed with the short PANAS Scale (Lafrenière et al.,
2009), and one with enjoyment in the context of exercise (Parastatidou et al.,
2012). However, it should be noted that even in these two studies, these cor-
relations were much less positive than those involving harmonious passion.
Similarly, although the obsessively passionate group reported higher levels
of positive affect than the non-passionate group, the levels of positive affect
were somewhat lower than that of the harmoniously passionate group.
A second conclusion is that obsessive passion is clearly the main predic-
tor of negative emotions. Overall, all studies that measured negative affect
yielded a positive relationship with obsessive passion, while only one of
the correlations involving harmonious passion was positive. In addition,
when groups were compared (Vallerand et al., 2014), the obsessively pas-
sionate group was found to experience higher levels of negative affect than
the non-passionate group. A different pattern was obtained with harmoni-
ous passion. In fact, there was some important support for the buffering
effect of harmonious passion on negative emotions. Eight studies found
a significant negative correlation between harmonious passion and nega-
tive emotions. It should be underscored that one of these eight studies was
the prospective study on yoga of Carbonneau et al. (2010, Study 2) that
showed that over a period of three months, harmonious passion predicted
a decrease of negative emotions and state anxiety while doing yoga. Future
research using an experimental design is clearly needed in order to con-
firm the causal role of harmonious passion in preventing the experience of
negative emotions.
A third conclusion is that methodology matters with respect to the present
results. When comparing the different studies, variability in methodology
seems to explain some of the inconsistencies across studies. For instance, the
two positive correlations between obsessive passion and positive emotions
were obtained in studies using a recall methodology, where participants were
asked to remember how they typically feel when engaging in the passionate
activity (e.g., Lafrenière et al., 2009; Parastatidou et al., 2012). The same recall
methodology was used when the obsessively passionate group was compared
to the non-passionate group (Vallerand et al., 2014). Such a positive relation-
ship between positive affect and obsessive passion was not obtained in the
three studies using a “live” methodology, where participants were asked to
report their affect immediately after having performed the activity (e.g.,
Philippe et al., 2009, Study 1; Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al.,
2006, Study 2). The same applies for the potential buffer effect of harmo-
nious passion on negative emotions. The negative correlation disappears in
studies using the “live” methodology. Future research is needed to determine

whether the time lag between the experience of affect and its report acts as a
moderator of the buffering effect of harmonious passion on negative affect.
Another methodological issue that seems to matter with respect to the
pattern of findings is the affect measure employed. Indeed, while the har-
monious and obsessive passions are differentially related to emotions as
a function of emotional valence, discrete emotions also need to be taken
into account. Indeed, it was found that harmonious passion was negatively
related to some negative emotions but not to others, while obsessive passion
was positively related to some discrete positive emotions such as awe and
was unrelated to some discrete negative emotions like disgust (see Lecoq &
Rimé, 2009). Future research on the role of passion in discrete emotions
would thus appear to be in order.
A final conclusion is that it becomes impossible to make strong claims with
respect to the causal role of passions in the emotions experienced because
all studies used a correlational design. Although Carbonneau et al. (2010,
Study 2) used a prospective design to assess the role of passion in predicting
changes in emotions, only an experimental design would allow us to make a
definitive claim about causality. Future research using the methodology on
passion induction outlined in Chapter 4 is needed in this regard.
Passion and Affect Experienced Following Activity Engagement
Passion should also affect the emotions experienced after having engaged
in the activity that one is passionate about. A limited number of studies
have looked at this issue. In a study dealing with leisure activities, Stenseng,
Rise, and Kraft (2011) asked a large group of middle-aged adults to complete
the Passion Scale and scales assessing how they generally feel after having
engaged in the passionate activity using positive (e.g., happy, enthusiastic)
and negative affect (e.g., sad, worried) scales. Results from partial correla-
tions revealed that harmonious passion was positively related to positive
emotions and negatively related to negative emotions. On the other hand,
obsessive passion was unrelated to positive emotions but positively related to
negative emotions. Similar findings were also found in the study of Vallerand
et al. (2003, Study 1), except that the positive correlations between obsessive
passion and negative emotions only approached statistical significance.
In the final study, Mageau et al. (2005) assessed the relationship
between passion for gambling and emotions following gambling in general.
Participants completed the Passion Scale and scales measuring positive and
negative emotions and guilt, as experienced after having gambled. Results
from partial correlations revealed that harmonious passion was positively
and strongly related to positive affect, unrelated to negative affect, but
slightly positively related to guilt. In contrast, obsessive passion was slightly

positively related to positive affect as well as to both types of negative affect.
Results from the three studies that have assessed the relationship
between passion and emotions experienced after having engaged in the pas-
sionate activity are entirely consistent. All studies point to the same con-
clusion: while there might be some subtle differences, harmonious passion
leads to a more positive affective tone following activity engagement than
obsessive passion. It should be kept in mind that all studies used a “recall”
methodology. Thus, future research is necessary to replicate these findings
with a more “in situ” methodological approach where emotions are measured
immediately after activity engagement. Furthermore, the experimental
induction would be needed to test the causal effects of emotions experienced
following activity engagement.
Passion and Affect When Prevented From

Engaging in the Activity
Some studies have also assessed how people feel when they are prevented
from engaging in the activity they are passionate about. The DMP posits that
if you have a predominant harmonious passion for the activity, not engaging
in your activity should not affect you emotionally, as you can reorient your
energy toward other tasks. However, with obsessive passion, letting go is
more difficult, as it induces a rigid persistence in the activity. Consequently,
not being able to engage in the beloved activity should induce some emo-
tional suffering. A limited number of studies have looked at this issue. In
the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study, participants were also asked to
indicate the extent to which they typically experience negative emotions
when prevented from engaging in the passionate activity (e.g., “When I am
prevented from engaging in my activity, I feel tense”). Results from partial
correlations revealed that obsessive passion was positively associated with
negative emotions, while harmonious passion was not.
In the Stoeber et al. (2011) study mentioned above on gaming, partici-
pants also completed the PANAS Scale to assess positive and negative affect
when one is prevented from engaging in the passionate activity. Results
from partial correlations revealed that harmonious passion was unrelated to
both positive and negative affect. Obsessive passion was significantly related
to negative emotions but unrelated to positive emotions. Similarly, in the
Ratelle (2002) study on romantic relationships, in addition to completing the
Passion Scale, participants also indicated how they would feel if they would
not be able to see their partner. They completed the PANAS Scale and a scale
to assess guilt (Vallerand, Blais, Brière, & Pelletier, 1989). Results from par-
tial correlations revealed that harmonious passion was unrelated to positive
affect and negatively related to the negative emotions of guilt. In contrast,

obsessive passion was negatively related to positive affect but positively
related to guilt.
In a study on problem gambling, Ratelle, Vallerand, Mageau, Rousseau,
and Provencher (2004) asked casino gamblers to complete the Gambling
Passion Scale (Rousseau et al., 2002) and scales assessing positive emotions
and feelings of anxiety and guilt when prevented from gambling. Results
from partial correlations revealed that obsessive passion was positively
related to anxiety and guilt and negatively to positive emotions. Harmonious
passion was unrelated to all variables.
Other studies have measured craving, or the level of emotional suffer-
ing when people cannot engage in the passionate activity. For instance, in
the Stoeber et al. (2011) study, participants completed a modified version
of the Gambling Craving Scale (Young & Wohl, 2009) to assess craving for
their passionate activity (gaming). Interestingly, the results from partial
correlations revealed that both the obsessive and harmonious passions
were positively related to craving for one’s gaming, although the correlation
involving obsessive passion was higher than that of harmonious passion.
Similar findings were obtained in a study on passion for pornography and
craving for porn (Rosenberg & Kraus, 2014). Finally, in their study on gam-
ing, Lafrenière et al. (2009) asked participants to complete, in addition to the
Passion Scale, a measure of dependence to gaming (“Problematic Behavior”;
Tejeiro & Moran, 2002). For instance, an item is the following: “In general,
when I cannot play my preferred game, I get restless and/or irritable.” Results
showed that obsessive passion was strongly and positively related to this
measure. Harmonious passion was negatively related to it, but the correla-
tion was not statistically significant.
The overall findings on the relationship between passion and affect expe-
rienced when one is prevented from engaging in the passionate activity lead
to two conclusions. First, being prevented from engaging in the passionate
activity is not a pleasant situation if someone is passionate about the activ-
ity. The results with positive affect show that neither harmonious passion
nor obsessive passion is positively correlated with positive affect under such
circumstances. In all studies (Ratelle, 2002; Ratelle et al., 2004; Stoeber
et al., 2011), harmonious passion showed no significant correlation, while
obsessive passion was unrelated to positive affect in one case (Stoeber et al.,
2011) and negatively correlated in the other two cases where it was assessed
(Ratelle, 2002; Ratelle et al., 2004). This is particularly telling with respect to
harmonious passion. Indeed, it will be recalled that harmonious passion was
positively associated with positive affect both during and following activity
engagement in all studies. However, such is not the case when one is pre-
vented from engaging in the activity, as harmonious passion is unrelated to
positive affect in all studies under such conditions. Thus, being prevented
from engaging in the passionate activity is not a pleasant state of affairs (at
least not as pleasant as engaging in the passionate activity) for all passionate
individuals, including those with a harmonious passion.
Second, being prevented from engaging in the passionate activity leads
to some emotional suffering, especially if obsessive passion is involved. All
studies showed that obsessive passion was positively related to negative
emotions and/or craving for the activity. Such was rarely the case for har-
monious passion. When it was, harmonious passion was less related to crav-
ing than obsessive passion. Interestingly, in a study on gaming (Lafrenière
et al., 2009), a negative but non-significant correlation was obtained between
harmonious passion and a measure of craving. Future research is needed to
more clearly ascertain the role of harmonious passion in negative affect and
craving experienced when one is prevented from engaging in the passionate
activity.
The Role of Passion and Success/Failure in Affect
Much research in social psychology reveals that success and failure have
important effects on the emotions experienced by participants (e.g., Weiner,
1985). Typically, success increases positive emotions, while failure increases
negative affect. The DMP posits that the effects of success and failure on emo-
tions should be moderated by the type of passion that one holds for the activ-
ity. As seen previously, with obsessive passion, one engages in the activity
with a defensive, rather than an open, orientation, where one’s self-esteem is
contingent upon doing well (e.g., Mageau et al., 2011; Stenseng et al., 2012).
It is thus expected that with obsessive passion there should be devastating
effects of failure on emotions such that positive emotions will drop and neg-
ative emotions will rise significantly following failure. Similarly, because it
should provide one with a boost in self-esteem when obsessive passion is at
play, success should lead to high levels of positive emotions, and negative
affect should be relatively low. Conversely, with harmonious passion, one’s
self-esteem is not on the line. Thus, success and failure will affect emotions
to a reasonable degree with emotional experience remaining on an even keel.
A recent study conducted by Vallerand, Verner-Filion, Lafrenière, and
Bureau (2014, Study 1) tested the above hypotheses with soccer fans from
different countries who followed the most recent World Cup. The use of pas-
sionate fans is particularly interesting conceptually. Results reported so
far in this chapter have been obtained with participants who are actively
involved in activities such as playing sports, music, and so on. Would the
same results be obtained with individuals whose passion can be seen as expe-
rienced vicariously through others, as is the case for sport fans (Vallerand,
Ntoumanis et al., 2008)? The DMP posits that it should indeed be the case to
the extent that the activity (in this case, soccer) is internalized in the fans’
identity. Specifically, when sport fans are passionate about their favorite
team, the latter is internalized in their identity, allowing them to experi-
ence emotions as if they were actually playing themselves. As Vass (2003)
suggested, when sport fans cheer their team on, they also “cheer for self,”
because their favorite team is also part of their self. Their emotions should
then be affected to the same degree by their passion for their team as if they
were playing themselves.
Participants in the Vallerand et al. study completed the Passion Scale for
being a soccer fan of their team. Then, each day following a game in which
their favorite team had played, they completed an online follow-up question-
naire regarding this specific game. This questionnaire assessed the fans’ affec-
tive experiences following the victory or defeat of their team. Participants’
affect was measured using six-item subscales adapted from the PANAS Scale
to assess positive (e.g., “Following my favorite team’s game, I felt excited”)
and negative affect (e.g., “Following my favorite team’s game, I felt upset”).
Results from hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that fans expe-
rienced higher levels of positive affect following team victories than defeats.
This is hardly surprising. However, what was particularly interesting was
that the more the fans had a predominant obsessive passion for their soc-
cer team, the more they experienced negative affect following a loss of their
team. In other words, obsessive passion accentuated the negative effects of
failure on negative affect.
The above findings are important in that they provide support for the
expected interaction between passion and success/failure effects on emo-
tions. However, because success and failure were not experimentally manip-
ulated, the direction of causality among variables is not clear. In a second
study, Vallerand et al. (2014, Study 2) addressed this issue. University stu-
dents completed the Passion Scale for their studies and then were randomly
assigned to success and failure conditions on anagrams. The anagrams were
presented as valid predictors of people’s ability to complete their university
studies. Following the anagram test, participants completed the positive and
negative affect subscales of the PANAS Scale. Results from regression analy-
ses with the positive emotions as dependent variables revealed the presence
of main effect for harmonious passion. The higher one’s harmonious passion,
the more positive the emotions experienced. Results with the negative emo-
tions revealed that while obsessive passion led to higher levels of negative
affect overall, the effect of obsessive passion was especially important in the
failure condition. Thus, as predicted by the DMP, people with a predominant
obsessive passion do not react to success and failure in the same way as those
with a harmonious passion. Whereas harmonious passion simply leads to
higher positive affect overall, obsessive passion further increases the experi-
ence of negative effect following failure, compared to success.
In sum, the type of passion that one has for a given activity matters greatly
for how one will feel in a variety of contexts. Overall, harmonious passion is
seen as leading to a more positive emotional landscape, with higher levels
of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions, than obsessive
passions in a number of contexts. These findings are entirely consistent with
predictions from the DMP.
PASSION AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF AFFECT
So far in this chapter, we have looked at the relationship between passion

and positive and negative affect. That is, we have focused on the valence of
emotions (i.e., positive and negative emotions) and how these may be influ-
enced by the two types of passion. However, emotions also vary with respect
to other dimensions besides valence. Because the activity is so important
for those who are passionate about it, then emotions related to the self (e.g.,
pride, shame, guilt, etc.) and that of anxiety may be experienced and deserve
attention. Furthermore, research reviewed so far has focused on affect
mainly as experienced in relation to the activity, either during or right after
activity engagement, or again when prevented from engaging in the activ-
ity. What about affect as experienced in one’s life in general, irrespective of
activity engagement? Because of high activity valuation, affect experienced
as a function of involvement in the passionate activity may linger and influ-
ence affect in one’s life in general. Below, we pursue our analysis of the role of
passion in affect by focusing on these issues.
Self-Related Affect
Research reveals that obsessive passion rarely predicts positive affect. Only
harmonious passion clearly shows this pattern. However, shouldn’t one
expect obsessive passion to be conducive to some forms of positive affect,
at least at certain times or in certain situations? Given that the passion-
ate activity is internalized in one’s identity, it might be expected that affect
related to the self (e.g., proud, confident, competent, etc.) is positively related
to both obsessive and harmonious passion. Indeed, self-related affects may
be more likely to be experienced as a function of obsessive passion than gen-
eral positive affect because self-related affect is tied in with the person’s self
that is intimately connected with the activity. Harmonious passion, on the
other hand, should be positively related to both types of positive emotions.
We have tested this hypothesis in a study with collectors (Grenier et al.,
2014, Study 1). In this study, we asked long-term collectors to complete the
Passion Scale for collecting, as well as scales assessing positive self-related
affect (e.g., proud, valued), positive (non-self) affect (e.g., happy, joyful), and
negative affect typically experienced during a purchasing episode (e.g., anx-
ious). Results of partial correlations provided support for the hypotheses.
Specifically, controlling for harmonious passion, obsessive passion predicted
the experience of positive self-related affect but not general (non-self) posi-
tive affect. Conversely, controlling for obsessive passion, harmonious pas-
sion positively predicted the two different types of positive emotions, but
was unrelated to negative affect. Finally, as in past research, obsessive pas-
sion positively predicted negative affect.
In another study with soccer fans, Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. (2008,
Studies 2) have also tested some of these hypotheses. Specifically, Canadian
soccer fans of the two finalist countries (France and Italy) in the 2006 World
Cup Finals completed the Passion Scale and both general and positive emo-
tions experienced up to that point in the tournament. Results replicated
those of Grenier et al. (2014) obtained with collectors. Specifically, harmoni-
ous passion positively predicted both types of positive affect, while obsessive
passion correlated positively only with positive self-related affect.
In a third study, Grenier et al. (2014, Study 2) went further and hypoth-
esized that there might be some situations where obsessive passion leads to
the experience of both types of positive emotions (self- and non-self-related),
just like harmonious passion. One of these situations should be following an
important successful experience for collectors, such as acquiring an impor-
tant new piece for one’s collection. Indeed, such a successful experience
should represent a strong enough event to lead to the experience of both
types of positive affect in harmonious passion, for sure, but also in obsessive
passion. This is because conditions of high success such as this one should
lead to a sense of self-validation for those with a predominant obsessive
passion, which should facilitate the experience of self-related affect and the
concomitant general positive affect. Therefore, obsessive passion should then
lead to both types of positive affect, as well as to some negative affect (e.g.,
anxiety). However, harmonious passion, once again, should positively pre-
dict both types of positive affect but not negative affect. Grenier et al. (2014,
Study 2) had collectors recall how they typically feel after having acquired
an important piece for their collection. They assessed the two types of posi-
tive affect, as well as negative emotions. Results fully supported the above
hypotheses.
The results from the above research (Grenier et al., 2014, Studies 1, 2;
Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al., 2008, Study 2) are important because they
show that, in addition to negative affect, there are some types of positive
affective experiences (i.e., self-related affect) that can be derived from activ-
ity engagement fueled by obsessive passion. Furthermore, under certain sit-
uations (i.e., an important success), obsessive passion may also be conducive
to the same types of positive affect as harmonious passion. Future research
is needed in order to replicate these findings in a broader range of situations.

As an aside, the fact that passionate fans can react affectively in a manner
very similar to the players that they cheer for (Vallerand, Ntoumanis et al.,
2008) deserves future scientific scrutiny. For instance, it is obvious that fans
do not always experience the same emotions as the players (if they did, they
would never boo the players). So, the conditions under which fans experi-
ence similar versus dissimilar emotions relative to the players they cheer for
deserve attention, as research on this issue could lead to important insights
on the role of identity in the emotional functioning of highly involved (pas-
sionate) individuals.
Passion and Anxiety
We have seen in this chapter that the relationship between passion and emo-
tions overall is rather clear, with harmonious passion leading overall to a
more positive emotional tone than obsessive passion. One area, however,
where the relationship between passion and emotion is not as clear is that
involving anxiety and stress during activity engagement. Specifically, the
relationship between obsessive passion and anxiety and stress is either posi-
tive (Lecoq & Rimé, 2009, Study 1; Mageau et al., 2005; Philippe et al., 2009,
Study 2; Ratelle et al., 2004) or non-significant (Carbonneau et al., 2010,
Studies 1, 2; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). On the other hand, the relation-
ship between harmonious passion and stress and anxiety is either negative
(e.g., Carbonneau et al., 2010, Studies 1, 2; Philippe et al., 2009, Study 2),
non-significant (Lecoq & Rimé, 2009, Study 1; Ratelle et al., 2004; Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 1), or even positive (Mageau et al., 2005). Why were these
different findings obtained?
Passion and Coping
One explanation for these equivocal findings may be that some intervening
psychological mechanisms are at play between passion and the experience
of stress and anxiety. That is, the relationship between passion and anxiety
may be mediated by some psychological processes that differ as a function of
the type of passion. Thus, while some processes may facilitate anxiety, oth-
ers may protect against it, and how the two types of passion relate to these
different processes will determine the passion-anxiety relationship. Coping
represents one set of psychological processes that has been found to predict
anxiety. Coping is defined by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) as the “constantly
changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific internal and/
or external demands that are appraised as exceeding the resources of the
person” (p. 141). Many studies have confirmed the existence of a relationship
between coping strategies and anxiety in various life domains, such as edu-
cation, sports, relationships, and so on (e.g., Anshel, Williams, & Williams,
2000; Folkman, Lazarus, Gruen, & DeLongis, 1986; Folkman, Lazarus,
Dunkel-Schetter, DeLongis, & Gruen, 1986; Gaudreau & Blondin, 2004;
Ntoumanis & Biddle, 2000). Individuals can employ a variety of coping strat-
egies to deal with stress and anxiety (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman,
Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001; Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003).
According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), there are two key dimensions to
coping: (1) emotion-focused coping, which refers to efforts meant to lessen
emotional distress or regulate emotional arousal that are not intended to
change the nature of the situation; and (2) problem-focused coping, which
refers to cognitive and behavioral efforts designed to identify and solve prob-
lems; focusing on the task at hand represents one type of problem-focused
coping. Typically, problem-focused coping has been found to be more adap-
tive than emotion-focused coping, although there have been exceptions
(Schwarzer & Schwarzer, 1996). Other authors have also suggested that a
third coping dimension is that of disengagement (or avoidance) from the
situation (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Although disengaging from a
goal may be at times adaptive (e.g., Wrosch, Scheier, Carver, & Schulz, 2003),
it has been typically seen as less adaptive, as it impedes active forms of cop-
ing (Carver & Scheier, 2003).
Coping strategies may explain the equivocal relationship between passion
and anxiety. To the extent that passion is conducive to adaptive coping, then
the relationship with anxiety should be low. However, if passion leads to the
use of maladaptive forms of coping, then a high relationship may take place
between passion and anxiety. The type of coping strategies adopted should
differ as a function of the type of passion. More specifically, individuals with
an obsessive passion should be less likely to use appropriate coping strategies
because their passion is connected with the ego-invested self and leads to less
adaptive forms of self-processes. Further, the experience of negative emo-
tions and ruminations about their performance long after activity engage-
ment suggests that they may engage in emotion-focused coping to a large
extent to reduce the negative affect. On the other hand, with harmonious
passion there is a connection with the integrated self that opens up the door
to adaptive self-processes, including the use of effective coping strategies.
In a study on passion and coping, Schellenberg, Gaudreau, and Crocker
(2013) tested the above hypotheses in a short longitudinal study. Participants
were a large number of male and female collegiate volleyball players from 35
teams. Participants completed the Passion Scale at Time 1 and the Coping
Inventory for Competitive Sport (Gaudreau & Blondin, 2002) at Time 2, three
months later. This latter scale assesses two broad coping tendencies, namely
task-oriented coping and disengagement-oriented coping. These two coping
strategies reflect adaptive and maladaptive coping orientations, respectively.
Results from structural equation modeling analyses revealed that harmo-

nious passion positively predicted task-oriented coping, while obsessive
passion positively predicted disengagement-oriented coping, three months
later. Although obsessive passion also positively predicted task-oriented cop-
ing and harmonious passion negatively predicted disengagement-oriented
coping, these two links were weak and statistically non-significant.
In another study on passion and coping with hockey fans during the
2012–2013 National Hockey League lockout where the league stopped all
activities, Schellenberg, Bailis, and Crocker (2013) found that obsessive pas-
sion was positively related to disengagement-oriented coping, while harmo-
nious passion was unrelated to it. Such a pattern of coping may explain why
fans with an obsessive passion did not monitor the progression of the lock-
out, while those with a harmonious passion did! Of interest, obsessive pas-
sion was also positively related to using substances like alcohol and drugs to
deal with the anxiety of not being able to follow hockey during the lockout.
Such was not the case for harmonious passion. Overall, these two studies
reveal that obsessive passion promotes a less adaptive coping pattern than
harmonious passion.
Passion, Coping, and Anxiety
The above study by Schellenberg and colleagues provides support for the dif-
ferential links between the two types of passion and adaptive and maladap-
tive coping. However, this study did not assess anxiety. Thus, the following
question remains, does coping mediate the passion-anxiety relationship?
Verner-Filion, Vallerand, et al. (in press) conducted two studies to provide an
answer to this question. In line with the findings of the Schellenberg et al.
study, it was proposed that harmonious passion would facilitate the use of
more adaptive coping strategies (i.e., problem-focused coping), which should
prevent the experience of anxiety. In contrast, obsessive passion should dis-
play a less adaptive coping pattern (i.e., emotion-focused and avoidance cop-
ing), which should facilitate the experience of anxiety.
Because the two studies yielded similar findings, I focus here on Study
2. In this study, Verner-Filion, Vallerand, et al. (in press) asked athletes from
Canada and the United States to complete an online survey. Participants
completed the Passion Scale for their respective sport as well as the
Coping Function Questionnaire (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001) that assesses
problem-focused coping (“I tried to find a way to change the situation”),
emotion-focused coping (“I worked through my emotions in order to feel
better”), and avoidance coping (“I tried to get out of the situation to get away
from the stress”). Finally, athletes were asked to complete the Competitive
State Anxiety Inventory-2 (Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990) regarding how
they typically feel just before an event. Results from structural equation
Problem-
Focused
Coping
.288*
Harmonious
Passion –.254*
Emotion-
Cognitive
Focused
Anxiety
Coping
Obsessive
–.221† .195*
Passion
.280*
Avoidance
Coping
Figure 7.1:
Final model of the relationships involving passion, coping strategies, and cognitive
anxiety. Note: **p<.01; *p<.05; †p<.08
Adapted from Verner-Filion & Vallerand (in press, Study 2).
modeling provided support for the hypotheses. Specifically, harmonious

passion positively predicted problem-focused coping, whereas obsessive pas-
sion positively predicted the use of avoidance coping. In addition, harmoni-
ous passion negatively predicted avoidance coping. While problem-focused
coping negatively predicted anxiety, avoidance coping positively predicted
it. Emotion-focused coping was unrelated to anxiety. In sum, these findings
provide strong support for the role of coping processes as mediators of the
passion-anxiety relationship. These findings appear in Figure 7.1.
Positive and Negative Affect in One’s Life in General
One interesting question with respect to affect is, if passion contributes

to situational affective experiences following task engagement, can it also
influence one’s general affect in life (i.e., outside the purview of the passion-
ate activity)? Indeed, it may be hypothesized that because the passionate
activity is highly valued, affect experienced as a function of engagement
in this activity could linger over time and spill over in one’s life in general.
A series of studies have looked at this issue. The first three studies share the
same methodology. In the first one (Stoeber et al., 2011), participants who
regularly engage in online role-playing games completed the Passion Scale
for such games as well as short forms of the PANAS Scale regarding how they
generally feel in life in general (outside the passionate activity). Results from
partial correlations revealed that harmonious passion was positively related
to positive affect, while obsessive passion was unrelated to it. In contrast,
obsessive passion positively predicted negative affect, while harmonious
passion was unrelated to it. Interestingly, these results replicate perfectly
the results typically found with respect to affect experienced during and fol-
lowing task engagement.
In a second study, the same procedures were used, this time with junior
elite athletes from Sweden (Gustafsson et al., 2011). Results from partial
correlations revealed that harmonious passion positively predicted positive
affect, while obsessive passion was unrelated to it. The results with negative
affect were somewhat different this time. While obsessive passion positively
predicted negative affect, harmonious passion was negatively related to it.
Finally, in the last study (Sheard & Golby, 2009), rubgy players, includ-
ing some professional players, were asked to complete the Passion Scale and
the full PANAS Scale while thinking how they have experienced these emo-
tions in life in general over the past week. Controlling for the play level of
the athlete, results from multiple regression analyses revealed that harmo-
nious passion positively predicted positive affect, but so did obsessive pas-
sion, although the relationship was weaker than that involving harmonious
passion. With respect to negative affect, only harmonious passion was found
to be significant and a negative predictor. While obsessive passion yielded a
positive relationship, it was not significant.
The above three studies yield a picture that is very much in line with pre-
dictions from the DMP. Indeed, although there were some nuances, overall
the emotional landscape with harmonious passion was much more positive
than that with obsessive passion. So, it would appear that harmonious pas-
sion can contribute to affect in one’s life in general, beyond what is experi-
enced during activity involvement. However, it should be kept in mind that
these studies showed some methodological limitations. For instance, because
of the correlational design used, it is not clear if passion leads to changes in
general affect. Longitudinal and especially experimental studies are clearly
needed to address the issue. In addition, the issue of recall of affect is an
important one. It is possible that people have different frames of reference
when asked to report their general affect as experienced over the past week
(Sheard & Golby, 2009) versus simply in life in general. In order to have a
more accurate reflection of affect in one’s life in general, what is needed is to
follow people over time and to ask them to report affect each day over a num-
ber of days. It would then become possible to determine if having engaged
in one’s passionate activity on a given day can subsequently influence one’s

general affect later that day.
This is exactly what Mageau and Vallerand (2007) did. They conducted a
diary study in which they followed university students for 14 days. On Day 1,
participants completed the Passion Scale with respect to their favorite activ-
ity as well as the short version of the positive affect subscale of the PANAS
Scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Then, for the next 13 days, each
night before going to bed, participants indicated if they had engaged or not
in their passionate activity on that day and responded to the positive affect
scale. Results from HLM analyses yielded two findings of importance. First,
on days when participants engaged in their passionate activity, harmonious
passion increased general positive affect experienced at the end of the day
(controlling for baseline level, that is, Day 1 positive affect). In other words,
when one’s predominant passion is harmonious, engaging in the passionate
activity during the day leads one to feel more positive than usual (than base-
line level) later on that day. Obsessive passion leads to no such increase on
days when one engages in the activity. These findings are consistent with the
findings from the first two studies discussed above (Gustaffson et al., 2012;
Stoeber et al., 2011) where harmonious, but not obsessive, passion was found
to positively contribute to positive affect in one’s life in general.
The second finding of importance was the following: on days when partici-
pants did not engage in a passionate activity, obsessive (but not harmonious)
passion predicted a decrease in people’s positive affect relative to baseline
level. In other words, when prevented from engaging in their passionate
activity, people with a predominant obsessive passion experienced a drop in
positive affect relative to their usual level. This is in line with the findings
reported earlier that showed that when one is prevented from engaging in
the passionate activity, obsessive passion leads to some emotional suffer-
ing, as revealed by the positive correlations with negative affect (e.g., Ratelle
et al., 2004; Stoeber et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). These find-
ings were basically replicated in a diary study with women passionate about
physical exercise (Guérin, Fortier, & Williams, 2013).
The Mageau and Vallerand (2007) study revealed that the affective experi-
ences triggered by the passionate engagement in the activity linger at least to
the end of the day and generalize to one’s life in general. While informative,
this study lasted only 14 days. What about the long-term effects of passion
on both general positive and negative affect? A research study by Vallerand
et al. (2003, Study 2) attempted to provide an answer to this question. The
authors followed collegiate football players over the course of an entire foot-
ball season to determine if passionate engagement could predict changes in
positive and negative affect in life in general over the entire season. Thus,
the athletes completed the Passion Scale and the PANAS Scale at Time 1 at
the beginning of the season and assessed positive and negative affects again
right after the end of the season at Time 2. In addition, for control purposes,
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (i.e., external, introjected, and identified
regulation) for playing football was also assessed at Time 1. Results from
multiple regression analyses revealed that harmonious passion predicted an
increase in general positive affect, whereas obsessive passion predicted an
increase in general negative affect, in one’s life over the course of an entire
football season. Furthermore, harmonious passion did not predict negative
affect, and obsessive passion did not predict positive affect. Finally, these
findings were obtained while controlling for intrinsic and extrinsic motiva-
tion toward football.
The research reviewed in this section suggests two relatively firm conclu-
sions and two tentative ones. First, in all studies, harmonious passion for a
given activity facilitates the experience of positive affect in general in one’s
life. Although related, this represents a different type of outcome than posi-
tive affect experienced during or immediately after task engagement. This
means that engaging in one’s passionate activity out of harmonious pas-
sion positively contributes to feeling good in one’s life in general, and not
simply a couple of hours later. Quite a positive outcome! Second, it would
appear that having an obsessive passion for a given activity leads to experi-
encing negative affect in one’s life in general. Indeed, obsessive passion led
to negative affect in all studies except one, and there was a tendency toward
significance in this last study that may have been due to a low number of
participants (n = 78; Sheard & Golby, 2009). A third, more tentative, conclu-
sion is that obsessive passion seems to be unrelated to positive affect in life
in general. This pattern was obtained in three studies. However, one study
(Mageau & Vallerand, 2007) found that obsessive passion predicts a drop of
positive emotions (relative to baseline level) on days when participants could
not engage in the passionate activity, and another study found that obses-
sive passion positively predicted positive affect (Sheard & Golby, 2009). Thus,
future research is needed to clarify the issue. Finally, harmonious passion
may protect one against the experience of negative affect in general in one’s
life. This finding was obtained in two of the studies where negative affect was
assessed, while no relationship was found in the other studies. Therefore, the
data on the buffering effect of harmonious passion on general negative affect
remains inconclusive.
In sum, research reviewed in this section reveals that passion can contrib-
ute to different types of affect. Overall, harmonious passion was positively
related to positive self-related affect and positive affect in one’s life general,
but was negatively related or unrelated to anxiety. On the other hand, while
obsessive passion predicts increases in negative affect in one’s life over time,
it is also positively associated with positive self-related affect (e.g., pride) and
either positively related or unrelated to anxiety. Once more, the conflicted
nature of obsessive passion is at play.
PASSION AND AFFECTIVE FORECASTING
People often try to anticipate the emotional consequences of future events

(Wilson & Gilbert, 2003). And there is good reason to do this. By anticipating
what they derive from their actions, people can decide whether they will emit
the behavior or not. One would assume that people are pretty good at such
predictions. After all, people do experience various emotions each day and
thus should be able to predict how various events can influence them affec-
tively, right? Actually, scientific evidence reveals that it is just the opposite!
Research on affective forecasting (e.g., Wilson & Gilbert, 2003), or the action
of being able to predict how one will feel in a given situation, has generally
shown that people are poor at predicting the impact of future life events
(Gilbert, Pinel, Wilson, Blumberg, & Wheatley, 1998). More specifically, peo-
ple tend to overestimate the affective consequences of upcoming events. They
generally expect that future positive events will make them happier than
they really do, just as they expect that future negative events will make them
unhappier than they really do (Wilson & Gilbert, 2003). When predicting
future emotional states, people also tend to focus too much on the specific
event, while underestimating the influence of other future events that will
likely interfere with the focal event (Wilson, Wheatley, Meyers, Gilbert, &
Axsom, 2000).
Although more than a decade of research has been conducted on affective
forecasting, only a handful of studies have looked at how individual differ-
ences might influence people’s affective forecasting accuracy (for exceptions,
see Dunn et al., 2007; Hoerger et al., 2009; Buehler & McFarland, 2001). It is
posited that passion represents such a psychological factor. Indeed, if indi-
viduals are passionate toward an activity, the anticipation of an upcoming
event related to the passionate activity should influence their affective fore-
casts. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that passion influences affect,
both during and after activity engagement (Vallerand et al., 2003; Mageau
et al., 2005). Passion might therefore influence the affective forecasts associ-
ated with passion-related events.
However, affective forecasting may not only be affected by the presence
of passion, but also by the type of passion that is at play. Specifically, with
harmonious passion, the activity takes a significant, but not overpower-
ing, space in one’s identity and therefore one should display more openness
(Hodgins & Knee, 2002) and mindfulness (Brown & Ryan, 2003) toward an
upcoming event without having to feel defensive about it. It is thus hypoth-
esized that with harmonious passion, individuals should be able to make
more accurate affective forecasts regarding an upcoming passion-related
event. This, however, should not be the case with obsessive passion because
the passionate activity comes to take a disproportionate place in the indi-
vidual’s life. Furthermore, because obsessive passion is typically associated
with an ego-invested self that facilitates defensiveness, obsessive passion

should lead to the typical impact bias found in the affective forecasting lit-
erature, namely, the anticipation of inflated affect in both success and failure
situations.
In sum, based on the above, it would be expected that obsessive passion
would fall prey to the affective forecasting problems identified by Wilson and
Gilbert, whereas harmoniously passionate individuals should be able to make
more accurate affective forecasts regarding an upcoming passion-related
event. Verner-Filion, Lafrenière, and Vallerand (2012) conducted a study in
order to test this hypothesis. Participants were soccer fans who consented
to participate in a diary study for the duration of the 2010 World Cup soccer
tournament. Participants first completed the Passion Scale for being a fan of
their favorite soccer team in the tournament. Participants’ forecasted affect
was measured using two six-item subscales assessing positive and negative
forecasted affect adapted form Barrett and Russell (1998). Participants were
asked to predict how they would feel after a win, as well as after a defeat, of
their favorite team. Forecasted positive and negative affect was thus assessed
both in the event of a win and a defeat of their favorite team. Then, each day,
following a game in which their favorite team had played, fans received an
e-mail inviting them to complete an online follow-up questionnaire regard-
ing this specific game. Over the course of the diary study, participants were
asked to respond to follow-up questionnaires ranging from 1 to 7 occasions.
These questionnaires assessed fans’ actual affective experiences after the
game. Participants’ affect after their favorite teams’ game was measured
using the same six-item subscales as those used to assess forecasted affect,
that time adapted to assess experienced positive (e.g., “Following my favorite
team’s game, I felt excited”) and negative affect (e.g., “Following my favorite
team’s game, I felt upset”).
In order to assess affective forecasting accuracy, a difference score was
computed for both positive and negative affect by subtracting the forecasted
affective reaction from fans’ experienced affect following their favorite
team’s game (see, Sheldon, Gunz, Nichols, & Ferguson, 2010). Controlling for
the importance of being a soccer fan in their lives, results of hierarchical lin-
ear modeling (HLM) revealed that overall, participants overestimated their
forecasted positive affect to a greater extent when their favorite team won
the game. In addition, as expected, the results revealed that, overall, harmo-
nious passion moderated the relation between team performance and posi-
tive affective forecasting accuracy. Specifically, the higher the harmonious
passion, the more precise was the forecasted positive affect. Obsessive pas-
sion did not moderate the relation between team performance and positive
affective forecasting accuracy. The findings with negative affect were quite
similar. Specifically, overall, participants overestimated their forecasted
negative affect to a greater extent following a defeat from their favorite
team. Once more, harmonious passion moderated the relation between team
performance and negative affective forecasting accuracy, as their forecasted
negative affect was more precise. On the other hand, obsessive passion did
not moderate the relation between team performance and negative affective
forecasting accuracy.
In sum, as expected, the present findings suggest that harmonious pas-
sion leads people to be more accurate in both their positive and negative
affective forecasts. On the other hand, people with obsessive passion fall
prey to the typical affective forecasting problems that most people show,
namely the amplification of anticipated affective experience following suc-
cess and failure. Future research is needed to replicate the present findings
with respect to other types of passionate activities and situations.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have seen that passion plays an important role in

affect. It was seen that overall harmonious passion leads to a more positive
affective tone (higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative
affect) than obsessive passion. Such a pattern was obtained in different
contexts, such as during and after activity engagement, when prevented
from engaging in the passionate activity, and following both success and
failure in the passionate activity. Both forms of passion were also found
to play a role in the experience of different types of emotions, such as
self-related affects (e.g., pride) and anxiety. With respect to anxiety,
research showed that adaptive and maladaptive forms of coping mediate
the relationship between passion and anxiety, and that the quality of cop-
ing processes involved varies as a function of the type of passion. Finally,
the role of passion in affective forecasting (or attempting to predict how
one will feel following a given event) was addressed. Research reveals that
harmonious passion prevents the typical amplification bias in which peo-
ple overestimate the affective impact of an event, while obsessive passion
does not provide protection against it.
w
C H A P T ER 8
Passion and Psychological Well-Being
O ver the years, much research and theorizing has focused on psycho-
logical well-being—and for good reason: happy people experience a
number of benefits ranging from physical health to better relationships to
high-level performance and much more (e.g., Huppert, 2009; Lyubomirsky,
King, & Diener, 2005). But what is psychological well-being? People have
suggested that it is a number of things, such as happiness, life satisfac-
tion, meaning in life, and other similar concepts. Are these definitions
all equivalent representations of psychological well-being? And what do
well-adjusted people do that makes them happy? In other words, what are
the determinants of psychological well-being? While several determinants
of well-being, ranging from the biological to the cultural (see Huppert,
2009), have been identified, I suggest that one important determinant of
psychological well-being is one’s passion for a significant and meaningful
activity. Indeed, it would appear that having a passion for an activity that
one loves dearly and engages in on a regular basis should help contribute to
one’s psychological well-being.
In this chapter, I first address the nature of psychological well-being. Two
types of well-being, namely hedonic and eudaemonic well-being, are dis-
tinguished. Then, in the next section, I present the conceptual perspective
of the DMP as it pertains to the role of passion in psychological well-being.
Next, research on passion and well-being is reviewed, including research on
the passion–psychological well-being relationship, as well as evidence on the
moderating role of the situation in such a relationship. The following sec-
tions review research on the psychological processes that mediate the effects
of passion on psychological well-being and ill-being, respectively. Finally, the
chapter addresses the potential role of passion in different types of activities
and their conjoint effects on well-being.
( 186 )
Pa s s i o n a n d P s y c h o l o g i c a l W e l l - B e i n g ( 187 )
ON THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Psychological Well-Being Is More Than the Absence of Ill-Being
What is psychological well-being? Is it the absence of ill-being, or is it some-

thing more? Most psychologists, especially those involved in positive psy-
chology, posit that psychological well-being is more than the absence of
ill-being. Indeed, just as not being poor is not tantamount to being rich, not
experiencing any psychological problems is not equivalent to well-being
(Huppert, 2009; Seligman, 2011). Figure 8.1 illustrates this issue.
Psychological well-being at the far right (+10) is much more than the
absence of psychological ill-being (0). To fully experience self-growth, one
needs to move toward the far right of the continuum, fully into psychologi-
cal well-being (+10). Thus, our task, as scientists interested in self-growth,
is to identify the factors that will not only prevent people from experienc-
ing ill-being but that will promote well-being. As we will see below, passion
(especially harmonious passion) represents such a factor.
What Is Psychological Well-Being?
What is the good life? How can people’s lives be most worth living? For cen-
turies, philosophers have pondered these questions, with two positions
emerging (see Ryan & Deci, 2001; Waterman, 2013). The first approach,
called hedonia, suggests that the good life entails experiencing positive affect
in and of itself. Pleasure, irrespective of its cause, is to be sought as the pri-
mary goal of existence. The predominant view among hedonic adherents is
that well-being consists of subjective happiness. As such, experiencing posi-
tive affective states is a central component of hedonic well-being (Kahneman,
Diener, & Schwarz, 1999). Thus, hedonic well-being has been operationalized
in various ways, including the balance between positive affect and negative
affect, and even the sole presence of positive affect (e.g., Nix, Ryan, Manly, &
Deci, 1999; Waterman, 1993; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Other
researchers have equated hedonic well-being with subjective well-being,
–10 0 +10
Psychological Absence of Psychological Psychological
Ill- Being Problems Well-Being
Figure 8.1:
The Continuum of Psychological Ill-Being vs Well-Being.
as operationalized by the total sum of the global satisfaction with one’s life and
the presence of positive mood and the absence of negative mood (Diener, 2000).
The second position posits that the good life is one wherein the focus
is on self-realization, self-growth, and reaching one’s potential. This posi-
tion is called eudaemonia and posits that one’s happiness is to be found
in trying to reach one’s personal fulfillment in accordance with one’s
true self (e.g., Ryff & Singer, 1998). According to Ryan and Deci (2001),
eudaemonic well-being consists of more than just being happy; rather, it
implies being fully functional. Eudaemonic well-being has been defined
in various ways. For example, Waterman (1993) has indicated that the
eudaemonic conception of psychological well-being signifies living in
accordance with one’s true self (i.e., people’s life activities are mostly
in agreement with deeply held values). In a similar line of thought, Ryff
(1995, p. 100) has defined eudaemonic well-being as “the striving for
perfection that represents the realization of one’s true potential.” Thus,
from the eudaemonic perspective, psychological well-being is mostly
based on personal growth and development. Eudaemonic well-being
has been operationalized in different ways, including meaningful-
ness (e.g., McGregor & Little, 1998), subjective vitality (e.g., Ryan &
Frederick, 1997; Nix et al., 1999), personal expressiveness (e.g., Waterman,
1993), and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
Interestingly, research reveals that while related, hedonic and eudaemonic
well-being represent relatively distinct aspects of psychological well-being.
For instance, Keyes et al. (2002) have shown that psychological well-being
was best conceived in a factorial model that posits two moderately corre-
lated constructs (i.e., hedonic and eudaemonic well-being), rather than two
uncorrelated constructs or one general construct only. Overall, these results
imply that while hedonic and eudaemonic well-being share some common
features, they are nevertheless distinct constructs. Thus, research on the
passion–psychological well-being relationship has assessed both types of
psychological well-being, sometimes in the same study, but most typically in
different studies (i.e., some studies have assessed eudaemonic, while others
have assessed hedonic well-being).
THE ROLE OF PASSION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
According to the DMP, three issues would appear important with respect to
the role of passion as a determinant of psychological well-being. One is that
passion (and especially harmonious passion) matters for one’s well-being;
second, the positive experiences that passion provides us mediate the effects
on well-being; and finally, such gains in well-being are sustainable.
Having a Passion for a Meaningful Activity

Matters for One’s Well-Being
The first issue made by the DMP is that the quality of one’s regular engage-
ment in a meaningful, passionate, activity matters greatly with respect to
psychological well-being. Much research in positive psychology (see Huppert,
2009; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005; Seligman, 2011) reveals that
engaging in certain activities, such as expressing gratitude (Algoe, Haidt, &
Gable, 2008), counting your blessings (Froh, Sefick, Emmons, 2008), writing
about life goals (King, 2001), and engaging in novel activities (Lyubomirsky
et al., 2005), may lead to positive benefits regarding well-being. However,
the DMP posits that the quality of one’s involvement in the activity during
engagement matters as well as, and perhaps even more than, merely engag-
ing in the activity. Years ago, research by O’Connor and Vallerand (1990)
with senior citizens showed that praying in and of itself was not as positive
as the motivational processes underlying it. Indeed, contrary to popular and
even scientific belief (e.g., Myers, 2008), the O’Connor and Vallerand study
revealed that praying positively predicted individuals’ well-being only if it
was engaged in for self-determined reasons (out of choice and volition; e.g.,
to connect with God). Praying for extrinsic reasons (e.g., “to go to heaven”)
even led to a decrease in well-being!
In line with the above, I propose that passion (especially harmonious
passion) for a highly valued and meaningful activity (or object or person)
represents a key determinant of psychological well-being. Indeed, doing
something that we love and that we deem important is bound to help us feel
good and thus will enhance our hedonic well-being. Furthermore, because
having a passion for something helps us persist and improve at the activity
and consequently to grow in complexity as pertains to this activity, being
passionate provides elements of self-growth in the realm of the activity,
which over time should lead to increases of eudaemonic well-being as well.
To go back to the example of our basketball player Jean-Claude seen in
Chapter 3, his passion for playing basketball should make him feel good
while playing basketball, especially if his passion is harmonious in nature.
Therefore, passion should contribute to his hedonic well-being. At the same
time, his passion for basketball should facilitate his self-growth. Thus, as
Jean-Claude continues his involvement in basketball over several months
and years, he will progressively improve as a player and will know more
about basketball and its ramifications. In so doing, he will become more
complex as a player and will experience increases in self-growth in this area.
In turn, such self-growth in basketball can have positive ripple effects in
the rest of his life, as was seen in Chapter 3 (learning English, traveling,
etc.). Thus, passion (especially harmonious passion) should move us toward
eudaemonic well-being and the far right end of the positive well-being con-
tinuum (Figure 8.1). In addition to moving us toward the positive end of the
well-being continuum, passion (especially harmonious passion) for a mean-
ingful activity can also protect us against moving toward the negative side of
the well-being continuum and ill-being (the far left end). This is because the
engagement in a meaningful activity that we love provides us with recur-
rent positive experiences that serve to maintain us in the wellness zone of
the continuum.
Overall, experiencing positive activity experiences and relatively few
negative experiences should lead to high psychological well-being. To
make a financial comparison, there are at least two ways to maximize
the amount of money in one’s bank account: to make frequent and sub-
stantial deposits and to make relatively few withdrawals. Similarly, mak-
ing sure that your passion leads to positive outcomes (deposits) and not
to negative outcomes (withdrawals) are two ways to experience happi-
ness. Harmonious passion should provide such a “financial” contribution
through both ways.
Positive Activity Experiences Mediate the Effects

of Passion on Psychological Well-Being
The second issue made by the DMP as pertains to psychological well-being

deals with the role of positive experiences, especially emotions, in the pro-
cess. Specifically, the DMP posits that positive emotions and associated
experiential processes while engaged in the passionate activity represent
one of the important mechanisms that facilitate the positive effects of
harmonious passion on well-being. This is because positive emotions and
other experiential processes such as flow lead to several benefits, includ-
ing expanding the self and broadening one’s repertoire of skills (see
Fredrickson, 2001) and eventually leading us to engage in a positive cycle
of ongoing positive experiences that facilitate psychological well-being. As
we have seen in Chapter 7, passion helps determine the type of affect that
one experiences when engaging in the passionate activity, with harmonious
passion leading to more positive affect than obsessive passion. Thus, har-
monious passion should facilitate psychological well-being. Furthermore,
positive emotions also lead to the “undo” effect of negative experiences (see
Fredrickson, 2001). As such, they should protect us against moving into the
“illness” territory. Because it often undermines negative affect, one should
expect harmonious passion to have some protective functions against psy-
chological ill-being. However, although obsessive passion may at times lead
to some types of positive emotions, it mainly leads to negative affect, which
may lead us toward ill-being.
Harmonious Passion Leads to Sustainable Gains in Well-Being
The third and final issue of interest in this chapter is that the positive gains
(and protective effects) in psychological well-being engendered by passion,
especially harmonious passion, can be maintained. In so doing, the DMP chal-
lenges the position that has pervaded the psychological well-being literature,
which posits that increases in psychological well-being cannot be maintained
over time. There are at least two major reasons typically advanced for this
position in the literature. First, it is assumed that there is some kind of psy-
chological well-being set point for each individual, determined by hereditary
factors (e.g., Lykken & Tellegen, 1996). Thus, based on hereditary factors alone,
some individuals would be expected to be happier than others. Furthermore,
once one’s set point has been reached, further gains in well-being cannot be
achieved. A second reason why more permanent gains are thought not pos-
sible is that people are expected to adapt to change. Consequently, should
there be some gains in well-being, these are expected to be only momentary,
as people apparently adapt to change. For instance, Brickman and Campbell
(1971) posited the hedonic treadmill analogy, in which people go to the end of
the treadmill and eventually return to the beginning on a continuous basis, as
they always adapt to some new changes.
Although heredity may limit people’s well-being in some ways, it does
not necessarily mean that people cannot transcend their limits, especially
through engagement in adaptive behavior and habits (e.g., Kurzweil &
Grossman, 2010). Furthermore, although people may habituate to events and
circumstances, this does not mean that increases in psychological well-being
are not possible or that such increases cannot be sustained over time. I sub-
mit that an activity that people are passionate about can provide sustainable
gains in well-being. This is because the psychological benefits of engaging in
the passionate activity are ongoing as people engage in passionate activities
several hours each week, for years, and sometimes over a lifetime (Philippe,
Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009, Study 1; Rousseau & Vallerand, 2003). Thus, the
hedonic and eudaemonic benefits for one’s psychological well-being are ongo-
ing. However, as we have seen thus far in this book, not all passions are made
equal, and such psychological benefits should be mainly experienced when
one’s activity engagement is fueled by harmonious passion. Thus, although
obsessive passion is oriented toward an activity that one loves and that is
consonant with one’s identity, it may typically lead to less adaptive out-
comes, and at times even to some maladaptive consequences. Consequently,
obsessive passion should contribute little to psychological well-being and
may even foster ill-being.
To summarize, the present position suggests the following (see Vallerand,
2012b, for a more complete presentation). Harmonious passion leads to posi-
tive experiences, including positive emotions during activity engagement,
which, in turn, facilitate momentary increases in psychological well-being.

Further, because harmonious passion leads to frequent activity engagement
and thus to the experience of positive emotions on a recurrent basis, it is pos-
ited that harmonious passion leads to increases in psychological well-being
that are recurrent and, thus, sustainable. Furthermore, because of the nega-
tive experiences that it prevents, harmonious passion should protect one
from experiencing psychological ill-being. Therefore, to the extent that one’s
passion is harmonious, this will set in motion positive functions of promot-
ing psychological well-being (both hedonic and eudaemonic) and preventing
(or protecting against) the occurrence of ill-being. However, if one’s passion
is obsessive, then the positive effects may not be forthcoming on psychologi-
cal well-being, and an increase in ill-being may even take place. I elaborate
below on the empirical support for the proposed effects and processes. It will
also be seen that other types of positive experiences (such as flow) during
activity engagement may also mediate the positive effects of harmonious
passion on psychological well-being.
PASSION FOR AN ACTIVITY CAN PROMOTE

PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
In line with the above hypotheses, having a harmonious passion for an activ-
ity is expected to promote psychological well-being and to protect against
ill-being. Conversely, obsessive passion is hypothesized to not facilitate
psychological well-being and even in some cases to positively contribute to
ill-being. A number of studies have tested these hypotheses. Some of the ear-
lier studies involved senior citizens. In such a study, Rousseau and Vallerand
(2003) had participants complete the Passion Scale and both hedonic and
eudaemonic measures of psychological well-being, such as life satisfaction
(Diener et al., 1985), meaning in life (Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006),
and vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997), as well as scales assessing psycho-
logical ill-being (scales of anxiety and depression from the General Health
Questionnaire of Goldberg & Hillier, 1979).
Results supported the hypotheses. Specifically, Rousseau and Vallerand
found that harmonious passion toward one’s favorite activity (e.g., playing
cards, playing a musical instrument, etc.) positively predicted positive indi-
ces of psychological well-being but negatively predicted indices of ill-being.
Conversely, obsessive passion positively predicted indices of ill-being such
as general anxiety and depression, was negatively related to life satisfaction,
and was unrelated to vitality and meaning in life. Thus, the promoting func-
tion of harmonious passion toward well-being and its protective functions
against ill-being were supported, while the less than optimal role of obsessive
passion was demonstrated. Indeed, obsessive passion was found to under-
mine psychological well-being and to promote some indices of ill-being.
Subsequent research with young adults and teenagers involved in one

of many activities has yielded similar findings. Specifically, harmonious
passion toward activities such as sports, dramatic arts, work, and special-
ized areas of education was found to be positively related to life satisfaction
and vitality (e.g., Houlfort, Philippe, Vallerand, Ménard, 2014; Stenseng &
Phelps, 2013; Thorgren, Wincent, & Sirén, 2013; Vallerand et al., 2007, Studies
1 and 2; Vallerand, Mageau, et al., 2008, Study 2), whereas obsessive passion
for the same activities was either negatively related (Stenseng & Phelps, 2013;
Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2) or unrelated (Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1;
Vallerand, Mageau, et al., 2008, Study 2) to these indices. It thus appears that
harmonious (but not obsessive passion) contributes to psychological well-being
in both younger and older populations using a number of measures, thereby
providing some support for the major hypothesis regarding the promotion of
psychological well-being and the protection against ill-being. Of interest is the
research of Schellenberg and Bailis (2014) who found that people with a harmo-
nious passion for two activities report higher levels of psychological well-being
than those with harmonious passion for only one activity. It is possible that
having a second harmoniously passionate activity allows one to have some addi-
tional protection (a safety net) when things do not go well in the first activity.
Future research is needed to understand why this effect would take place.
One important limitation of the above research is that it only included
passionate people. Thus, it is not clear whether harmonious passion actually
gives people a psychological boost and obsessive passion a drop in psycho-
logical well-being relative to non-passionate people. In one study (Philippe,
Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009, Study 1), a large number of men and women
aged 18–90 years completed a questionnaire containing the Passion Scale
as well as the passion criteria (i.e., loving and valuing the activity, spending
regular time on the activity, and the activity being perceived as a “passion”)
with respect to an activity that was “dear to their heart.” Participants also
completed scales assessing hedonic (life satisfaction; Diener et al., 1985) and
eudaemonic (self-realization; Ryff & Keyes, 1995) well-being. Using the pas-
sion criteria scale discussed previously in Chapter 4, Philippe et al. distin-
guished those individuals who were highly passionate (a mean of 5 and more
on a 7-point scale on the passion criteria) from those who were not (below
a mean of 5 on the passion criteria). Furthermore, in line with Vallerand
and Houlfort (2003), among the passionate individuals, the authors dis-
tinguished those who were “harmoniously passionate” (those with a higher
z-score on the harmonious passion subscale than on the obsessive passion
subscale) from those who were “obsessively passionate” (those with a higher
z-score on the obsessive passion subscale than on the harmonious passion
subscale). The authors then compared these three groups on the two types of
psychological well-being indices.
The results showed that being harmoniously passionate for a given
activity leads to higher levels of psychological well-being on both hedonic
and eudaemonic well-being relative to being obsessively passionate and

non-passionate (see Figure 8.2). These findings thus replicate the findings of
the research reviewed above on the positive role of harmonious passion in psy-
chological well-being. Of major interest, the results of this study were found to
take place for both men and women across the life span. I return to this issue
below. Another finding of importance was that non-passionate and obsessively
passionate individuals did not differ. This result raises the interesting ques-
tion of the role of obsessive passion in well-being. Specifically, is it simply that
obsessive passion does not lead to any type of effects, positive or negative (rela-
tive to being non-passionate), or is it that both obsessive passion and not being
passionate have similar deleterious effects on psychological well-being?
The second study conducted by Philippe et al. (2009, Study 2) addressed
this issue. These authors had different participants from Study 1 (again
across the lifespan) complete the Passion Scale and a scale of eudaemonic
well-being (subjective vitality; Ryan & Frederick, 1997) at Time 1 and the
same well-being measure one year later. Then, creating three groups as in
Study 1, the authors sought to determine whether harmonious and obsessive
passion would lead to predictable changes in well-being in each group over
the one-year period. The results revealed that people who were harmoniously
passionate for a given activity experienced a large significant increase in
psychological well-being over the one-year period, thereby replicating past
findings from the literature. However, of great interest, both obsessively
passionate and non-passionate individuals experienced a slight, but signif-
icant, decrease in psychological well-being over time. Thus, to answer the
above question, it would appear that both individuals with a predominant
Eudaemonic Well-Being Hedonic Well-Being

6
5.8
Psychological Well-Being
5.6
5.4
5.2
5
4.8
4.6
4.4
Harmonious Obsessive Non-passionate
Groups
Figure 8.2:
Passionate (Harmonious and Obsessive) and Non Passionate Groups and Psychological
Well-Being.
Adapted from Philippe, et al. (2009, Study 1).
obsessive passion for a given activity and those without any passion experi-
ence a decrease in psychological well-being over time.
In sum, the findings of the different studies reported in this section lead
to some important conclusions. First, harmonious passion both promotes
psychological well-being and protects against psychological ill-being. Second,
obsessive passion would appear to predict psychological ill-being, while
being either negatively or unrelated to psychological well-being. Third, being
non-passionate leads to a small decrease in psychological well-being. Thus,
it appears that the same activity may or may not contribute to one’s psycho-
logical well-being, depending on the quality of one’s passionate engagement
in the activity. Because it entails an optimal form of activity engagement,
harmonious passion predicts positive well-being, while obsessive passion
and its less adaptive form of defensive engagement does not. Fourth, it
should be kept in mind that the above research was correlational in nature.
Experimental studies are needed in order to more firmly demonstrate the
causal role of passion in well-being. Finally, research reveals that these find-
ings apply to men and women across the life span and to both hedonic and
eudaemonic measures of psychological well-being. Therefore, the generaliz-
ability of these findings would appear to be quite high. These findings are
thus quite important because they show that the role of passion in people’s
lives is not limited to the typical student population.
THE SITUATION MODER ATES THE EFFECTS OF

PASSION ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
The research discussed thus far in this chapter has looked at the role of pas-
sion in contributing directly to psychological well-being. However, such
research has not looked at situations wherein such effects may operate. It
is possible that certain situations moderate the effects of passion such that
harmonious and obsessive passions affect well-being differently as a func-
tion of the situation. Two important situations that seem to matter are suc-
cess and failure, and the fit between the situation and the predominant type
of passion at play.
Success and Failure
Because goal attainment or success may facilitate well-being in most people

(e.g., Sheldon et al., 2002), it is following failure that the major difference
between the two types of passionate individuals should take place. Because
so much is riding on doing well in the activity for obsessively passionate
individuals (e.g., maintaining their identity and their sense of self-esteem),
failure may have a more devastating psychological impact on their well-being

than for those who are harmoniously passionate and who have a secure
sense of self that allows them to face the negative information head-on, in
a mindful and non-defensive manner. Thus, whereas harmonious passion
should protect people against ill-being and help them maintain their sense
of well-being in failure situations, failing should have a more negative impact
when obsessive passion is operating.
Research has tested these hypotheses in two studies (Lafrenière,
Vallerand, St-Louis, & Donahue, 2012). In the first study (Lafrenière et al.,
2012, Study 1), professional fine art painters who had more than 20 years of
experience in painting participated in a web survey. They first completed the
Passion Scale with respect to painting and were then randomly assigned to
one of two conditions. In these conditions, they were asked to recollect either
a period of their professional life when they were highly creative (success
condition) or not very creative (failure condition). Then, participants were
asked to recall how satisfied they were with their life at that point in time
using the French form (Blais et al., 1989) of the Satisfaction with Life Scale
(Diener et al., 1985). Thus, the design of this study allowed us to look at the
role of the two types of passion in life satisfaction under successful and less
successful painting conditions. Results from regression analyses revealed
the presence of a significant interaction. As hypothesized, when people were
successful, both types of passion led to equally high levels of life satisfaction.
However, in the failure condition, obsessive passion led to a highly signifi-
cant reduction in life satisfaction. Such was not the case for harmonious pas-
sion, where no significant drop in psychological well-being took place.
The above findings provide support for the protective function of harmoni-
ous passion and the negative impact of obsessive passion under failure condi-
tions. That is, harmonious passion seems to protect psychological well-being
following an important failure that takes place within the passionate activ-
ity. In addition, these findings revealed that the difference in psychological
well-being between harmonious and obsessive passion is magnified under
failure conditions. However, this first study had one important limitation: it
relied on participants’ recollection of their life satisfaction. It is possible that
memory biases explain the results (Sedikides & Green, 2000). For instance,
people with a predominant obsessive passion may recollect more negative
painting periods than those with a harmonious passion, thereby explain-
ing the difference between the two types of passion during such negative
periods. A second study (Lafrenière et al., 2012, Study 2) was thus conducted
with passionate hockey fans using a diary study during the 2009 National
Hockey League (NHL) playoffs. Passionate fans of various hockey teams
first completed the Passion Scale and the Life Satisfaction Scale through a
web survey before the start of a playoffs series involving their favorite team.
Then, participants completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale each morning
following their team’s game, which took place the night before (whether it
was a loss or a win). Thus, the nature of the event was controlled for (a loss or
a win) and participants completed the well-being measure at approximately
the same time, fairly close to the event.
Results from hierarchical linear modeling analyses conducted on the life
satisfaction data replicated those of Study 1. Specifically, whereas obsessive
passion accentuated the negative impact of a loss on hockey fans’ life sat-
isfaction, such was not the case for harmonious passion, where life satis-
faction remained fairly high irrespective of the event. These findings reveal
that harmonious passion does seem to play a protective function against the
impact of negative events on psychological well-being under adverse condi-
tions. However, obsessive passion seems to exacerbate the negative effects of
failure on well-being.
The studies reviewed so far in this section revealed that following fail-
ure, harmoniously passionate individuals can sustain the blow and do not
suffer as much as those who are obsessively passionate; their psychological
well-being remains fairly high. But is this always the case? Can we iden-
tify situations where even people with a predominant harmonious pas-
sion for an activity may also show a drop in psychological well-being? One
such situation should take place when an important setback takes place
and it cannot be undone. An instance of such a situation would be failing
to make an important sports team. If you cannot make the team and, in
your mind, this means an end to your aspirations as a professional athlete,
then it should sting, harmonious passion or not. Amiot, Vallerand, and
Blanchard (2006) tested the above hypothesis with male adolescent and
young adult hockey players who were attempting to make it in the most
competitive league, a necessary step for their future professional career as
a hockey player. These athletes had been playing competitive hockey for
several years and presented themselves at a tryout camp. They completed
the Passion Scale toward hockey as well as their subjective well-being (the
Satisfaction with Life Scale by Blais et al., 1989; the PANAS Scale; and the
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Radloff, 1977, reverse
scoring) at Time 1. Two weeks later, athletes completed a second question-
naire assessing well-being immediately after finding out if they had made
the team (success) or not (failure). Two groups of harmoniously and obses-
sively passionate hockey players were created using the same procedures as
those reported in Chapter 4, and these groups experienced either success
or failure in a 2 (Harmonious vs. Obssessive Passion Group) X 2 (Success/
Failure) design.
The findings provided support for the hypothesis. Controlling for Time 1
well-being, only a main effect was obtained on Time 2 well-being. Specifically,
participants who made the team in the highly competitive league experienced
greater levels of psychological well-being than those who did not make that
team. Of great importance, these effects were obtained irrespective of their

type of passion. Thus, when the situation has irreversible effects on one’s
future career plans, harmonious passion led to the same negative effects on
psychological well-being as obsessive passion. Therefore, these results reveal
that harmoniously passionate individuals can suffer psychologically follow-
ing failure, just as much as obsessively passionate individuals do. It would
appear that it takes a highly negative event to create such an impact.
The Moderating Effects of the P-E Fit
A person-environment (P-E) fit is achieved when there is a match between

personal characteristics of the person and the characteristics of the environ-
ment. For instance, a high achiever finds him- or herself in a high-achieving
situation. Past research has shown that having a P-E fit is positively associated
with various indices of psychological well-being, including life and work satis-
faction and personal accomplishment, and is negatively associated with neg-
ative indices such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and somatic
complaints (e.g., Harackiewicz, Sansone, Blair, Epstein, & Manderlink, 1987;
O’Connor & Vallerand, 1994; Tauer & Harackiewicz, 1999).
Thus, in line with a P-E fit perspective, a second purpose to the Amiot
et al. (2006) study described above was to determine if there were dif-
ferent situations or contexts wherein each type of passionate individu-
als would thrive psychologically and experience high levels of well-being.
Amiot and colleagues hypothesized that highly competitive environments
that promote a rigid and inflexible type of persistence and involvement,
and which require individuals to be overly involved in the activity at the
expense of other life domains, can be seen as fitting well with an obsessive
type of passion. Conversely, less competitive environments, while still being
demanding, don’t require an inordinate investment of time and energy in
the activity and do not impinge on other life domains. Such environments
should fit better with individuals holding a harmonious passion, who may
have more diversified interests (Vallerand, 2010; Vallerand et al., 2003;
Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003). In line with past research, a match between
the passion type and the environment would be expected to lead to higher
levels of subjective well-being. Specifically, players with a predominant
obsessive passion should display higher levels of well-being than those with
a harmonious passion in the top competitive league. The inverse effects were
predicted in the less competitive leagues, where athletes with a harmonious
passion should display higher levels of well-being than those with an obses-
sive passion.
In order to provide a test of the above hypotheses, the hockey play-
ers of the Amiot et al. study were followed two months after the team
selection (i.e., after approximately one-third of the regular hockey season

had elapsed). This period of time allowed players ample time to get used to
their new environment. Participants completed the same well-being mea-
sures at this time as in Time 1. In line with the P-E fit perspective, con-
trolling for Time 1 well-being, the results of the same type of analyses as
above revealed the presence of an interaction on Time 2 well-being. More
specifically, it was found that obsessively passionate individuals who were
playing in the most competitive league displayed higher levels of well-being
compared to harmoniously passionate athletes who did. Conversely, among
the athletes who ended up playing in the less competitive leagues, harmoni-
ously passionate athletes reported higher levels of well-being than obses-
sively passionate athletes.
The results from the Amiot et al. study provide support for the P-E fit
hypothesis. Thus, to the extent that the environment people engage in on a
regular basis is consonant with their type of passion, people would appear to
adapt positively and to experience increased well-being. However, if there is
no match between their predominant type of passion and the environment
in which they operate, people’s adaptation may not be as positive, and there-
fore negative effects may even be experienced with respect to their psycho-
logical well-being.
Because it is the first study to document the existence of the P-E fit
effect with respect to passion and well-being, future research is needed
to replicate these findings in other realms of life. In addition, future
research should attempt to determine why harmoniously passionate indi-
viduals experience such decreases in well-being under the most demand-
ing environment. Does the high level of sustained activity involvement
necessary in the most demanding environments conflict with their har-
moniously oriented needs and goals, which (in addition to involvement
in the passionate activity) may also include personal development and
engagement in other life pursuits? Furthermore, longitudinal studies are
needed to determine if harmoniously passionate individuals eventually
adapt over longer periods of time to “obsessive” environments, such as
high-level leagues, and find ways to alleviate the conflict and to preserve
engagement in other life pursuits. This is an important question from both
theoretical and applied perspectives. From a theoretical standpoint, such
research would allow us to better understand the coping and adaptive
processes of harmoniously passionate individuals in highly demanding
environments. From an applied standpoint, it would allow us to deter-
mine if harmoniously passionate individuals can function optimally in
high-pressure environments conducive to high performance. In line with
our research on performance that has shown that individuals with a pre-
dominant harmonious passion for their craft are found at the highest lev-
els of performance, it is likely that they can. Thus, with time, it is expected
that harmoniously passionate individuals eventually come to flourish in

such environments and experience high levels of well-being because they
should be able to restructure their life in a flexible fashion so as to allevi-
ate the conflict between high-level engagement and fully engaging in the
rest of their life. This may be made possible by devoting more time to the
passionate activity (and thereby deriving increased positive affect from
participation) while at the same time disengaging mentally from the pas-
sionate activity when not performing it, and thus experiencing positive
affect from engagement in these other life activities. Future research is
needed in order to probe these issues.
In sum, the results from the research reported in the present section
suggest that the blanket conclusion to the effect that the harmonious
and obsessive passions respectively increase and decrease psychological
well-being must be qualified to some extent. First, while overall harmoni-
ous passion may lead to higher levels of well-being than obsessive passion,
such differences seem to operate largely in failure situations (Lafrenière
et al., 2012). Indeed, in success conditions, the difference between the
two types of passionate individuals is minimal. It is under failure condi-
tions that such differences are magnified. Second, when the outcome is
supremely important, no differences are obtained between the two types
of passionate individuals under failure conditions (Amiot et al., 2006).
Under such harsh conditions, both types of passion lead one to greatly
suffer psychologically. Finally, it would appear that a P-E fit process is at
play where environments that match one’s type of passion are conducive
to higher levels of subjective well-being. Future research is needed to bet-
ter understand the psychological processes at play for passionate individu-
als in different situations and how these processes affect their sense of
well-being over time.
POSITIVE ACTIVITY EXPERIENCES SERVE AS

MEDIATORS OF THE PASSION–PSYCHOLOGICAL
WELL-BEING RELATIONSHIP
If passion affects psychological well-being, then what are the processes

mediating such effects? In other words, how do harmonious and obsessive
passions affect psychological well-being? As discussed previously, it is the
different types of activity experiences that the harmonious and obsessive
passions engender that mediate the differential effects of the two types of
passion on well-being. Such experiences include positive and negative affect,
as well as flow.
The Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Affect
The DMP posits that the harmonious and obsessive passions orient people to
engage in the activity differently, leading them to experience different affec-
tive experiences that, if experienced on a repeated basis, produce different
recurrent effects on psychological well-being and ill-being. With harmonious
passion, engagement is made in such a way that one engages in the activ-
ity with an openness to experience the event in a mindful (Brown & Ryan,
2003), non-defensive manner (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Such a state allows
the person to derive positive affect from positive events and even from nega-
tive events, when things do not go as planned without overly dwelling on
the negative outcomes and their potential negative effects on the self and on
psychological well-being. As seen in Chapter 7, regularly engaging in a mean-
ingful activity out of harmonious passion leads to the experience of positive
affect and, often, to protection against negative affect. In addition, as seen in
the Mageau and Vallerand (2007) two-week-diary study, the positive affect
that is experienced during task engagement lingers at least until the end of
the day, and perhaps until the person engages again in the passionate activ-
ity and experiences positive affect again. Thus, the recurrent basis of positive
emotions due to harmonious passion is clear.
On the other hand, with obsessive passion, engagement is more defen-
sive and rigid, thereby preventing one from fully experiencing positive affect
and, conversely, facilitating the experience of negative affect (e.g., stress,
anxiety) during task engagement. Furthermore, because engagement is
often perceived as outside one’s control, one may engage in the activity when
one should not. Consequently, some negative affect, such as guilt and shame,
may be experienced both during and following task engagement. Finally,
because of the high levels of rigidity involved in obsessive passion, not being
able to engage in the passionate activity may lead a person to experience
some negative affective outcomes (e.g., frustration), as well as some conflict
with other life activities. Thus, even when some positive affect is experienced
with obsessive passion, the overall emotional state both during and after
activity engagement, as well as when prevented from engaging in the activ-
ity, is dampened by the presence of negative affect. Thus, the overall affective
tone is clearly less positive than with harmonious passion and possibly quite
negative. This less than optimal emotional state can linger at least until the
end of the day (Mageau & Vallerand, 2007) and again is recurrent.
Because passionate activities are generally engaged in several hours each
week (on average 8 hours per week) over years, the different emotional states
induced through harmonious and obsessive passion are experienced in a
repeated, ongoing, recurrent fashion and thus are sustained over time. As
we have seen in Chapter 7, emotions serve several functions, including that
of broadening thoughts, thereby providing access to adaptive self-resources

(Fredrickson, 2001). In line with Fredrickson and colleagues (Garland et al.,
2010), it is hypothesized that sustained positive affective states create a posi-
tive upward spiral in which attentional broadening, positive reappraisal of
events, and increased thought repertoire all feed each other, thereby pro-
moting psychological well-being (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002). Furthermore,
because they prevent the occurrence of negative emotional states, positive
emotions also protect against the downward spirals toward psychological
ill-being. Additional research suggests that repeated experiences of posi-
tive affect may lead to changes in brain areas known to be associated with
psychological well-being (see Garland et al., 2010, on this issue). Conversely,
when negative emotional and conflicted states induced by obsessive passion
are sustained over time, they prevent the experience of the upward spiral
of psychological well-being depicted above, or worse, set in motion a down-
ward spiral of ill-being characterized by stress appraisal, attentional narrow-
ing, further experiences of negative emotions, and eventually psychological
ill-being.
In sum, taking into consideration that harmonious passion leads to regu-
lar engagement in the passionate activity that translates into positive affect
during activity engagement, that such positive affect seems to endure for
a substantial period of time, and that positive affect nurtures psychologi-
cal well-being, it would appear that having a harmonious passion can lead
people to experience cumulative experiences of positive affect that should
facilitate and sustain psychological well-being, as well as protect against psy-
chological ill-being. Thus, harmonious passion is expected to play a dual role
of leading people to engage in the passionate activity on a regular basis and
to do so in such a way as to derive important emotional benefits from activity
engagement that foster psychological well-being. However, this should not
be the case for obsessive passion because it mainly promotes negative affect
(over positive affect) that is unrelated to psychological well-being and that
may even facilitate psychological ill-being.
Rousseau and Vallerand (2008) have directly tested the mediating role of
positive and negative affect in the passion–psychological well-being relation-
ship with senior individuals who had a passion for physical activity. At Time
1, participants completed the Passion Scale with respect to physical activity,
as well as a measure of psychological well-being (life satisfaction). Five weeks
later, at Time 2, immediately following an exercise session, they completed
situational measures of positive and negative affect experienced while exer-
cising (e.g., feeling happy, joyful). Finally, three weeks later, at Time 3, partic-
ipants completed measures of psychological well-being again. Results from
a path analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that harmoni-
ous passion positively predicted positive affect that led to increases in psy-
chological well-being from Time 1 to Time 3. On the other hand, obsessive
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
.21
Obsessive Situational
Passion Negative Affect
–.13
Harmonious .38 Situational .27 Subjective

Passion Positive Affect Well-Being
.70
Subjective
Well-Being
Figure 8.3:
The Mediating Role of Affect in the Passion–Psychological Well-Being Relationship.
Adapted from Rousseau & Vallerand (2008).
passion was unrelated to positive affect but positively predicted negative

affect. While obsessive passion directly and negatively predicted decreases
in psychological well-being, negative affect was unrelated to psychological
well-being. These results are illustrated in Figure 8.3. The results from the
Rousseau and Vallerand (2008) study on the mediating role of positive emo-
tions between harmonious passion and well-being have been replicated with
Chinese students using the presence of meaning in life as a well-being mea-
sure (Zhang, Shi, Liu, & Miao, 2014). Obsessive passion, on the other hand,
was not related to the presence of meaning in life but only to the search for
meaning. This last finding is in line with those of Lalande et al. (2014) to
the effect that obsessive passion may reflect the fact that something may be
missing in one’s life.
Positive Affect of Different Intensity
Research presented so far has mainly focused on how the dimension of affec-
tive valence (i.e., positive and negative emotions) can mediate the effects of
passion on well-being. A second type of mediator considered here deals with
the intensity of affect. Motivational intensity refers to the strength of the
motivation to approach or avoid an object or goal inherent in affect (Gable &
Harmon-Jones, 2010). It should be noted that the concept of motivational
intensity is associated but is not identical to the concept of activation (see
Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2010, for a discussion on this subject). Consequently,

positive affective states can be conceptualized as varying in motivational
intensity, with some being higher in motivational intensity (e.g., excitement,
enthusiasm) and others being lower in motivational intensity (e.g., happi-
ness, contentment).
This distinction is particularly important for research on passion,
given that the motivational intensity dimension of affective states may
produce some important consequences with respect to well-being. Carver
(2003, 2006) suggested that while pursuing important goals, individuals
should experience positive affect of high motivational intensity. Thus,
individuals should experience excitement and enthusiasm while pursu-
ing their passionate activity. On the other hand, individuals should expe-
rience positive affect of low motivational intensity, such as contentment,
once they have achieved their goals in the context of the passionate activ-
ity. Consequently, both harmonious and obsessive passions should be
positively associated with positive affect of high motivational intensity
while pursuing the passionate activity given that the activity is strongly
valued and that individuals strive to succeed. However, obsessive passion
should not be associated with positive affect of low motivational inten-
sity as individuals high on obsessive passion cannot help but maintain
engagement in the passionate activity (either physically or cognitively
through rumination), as it serves important self-protective and enhance-
ment purposes. Therefore, with obsessive passion, individuals should
always be in pursuit (physically or cognitively) of some goal-related activ-
ity, thereby promoting high-intensity affect. Further, being in a constant
goal-pursuit situation prevents one from smelling the roses and acknowl-
edging small successes along the way, thereby minimizing positive affect
of low motivational intensity. On the other hand, with harmonious pas-
sion, activity engagement is personally endorsed and remains under
the individual’s control. Therefore, activity satisfaction can be achieved
(Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Vallerand et al., 2006, Study 2), thereby pro-
moting the experience of positive affect of lower motivational intensity
in success situations.
In light of the above, it can be hypothesized that both the harmonious and
obsessive passions should promote the experience of positive affect of high
intensity, while only harmonious passion should promote positive affect of
lower intensity. Importantly, these two types of positive affect should have
different effects on psychological well-being. Positive affect of lower inten-
sity should have positive effects on well-being. Indeed, emotion theorists
such as Fredrickson (2001) have proposed that positive affect of lower inten-
sity (such as love and contentment) is adaptive because it broadens people’s
attention and cognition and focus, leading to the selection of adaptive behav-
ioral strategies, thereby facilitating higher levels of psychological well-being.
However, such positive effects on well-being should not take place for
positive affect of high intensity. Given the importance of such affect in goal
pursuit, it seems unlikely that these affective states would be associated
with increased attention and cognition. Rather, they should be associated
with increased narrowing and providing energy, as individuals shut out irrel-
evant stimuli and cognitions while striving toward the desired objects and
goals with intensity. Research by Gable and Harmon-Jones (2008, Studies 1
and 2) has indeed shown that positive affect of high motivational intensity
narrows down the attentional focus deemed necessary to provide access to
self-processes implicated in psychological well-being. Because it is proposed
that attentional and cognitive broadening promote psychological well-being,
it thus seems that positive affect of high motivational intensity, contrary to
that of low intensity, should not be associated with psychological well-being.
Lafrenière, Vallerand, and Donahue (2014) have conducted two studies
to test the above hypotheses. In the first study, they first posited that both
types of passion would be associated with positive affect of high motivational
intensity while pursuing the passionate activity. Second, it was hypothesized
that harmonious (but not obsessive) passion would be associated with posi-
tive affect of low motivational intensity. Finally, positive affect of low motiva-
tional intensity should be related to psychological well-being, while positive
affect of high intensity should not. Participants highly involved in sports
completed a questionnaire containing the Passion Scale toward their sport,
scales assessing positive affect of low (e.g., happiness, contentment) and high
(e.g., excitement, enthusiasm) motivational intensity experienced while play-
ing, as well as measures of hedonic (life satisfaction) and eudaemonic (mean-
ing in life) well-being. Results from structural equation modeling showed
that harmonious passion positively predicted both types of positive affect,
while obsessive passion only predicted positive affect of high motivational
intensity. In addition, positive affect of low motivational intensity positively
predicted both hedonic and eudaemonic well-being, whereas positive affect
of high motivational intensity was unrelated to both well-being indices.
Results from the Lafrenière et al. (2014) study provided support for the
differential role of positive affect of various intensities. However, it did
not assess negative affect. Similarly to positive affect, negative affect var-
ies in motivational intensity (Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2010). Therefore, not
all negative affective states should cause the narrowing of attentional and
cognitive focus and their ensuing effects on well-being. Only those of high
motivational intensity should do so. In fact, negative affective states low
in motivational intensity (e.g., sadness, unhappiness) may lead to less con-
stricted attention and cognition focus than negative affective states of high
motivational intensity (e.g., anxiety, anger) because they encourage disen-
gagement from inaccessible goals and foster openness to new possibilities
(Wrosch & Miller, 2009). Along these lines, Gable and Harmon-Jones (2010)
demonstrated that negative affect of low motivational intensity caused less

narrowing (Study 1), whereas negative affect of high motivational intensity
caused more narrowing (Study 2), of attentional focus relative to a neutral
condition. In line with the Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, 2001),
these findings suggest that only negative affects of high motivational inten-
sity should be detrimental to psychological well-being because they are the
ones that reduce the attentional and cognitive broadening processes so cru-
cial in promoting psychological well-being.
A second study by Lafrenière, Vallerand, and Donahue (2014, Study 2) was
thus conducted to replicate the results of Study 1 with positive affect and to
examine the additional role of negative affect of high and low motivational
intensity in psychological well-being. The sample was composed of video game
players who completed an online questionnaire containing the Passion Scale,
scales assessing positive and negative affect of low (e.g., sadness, unhappi-
ness) and high (e.g., anxiety, anger) motivational intensity experienced while
playing, as well as measures of hedonic (life satisfaction) and eudaemonic
(self-realization) well-being. Results from structural equation modeling analy-
ses with positive affect replicated those of Study 1. Both the harmonious and
obsessive passions positively predicted positive affect of high motivational
intensity, while only harmonious passion predicted positive affect of low moti-
vational intensity. In addition, only positive affect of low motivational inten-
sity positively predicted both hedonic and eudaemonic well-being. Moreover,
results showed that obsessive passion positively predicted, whereas harmoni-
ous passion was unrelated, to both types of negative affect. In addition, nega-
tive affect of high motivational intensity negatively predicted both hedonic
and eudaemonic well-being, whereas negative affect of low motivational inten-
sity was unrelated to both well-being indices. It thus seems that negative affect
of high (but not low) motivational intensity mediates the negative relationship
between obsessive passion and hedonic and eudaemonic well-being.
Overall, the findings of Lafrenière et al. (2014) lead to three important
conclusions. First, the harmonious passion–psychological well-being relation-
ship is mediated by positive affect. These results replicate those of Rousseau
and Vallerand (2008) and underscore the important role of positive emotions
in well-being. However, the results from both studies conducted by Lafrenière
and colleagues clearly show that only positive affect of low motivational inten-
sity is conducive to psychological well-being. This is a novel and important
finding that challenges current wisdom. Indeed, most emotion theorists see
positive affect as a monolithic group of emotions, or they choose to focus on
positive emotions of lower motivational intensity (e.g., Fredrickson, 2000;
Isen, 1987). Second, the obsessive passion–psychological well-being relation-
ship was found to be mediated only by negative affect of high motivational
intensity. This finding is important, as it unveils why obsessive passion may
at times be negatively related to well-being and when it may not. It would
appear that it is only when it triggers negative affect of high motivational

intensity that obsessive passion should undermine psychological well-being.
These findings also help explain why the negative affect (of low intensity)
assessed in the Rousseau and Vallerand (2008) study did not mediate the neg-
ative effects of obsessive passion on well-being. Had negative affect of high
intensity been assessed, the relationship could have emerged. Finally, obses-
sive passion seems to predict another type of positive affect while engaging in
the passionate activity, namely, positive affect of high motivational intensity.
Although such a type of positive affect may help one go through the demand-
ing regimens of activity engagement from start to finish, it does not seem
to provide one with the same positive benefits with respect to psychological
well-being. Clearly, future research is needed in all of the above issues in order
to replicate and extend the findings of the Lafrenière et al. (2014) studies with
other participants and activities, and also to look further into the conceptual
and applied implications that they suggest.
The Mediating Role of Flow in Well-Being
We have seen in Chapter 6 that harmonious passion is positively related

to flow during activity engagement, whereas obsessive passion is largely
unrelated to it (Forest et al., 2008; Mageau et al., 2005; Philippe, Vallerand,
Andrianarisoa, & Brunel, 2009, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). In his
theory, Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1988) defines flow as the complete absorp-
tion of oneself in the present moment, when all contents of consciousness
are in harmony with each other. When in flow, people experience a sense of
complete mastery over their environment, as well as an intense and focused
attention on the activity, thereby losing any reflective self-consciousness.
Therefore, unsurprisingly, past research in various domains has shown that
flow has many positive consequences, including increased psychological
well-being (Cantor & Sanderson, 1999; Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Eisenberger
et al., 2005; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002; Steele & Fullagar, 2009).
Because harmonious passion positively predicts flow and flow has been
repeatedly related to well-being, it can be hypothesized that flow experi-
enced during engagement in one’s passionate activity may represent one
of the explanations of the positive link between harmonious passion and
well-being. Carpentier, Mageau, and Vallerand (2013) conducted a study in
order to test this hypothesis. In this study, university students completed
scales assessing the Passion Scale, a scale assessing Flow, and a scale of
hedonic psychological well-being. Results from a path analysis showed that
the greater the extent of a person’s harmonious passion, the more he or she
tended to experience flow in his or her passionate activity. In turn, flow
experiences positively predicted psychological well-being. Results from the
Carpentier and colleagues study underscore the role of flow as a contributor

of well-being while identifying harmonious passion as an important deter-
minant of flow. Future research is needed to replicate and extend these find-
ings to other life domains.
PASSION AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL-BEING

RELATIONSHIP: THE CASE OF BURNOUT
Research reviewed in the preceding section provides support for the role
of positive on-task experiences (i.e., affect and flow) as mediators of the
impact of harmonious passion on psychological well-being. In the pres-
ent section, we focus on two other issues. The first pertains to the pro-
tective role that harmonious passion (and mediating processes) may play
in psychological ill-being. If harmonious passion protects one from expe-
riencing psychological ill-being, then what are the process involved? Are
positive on-task experiences the mediating processes responsible for the
protective effects? Are other mediating variables involved in this protec-
tive function of harmonious passion? Second, research reviewed in this
section has attempted to look at the processes involved in the contribu-
tory role of obsessive passion in psychological ill-being. Research address-
ing these two issues has focused on one type of psychological ill-being,
namely burnout.
Passion and Burnout
Burnout is an interesting problem, among other reasons, because as several

authors have suggested, passion may be at play (Burke & Fiksenbaum, 2009;
Gistafsson, Hassmén, & Hassmén, 2011; Tassel & Flett, 2007). For instance,
it has been suggested that to succeed, one needs to have the fire, or the energy,
to engage fully in the activity. However, to have the fire may put one at risk
of being consumed, of losing one’s energy, and then of experiencing burnout.
The secret, apparently, is to have and keep the flame without burning out.
The link with passion would appear rather clear. Based on the DMP, on the
one hand, harmonious passion should allow one to remain fully involved in
the passionate activity while not going overboard and getting burned out.
Obsessive passion, on the other hand, should lead one to go beyond the limit,
to overspend one’s energy, and thus to experience burnout. Initial research
with teachers (Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay, 2008) and athletes
(Martin & Horn, 2013) has provided support for this analysis. For instance,
Carbonneau et al. had shown that while obsessive passion was positively
associated with burnout, harmonious passion was negatively related to it.
These findings were replicated in another study with novice teachers (Fernet,
Lavigne, Austin, & Vallerand, 2014).
The next question, then, is, what are the mediating processes involved in
these protective and negative effects of the harmonious and obsessive pas-
sions, respectively? In line with past research on passion and affective experi-
ences, it is hypothesized that harmonious (but not obsessive) passion should
be conducive to the affective experience of work satisfaction that should play
a protective role in burnout. Indeed, positive activity experiences should pre-
vent one from experiencing the pressure of work performance that comes to
eat at people’s energy. With respect to obsessive passion, one likely media-
tor of its contributory effect should be the psychological conflict experienced
between the passionate activity (work) and other life activities (e.g., family
activities). Because with obsessive passion one experiences an uncontrollable
urge to engage in the passionate activity, it becomes very difficult for the
person to fully disengage from thoughts about the activity (or from engag-
ing in the activity altogether), leading to conflict with other activities in the
person’s life (e.g., Caudroit, Boiché, Stephan, Le Scanff, & Trouilloud, 2011;
Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand, Ntoumanis et al., 2008). Such con-
flict can prevent the person from engaging in other life pursuits. The per-
son thus becomes mentally stale, which may contribute to a drop in work
satisfaction (Thorgren, Wincent, & Sirén, 2013) and eventually may result
in burnout (Garland, Fredrickson, Kring, Johnson, Meyer, & Penn, 2010).
In addition, because obsessive passion is typically unrelated to positive
affective experiences both during task engagement in the passionate activ-
ity (work) and in other life pursuits outside it, obsessive passion does not
trigger the protective function against ill-being, as harmonious passion does.
Conversely, with harmonious passion, the person can let go of the passionate
activity after task engagement and fully immerse him- or herself in other life
pursuits without experiencing conflict between the two. Thus, harmonious
passion should allow the person to experience affective rewards both during
task engagement in the passionate activity as well as in other life pursuits,
and not to experience conflict, thereby protecting the person against burn-
out through both processes.
Two studies (Vallerand, Paquet, Philippe, & Charest, 2010, Studies 1 and
2) were conducted to test the above reasoning with professional nurses from
two cultures (France and Quebec, Canada). In Study 1, nurses from France
completed the Passion Scale, as well as measures of psychological conflict
between work and one’s other life activities, positive affective work experi-
ences (work satisfaction), and the French-Canadian version of the Maslach
and Burnout scale (Dion & Tessier, 1994). The results from structural equa-
tion modeling analyses are displayed in Figure 8.4. It can be seen that the
model was supported, even after controlling for the weekly number of
hours worked (not presented in the figure). Specifically, obsessive passion
Harmonious .51*** Satisfaction –.33***

Burnout
Passion at Work
–.12 .33***
Obsessive .49***
Conflict
Passion
Figure 8.4:
The Mediating Role of Conflict and Work Satisfaction in the Passion-Burnout Relationship.
facilitated the experience of burnout through the psychological conflict it

induced between work and other life activities. There was also an absence
of relationship between obsessive passion and work satisfaction. On the
other hand, harmonious passion prevented the experience of conflict and
positively contributed to the experience of work satisfaction, thereby pro-
tecting the person from experiencing burnout through both processes. These
findings were replicated in a second study with nurses from the Province of
Quebec (Vallerand et al., 2010, Study 2) using a prospective design, allow-
ing the researchers to predict changes in burnout over a six-month period.
Thus, although additional research is clearly needed, it would appear that
harmonious passion can serve protective functions against psychological
ill-being, such as burnout. Conversely, obsessive passion seems to contribute
to ill-being states like burnout through the conflict it creates between the
passionate activity (work) and other life activities.
Other life activities seem to be perceived differently by individuals with
a harmonious and an obsessive passion. For those with an obsessive pas-
sion, such activities can be seen as some obstacles that prevent them from
engaging in their beloved activity. Conversely, people with a predominant
harmonious passion actually welcome other life activities, as they represent
a potential source of satisfaction that can contribute to their well-being in
their own right. For instance, Stenseng and Phelps (2013) showed that har-
monious passion positively contributed to experiencing positive outcomes in
a variety of areas (partner, work, leisure, friends, etc.). In turn, experiencing
positive outcomes in these life domains led to higher levels of psychological
well-being.
Another way through which life activities may contribute to people’s lives
is that they also help people recover from the stress that work may create.
Research by Sonnentag and colleagues has addressed the role of “recovery”
activities in psychological well-being. Specifically, they have shown that
engaging in recovery activities away from work (e.g., psychological detach-

ment from work, relaxation, mastery activities) in one’s free time predicts
subsequent well-being (Sonnentag, Binnewies, & Mojza, 2008; Sonnentag &
Zijlstra, 2006). For instance, engaging in recovery activities in the evening
predicts well-being the next day at work. However, such research has not
identified the nature of psychological variables that would allow one to let go
of work and to engage in such recovery activities, or conversely, that would
put one at risk of neglecting engagement in recovery activities. The DMP pos-
its that harmonious passion should lead to engaging in recovery activities
after work, while obsessive passion should not.
In line with the above, Donahue, Forest, Vallerand, Lemyre, Crevier-Braud,
and Bergeron (2012) investigated the role of the two types of passion in lead-
ing workers to engage (or not) in recovery activities outside work and how
these may mediate the impact of passion on burnout. These authors had
workers complete the Passion Scale, the Recovery Experience Questionnaire
(Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007), rumination about work, and burnout. Results of
structural equation modeling analyses revealed, as expected, that harmo-
nious passion positively predicted engagement in recovery strategies that,
in turn, prevented burnout. Conversely, obsessive passion did not relate to
recovery experiences but positively predicted rumination about work that,
in turn, positively predicted burnout.
In other research also conducted in the workplace, Lavigne, Forest, and
Crevier-Braud (2012) looked at the role of another mediator of the protective
effects of harmonious passion on burnout, namely flow. Lavigne et al. (2012)
conducted two studies, one with a cross-sectional design (Study 1) and one
with a longitudinal design (Study 2). Because both studies yielded highly
similar findings, only the longitudinal study is presented here. In this study,
bureaucrats working for the Quebec Provincial Government completed the
Passion Scale as well as measures of flow at work and burnout at two differ-
ent time points, six months apart. Structural equation modeling analyses
were conducted on the data and showed that harmonious passion for work
positively predicted increases in flow over time, which, in turn, predicted
decreases in burnout over time. Obsessive passion was unrelated to flow but
directly and positively predicted increases in burnout. It would thus appear
that positive work experiences (such as flow) do mediate the protective
effects of harmonious passion on psychological ill-being.
In sum, the findings from the research presented in this section provide
support for the role of passion in burnout. Years ago, burnout researchers
suggested that because of their passion for work, people remained strongly
psychologically engaged in their work, could not disengage from it, and came
to experience burnout (e.g., Freudenberger & Richelson, 1981). The present
findings suggest that such an analysis is only partially correct because it
applies only to obsessive passion and not to harmonious passion. In addition,
the present research reveals that these contributory effects of obsessive pas-
sion to burnout take place through two routes. In the first one, obsessive
passion for one’s work prevents workers from replenishing themselves out-
side work because of their rumination about work, the psychological conflict
between work and other life activities, and lack of engagement in recovery
activities. In the second route, obsessive passion is unrelated to important
positive affective experiences at work that serve as an antidote to burnout.
Thus, it would appear that obsessive passion puts one at risk of developing
burnout because of its impact on what transpires both at work and away from
it. On the other hand, the protective function of harmonious passion was
found to take place through positive work experiences (work satisfaction and
flow), as well as the absence of conflict, allowing one to engage in recovery
activities in one’s life away from work. Once more, it appears that by allow-
ing one to engage fully in work and life, harmonious passion contributes to
the prevention of psychological ill-being such as burnout. Future research is
needed in order to determine if these mediating variables are at play in other
types of psychological problems, in addition to burnout.
DO ACTIVITIES MATTER IN WELL-BEING?
So far in this chapter, we have not addressed the role of activities in well-being.
One question the reader may have is the following: Is mere engagement in
some very positive activity sufficient to experience gains in psychological
well-being? That is a valid question. It may be that some activities are highly
adaptive and engagement can lead to a boost in psychological well-being.
For instance, research reveals that mindfulness meditation (Lutz, Slagter,
Dunne, & Davidson, 2008) and loving-kindness meditation (Fredrickson
et al., 2008) positively contribute to psychological well-being. So, is passion
important with such activities?
The perspective of this chapter (and in fact this entire book) is that pas-
sion for the activity is important, even crucial, on two counts, irrespective
of the activity. First, passion helps the person return to the activity on a
regular basis and experience the recurrent positive psychological benefits
of the adaptive activity. Thus, even if the activity is highly adaptive, with-
out passion it is unlikely that the person will re-engage in the activity on a
regular, sustained basis for months, years, or even a lifetime and experience
the repeated activity benefits. Second, passion also determines the quality
of engagement in the activity beyond the activity itself. Thus, to the extent
that one’s passion for a given activity is harmonious, then one should be able
to reap more benefits from engagement in the “adaptive” activity through
the positive experiences that one receives from engagement than if it were
engaged in out of obsessive passion. We turn to this issue below.
Passion and Adaptive Activities
The above hypotheses were recently tested with an activity widely rec-
ognized as highly positive, namely yoga. Much research reveals that the
practice of yoga can produce benefits relating to muscular strength and
body flexibility as well as respiratory and cardiovascular functions. But
what about psychological effects? For instance, does yoga automatically
increase and decrease positive and negative affect, respectively, and thus
lead to corresponding effects in psychological well-being? If only the
activity matters, then passion for yoga should not make a difference, and
mere engagement in yoga should be enough to derive some positive con-
sequences. However, if passion does matter, then even with yoga, only
harmonious passion should lead to positive benefits, while obsessive pas-
sion may be unrelated to outcomes or may even lead to some negative
effects.
Carbonneau, Vallerand, and Massicotte (2010, Studies 1 and 2) con-
ducted two studies on the role of yoga in adaptive outcomes. In the first
study, participants from the “general population” (aged 19–60 years) who
had been engaging in yoga for several years completed the Passion Scale
for yoga as well as scales assessing positive and negative affect and state
anxiety experienced during yoga classes. Results revealed that only harmo-
nious passion was positively associated with positive affect and negatively
with negative affect and state anxiety. Obsessive passion was only positively
associated (but non-significantly so) with state anxiety. Study 2 went fur-
ther and looked at changes in outcomes that took place over a three-month
period with a different sample of regular yoga participants (once more
from the general population). Results basically replicated those of Study
1. Specifically, harmonious passion predicted decreases in negative emotions
and state anxiety as well as increases in positive emotions that took place
over time during yoga classes. Obsessive passion only predicted a significant
increase in negative emotions experienced during yoga classes. These find-
ings were obtained even while controlling for the number of weekly hours
and years of involvement in yoga.
Although the above research did not measure psychological well-being
as such, the findings from the Carbonneau et al. (2010) studies are impor-
tant because they underscore the fact that what seems to matter most is
one’s passion toward the activity and not the activity itself. In order to
capture the full benefits of one’s engagement in a positive activity, har-
monious passion is needed. If obsessive passion is at play, then even with
the most adaptive activity (such as yoga), negative affective outcomes (or
at least the absence of positive affects) may be experienced and their doc-
umented ensuing effects on psychological well- and ill-being eventually
observed.
Passion and Persistence in Problematic Activities
If obsessive passion for an adaptive activity can undermine the goodness of

the activity effects, as seen above with yoga, can it also augment the nega-
tive effects of problematic activities? And if so, what would be some of the
processes involved? One likely candidate would be ill-advised, rigid persis-
tence toward a potentially problematic activity. One important assumption
of the DMP is that both types of passion should lead to persistence toward
the passionate activity. However, the two types of passion should yield dif-
ferent types of persistence. Obsessive passion leads to a rigid type of per-
sistence where the person may persist for a long period of time in spite of
some important costs (Vallerand et al., 2003, Studies 3 and 4). Conversely,
with harmonious passion, the persistence is flexible and mindful, allowing
the person to disengage if the conditions change and activity engagement
becomes permanently negative for the person.
Such a distinction between the two types of passion (and the different
types of persistence they facilitate) is particularly important, as it per-
tains to long-term engagement in some potentially addictive activities or
behavior (see Vallerand & Verner-Filion, 2014). The same activity might
just be a great source of pleasure, entertainment, and harmless distraction
for those with a harmonious passion but may lead to potentially harmful
negative outcomes for those with an obsessive passion. Thus, for instance,
one would predict that having a harmonious passion for some potentially
harmful behavior may have little adverse effects, or if it does, one would
be likely to cease engagement in the activity. However, with obsessive pas-
sion, one would expect one to experience some negative outcomes in the
activity and still remain in it, leading to long-term negative outcomes.
Much research reveals that gambling (and certain types of gambling activ-
ities in particular, such as video poker machines) represents a potentially
negative form of activity for the person, leading in some cases to pathological
gambling, social isolation, depression, and even suicide (Bergh & Kühlhorn,
1994). As such, if harmonious passion serves protective functions, then
engaging in gambling out of harmonious passion should protect one from
experiencing such negative outcomes and developing pathological gambling
and perhaps enable the person to experience positive outcomes (flow, excite-
ment). However, this should not be the case for obsessive passion. In fact,
obsessive passion would be expected to contribute to rigid involvement and
persistence in the activity, eventually leading to pathological gambling and
other negative outcomes and few positive ones.
Research in the realm of gambling has provided support for the above
analysis. For instance, research has shown that obsessive passion predicts
higher amounts of money gambled and more time spent gambling, whereas
harmonious passion is unrelated to these outcomes (Rousseau et al., 2002).
In addition, obsessive passion has been found to be positively associated

with negative emotions such as anxiety and guilt when gambling, as well
as with rumination when prevented from gambling, which suggests some
form of rigid involvement in gambling (Ratelle et al., 2004). On the other
hand, harmonious passion for gambling has typically been positively related
mainly to positive affective experiences while gambling, such as pleasure,
fun, and enjoyment (see Mageau et al., 2005). Finally, obsessive passion
predicts pathological gambling, whereas harmonious passion does not
(Philippe & Vallerand, 2007; Ratelle, Vallerand, et al., 2004; Skitch &
Hodgins, 2005; see also Alberghetti & Collins, 2013).
The research above suggests that obsessive passion predicts the occurrence
of a number of negative outcomes, including pathological gambling, presum-
ably because obsessive passion entails a rigid persistence in the activity that
is out of the person’s control. But is it the case? Is rigid persistence toward
the passionate activity really at play in addictive problems such as patho-
logical gambling? We have tested this hypothesis in one study (Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 4), where we compared the two types of passion of regular
casino gamblers (who played at least once a week) with those of people with
gambling problems so severe that they ended up asking the Montreal Casino
to bar them from entry. Clearly, these latter individuals had important prob-
lems (93% of the self-exclusion sample displayed pathological gambling vs.
37% for the regular casino players). These are very high numbers, as roughly
only 2%–4% of the general population experiences pathological gambling.
Based on the above, it can be hypothesized that the two types of gamblers
should hold different types of predominant passion. Specifically, they should
strongly differ on obsessive passion but not necessarily on harmonious pas-
sion. The results indeed revealed that the self-exclusion gamblers reported
significantly higher levels of obsessive passion than regular casino gamblers.
No difference existed on harmonious passion. Results from a discriminant
function analysis further revealed that obsessive passion was able to cor-
rectly predict group membership in 80% of all cases. Furthermore, for the
self-exclusion group, their obsessive passion was significantly higher than
their harmonious passion. There were no differences between the two scales
for the control group (regular gamblers).
These last results were replicated in a recent study on the role of pas-
sion in the prevalence of gambling problems with senior citizens who are
involved in a number of gambling activities and not solely those found at the
casino (Philippe & Vallerand, 2007). In this study, individuals aged 55 years
and over were contacted face to face at their residence and were asked to
complete the Passion Scale as pertains to gambling (Rousseau, Vallerand,
Ratelle, Mageau, & Provencher, 2002) and the South Oakes Gambling Screen
Revised (Lesieur & Blume, 1993). As in the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study
4) study above, results revealed that pathological gamblers had higher scores
on obsessive passion than non-problematic gamblers, but no difference took

place with harmonious passion (see right-hand side of Figure 8.5). Further,
the pathological gamblers’ obsessive passion was significantly higher than
their harmonious passion, which was not the case for the non-problematic
gamblers. Research of MacKillop, Anderson, Castelda, mattson, and
Donovick (2006) also reveals that obsessive passion discriminates between
pathological and non-pathological gamblers, while harmonious passion does
not. Finally, research reveals that with pathological gamblers, obsessive pas-
sion is a much stronger predictor of gambling intentions that harmonious
passion. The reverse is true with non-pathological gamblers (Back, Lee, &
Stinchfield, 2011).
So, the findings of these studies reveal that even with a potentially prob-
lematic activity such as gambling, harmonious passion does not contribute
to ill-being in the form of pathological gambling and persistence to the point
where one needs help in ceasing engagement in the activity. Obsessive pas-
sion, however, leads people on a path toward addiction to an activity that can
have lethal effects on their life.
Another potentially problematic activity that is worth looking into is
online video gaming. Such types of activities have been found to lead to
severe mental and physical problems, such as becoming restless, avoiding
eating to continue playing, and developing eye problems. Even worse, some
video game players have died after engaging in marathon sessions on their
favorite games for days without attending to their biological needs (Danger,
Obsessive Passion Harmonious Passion

6
4
Scores
0
Non-Problematic At-Risk Pathological
Gambling Groups
Figure 8.5:
Harmonious and Obsessive Passion as a Function of Gambling Severity.
Adapted from Philippe & Vallerand (2007).
2009). Research provides support for the role of obsessive passion in rigidly
persisting in such activities. For instance, with a sample of over 400 par-
ticipants, C. C. Wang and Chu (2007) showed that obsessive passion was
positively related to problematic gaming (needing to play more and more,
feeling irritable when not playing, etc.), whereas harmonious passion was
unrelated to it.
Lafrenière, Vallerand, Donahue, and Lavigne (2009) extended the Wang
and Chu study by looking at both positive and negative outcomes (includ-
ing problematic or excessive gaming) with a sample of Massively Multiplayer
Online game players. These games are like video games, with the difference
that they are interactive, involving several other players, and are always
ongoing, 24 hours a day. Thus, if one is obsessively passionate, one can be
involved for days at a time! These players were playing on average more
than 22 hours per week at the time of the study. Participants completed the
Passion Scale and a variety of measures, including those assessing positive
and negative affect, problematic behaviors usually associated with excessive
gaming (Tejeiro, & Morán, 2002), and eudaemonic well-being (Miquelon &
Vallerand, 2006).
Results from a canonical correlation analysis revealed the presence of
two significant functions. The first one was predicted by obsessive passion
and showed proof of mainly maladaptive outcomes (negative affect, prob-
lematic gaming behaviors, inordinate number of hours played per week, and
low eudaemonic well-being) but also one adaptive outcome (limited positive
affect). The second canonical function was predicted by harmonious passion
and only involved adaptive outcomes (positive affect, the absence of negative
affect and problematic gaming behaviors, and high psychological well-being).
Of major importance for the present discussion are the findings that obses-
sive passion for online gaming was positively related to problematic gaming
behaviors as a way to escape from problems. Harmonious passion was unre-
lated to such behaviors.
Finally, additional research has looked at the role of passion in other
potentially problematic behaviors such as online shopping. Thus, C. C. Wang
and Yang (2007) had participants complete the Passion Scale for online shop-
ping and an online shopping dependency scale. Similarly, other authors have
started to look at the role of passion in addiction in a number of behaviors
such as online auction (C. C. Wang & Chen, 2008), recreational drug use
(Davis & Rosenberg, 2014), internet pornography (Rosenberg & Krause,
2014), and exercise dependence (Paradis, Cooke, Martin, & Hall, 2013;
Parastatidou, Doganis, Theodorakis, & Vlachopoulos, 2014). Overall, results
from these studies reveal that having a predominant obsessive passion puts
one at greater risk of developing an addiction than harmonious passion.
In sum, preliminary evidence reveals that obsessive passion may con-
tribute to rigidly persisting in a potentially problematic behavior when one
should not. This was evident with pathological gambling, excessive online
gaming, online excessive shopping, and exercise dependence. The role of
harmonious passion is quite different because it serves to protect the person
from experiencing problems associated with prolonged engagement in prob-
lematic behaviors and may even lead one to derive some positive affective
outcomes from such engagement. Research on the role of passion in other
types of problematic activities (e.g., overeating behavior, sado and masoch-
ist sexual practices etc.) is necessary to generalize the present findings.
One aspect we wish to underscore, however, is that although obses-
sive passion may predict rigidly persisting in potentially problematic
behaviors, this does not mean that it is equivalent to addiction. One key
distinction between obsessive passion and addiction is one’s love for the
activity. With obsessive passion, one still loves the passionate activity and
looks forward to engaging in it again. However, with addiction, at some
point one’s love for the activity subsides and one wishes to stop engag-
ing in it (e.g., Frankfurt & Watson, 1982; Rinehart & McCabe, 1997).
Unfortunately, the person cannot. Thus, obsessive passion and addiction
are different constructs. In fact, one could see obsessive passion as a pre-
cursor of addiction (see Vallerand & Verner-Filion, 2014). Longitudinal
research is needed in order to identify the similarities and distinctions
between obsessive passion and addiction.
SUMMARY
In the present chapter, the role of passion for activities in psychological well-
being was detailed. Harmonious passion was found to facilitate recurrent
positive experiences in the activity that spill over in one’s life in general and
thus facilitate sustainable psychological well-being. Further, harmonious
passion also protects against the experience of negative affect, psychologi-
cal conflict, and psychological ill-being. Conversely, obsessive passion was
found to minimize the experience of positive affect and psychological well-
being and to even facilitate negative affect, conflict with other life activities,
and psychological ill-being such as burnout. Finally, harmonious passion was
found to be necessary to derive positive outcomes from engaging in adap-
tive activities, while this was not the case for obsessive passion. Conversely,
obsessive passion was found to promote long-term engagement and rigid
persistence in problematic activities, leading to negative outcomes. Such was
not the case for harmonious passion. Additional research is needed to fully
test the tenets of the DMP as it pertains to the causal role of obsessive pas-
sion in addiction over time.
w
C H A P T ER 9
Passion and Physical Health
N obody wants to be sick. We then feel miserable and ineffective. No

wonder that each year hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on the
healthcare system worldwide. But is health only the absence of illness? Can
we conceive of different degrees of “wellness” that would describe states that
go beyond the absence of illness? Remember times when you felt strong,
alive, and full of energy and stamina? When you were physically so strong
that you felt that you could tackle one chore after the other, even late in the
evening? What if you were in such a thriving state of physical wellness on a
regular basis? And what does passion have to do with health? After all, isn’t
passion only useful when all goes well and when one is healthy and able to
engage in the passionate activity?
In this chapter, I make the case that passion is involved in health. In
fact, I suggest that passion can play a major role in health. This takes place
through at least three major pathways. First, passion can facilitate engage-
ment in health-promoting activities such as physical activity. For example, a
passion for tennis should allow one to derive the positive physiological ben-
efits from regular engagement in physical activity that can have important
health effects. Second, passion for any type of activity (not only physical)
should provide us with high levels of energy, a desirable health outcome in
and of itself. Finally, passion (especially harmonious passion) for any type
of activity can trigger adaptive emotional states that can protect us against
illnesses as well as facilitate wellness.
This chapter contains four major sections. In the first section, I make the
case for a more growth-oriented health model wherein the person plays a
more active role in his or her health and where passion can contribute to
wellness and prevent illness. I then document each of the three pathways
through which passion can affect health. Specifically, in the second section,
I explore the role of passion in heavy and sustained engagement in physical
( 219 )
activity. The third section deals with the role of passion in providing one with
energy and vigor (or its opposite, exhaustion) both during activity engage-
ment and afterward. Finally, the last section focuses on the mediating role of
affective states in the passion-health relationship.
PASSION AND HEALTH
From the Absence of Illness to Wellness
A profound change has taken place in the realm of health over the years.
Whereas the medical field used to perceive health as the absence of illness
or disease, it is now accepted that simply being not ill is not equivalent
to being healthy. For instance, the World Health Organization wrote the
following over 65 years ago: “Health is a state of complete positive physi-
cal, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity” (preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization,
1948). In the preceding chapter, we have discussed the role of passion in
mental health (or psychological well-being). The analogy used for men-
tal health can be used here. Thus, just as mental health is not simply the
absence of mental illness (as seen in Chapter 8), being physically healthy
goes beyond not being ill. Being physically healthy means thriving physi-
cally and having one’s body function at its full capacity. Of course, in order
to do so, one needs to be free of illness. But this is not enough. To be fully
physically thriving, one needs to also be full of physical energy and vital-
ity in order to carry out a full day of work, fun activities, and much more.
As we will see below, however, such a wellness-oriented perspective has
been neglected for a long time, in part because of the model that has been
adopted.
From the Biomedical to a Growth-Oriented Model
The health care system has relied historically on the biomedical model. Such
a model rests mainly on three main assumptions (see Taylor & Sirois, 2008).
First, the biomedical model puts the emphasis on curing illnesses. Second,
it does so through solely biological means. And third, the medical doctor
is the expert and the patient is a passive recipient of medical services who
has little or no input in the medical process. The biomedical model has been
hugely successful, especially at the beginning of the twentieth century, help-
ing eradicate infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. However, since then,
much research in the field of health psychology has shown the limits of
the biomedical model in each of its three basic assumptions. For instance,
Pa s s i o n a n d P h y s i c a l H e a lt h ( 221 )
although it is clear that curing illnesses is necessary, a prevention approach

is also necessary in order to prevent illness from striking first. AIDS in
Africa is a case in point. If we do not prevent its occurrence, it may spread
across the entire African continent (De Cock, Jaffe, & Curran, 2012). Second,
although biological interventions may never be replaced, much research has
shown psychological processes to be involved in helping people recover faster
from various illnesses such as cardiovascular disease (e.g., Buchanan, 1995;
Scheier et al., 1989). Thus, psychological factors, including emotional pro-
cesses (e.g., Cohen & Pressman, 2006), should be part of the health arsenal.
Finally, increasing research shows that some of the best results are obtained
when the patient is actively involved in the medical process where possible.
For instance, diabetes patients adhere much more to their treatment when
they have had the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process
(e.g., Williams, McGregor, King, Nelson, & Glasgow, 2005; Williams, Lynch, &
Glasgow, 2007).
The limits of the biomedical model have led to the biopsychosocial model
(Engel, 1977). In a nutshell, this model expands the biomedical model by cor-
recting some of its limits and incorporating some improvements. Thus, while
the biological dimension remains clearly important, the biopsychosocial
model also makes three central elements: (1) prevention is just as necessary
as biological interventions; (2) psychological and social psychological pro-
cesses are implicated in health; and (3) the individual (and his or her social
environment) should play an active part in the health process. One cannot
dispute the fundamental contribution of these three elements to a broader
health perspective.
At the same time, I would like to make two comments on this analysis.
First, while the biopsychosocial model moves us in the right direction, I sug-
gest that it does not give enough importance to the positive side of health.
Indeed, all three elements underscored by the biopsychosocial model still
focus on eradicating illness (which is obviously necessary) without focusing
on moving from an illness-free state to a thriving physical state of wellness.
I submit that a complete health model should encompass the entire illness/
wellness continuum, not simply the negative side (illness) (see Keyes, 2007,
for a similar analysis concerning mental health). Second, while all three
elements proposed by the biopsychosocial model are important in their
own right, I suggest that they can be conceived as three sub-elements of a
broader perspective that I would term a “growth-oriented model,” wherein
the person is actively involved in all aspects of his or her health, and not
only when involved with the medical system. For instance, the active per-
son could be seen as overseeing all aspects of his or her health by actively
adopting healthy forms of behavior in his or her daily living, such as exer-
cise (i.e., prevention), maintaining a positive outlook on life (i.e., the use
of adaptive psychological and social psychological processes), and when the
time comes, by being fully involved in the decision-making process with

the medical team when needed. Such a broader perspective, in which the
person is more autonomous, should not only prevent the negative side of
health-related problems, namely illness, but also maximize the positive side
of one’s health, namely wellness.
It is within such a growth-oriented perspective that the person can fully
thrive and be actively involved in minimizing illness and maximizing well-
ness. I suggest that passion can play a very important part in such a health
process in at least three ways: (1) motivating engagement in health-promoting
activities such as physical activity; (2) providing energy and vigor to daily liv-
ing; and (3) generating positive affective states known to positively contrib-
ute to health and protect against illnesses. Each of these three pathways to
health is discussed below.
PASSION AS UNDERLYING PHYSICAL

ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT
Regular engagement in exercise represents one of the most important

health-promoting types of behavior. Indeed, in order to be optimally healthy,
one needs to be in thriving physical shape. This means that we should have a
relatively appropriate body mass index (a rough index of the degree of lean-
ness of our body, obtained by dividing one’s weight in kg by the square of
one’s height in meters; it should optimally be between 18.5 and 25), good
muscle tone, and a relatively high level of energy that allows us to fully
engage in the day’s (and evening) activities. Research has documented the
fact that the best way to achieve such a physical state is to engage in exercise
of at least moderate intensity (where one is breathless) on a regular basis
(Wells, 2012). It is now recommended that adults engage in such exercise at
least five times per week for at least 30 minutes each time (and for children
60 minutes per day) (see Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults
18–64 years, 2013). That is around 2.5 hours per week out of the 112 hours
we have at our disposal, once sleep is removed. However, even if we do not
reach the recommended level of engagement, any engagement in exercise is
profitable to one’s health. Indeed, research reveals that engaging in as little
as 15 minutes of physical activity per day can decrease mortality by 14% or
add three years to your life (Wen et al., 2011). Furthermore, exercise can also
add life to your years. Indeed, engaging in physical activity can be a great
source of fun and pleasure. In addition, from a health perspective, sustained
engagement in physical activity is likely to improve the various physiological
functions of our body (not to mention the psychological ones as well, as we
have seen in Chapters 7 and 8) to the point where we will not only prevent ill-
nesses but also go into the wellness zone and thrive physically (Wells, 2012).
Now, we all know that we should engage in exercise, right. But do we do

it? If you look around, you will see that very few people do it, as exemplified
by the current obesity epidemic. People might say that they do not have the
time to do it, or that it’s not for them. But what if people were passionate
for some form of physical exercise? What if they loved exercising, found it
important, and saw themselves as exercisers? Would they exercise regularly?
As seen in this book so far, research reveals that people who are passionate
about an activity spend on average 8.5 hours per week on their passionate
activity. So, if people were to be passionate about exercise, they would engage
in some form of physical activity for probably 8 hours per week, which is way
beyond the 2.5 weekly hours presently recommended by health experts. If
they were to do this, people would move clearly into the wellness zone.
So, having a passion for some forms of physical activity represents a first
way in which passion can contribute to health. In light of the above, three
hypotheses can be derived from the DMP. First, being passionate for a form
of physical activity should lead to heavy engagement in it (several hours per
week, or at the very least the 2.5 weekly recommended hours). Second, if
someone is passionate for some type of physical activity, such a regimen
should be sustained over several years, sometimes a lifetime, as passion leads
to high levels of persistence in the passionate activity. Of importance, such
sustained high engagement in physical activity should be similar for both the
harmonious and obsessive passions. Third, overall the quality of the health
effects of passion should differ as a function of the predominant type of pas-
sion, with harmonious passion leading to more beneficial effects than obses-
sive passion. This is due to the mindful, flexible, form of activity engagement
that harmonious provides over the rigid form of engagement that obsessive
passion entails. These hypotheses and their health effect implications are
reviewed below as they pertain to the level of engagement in physical activ-
ity and the protective nature of passion as it pertains to acute and chronic
injuries.
Passion Facilitates Sustained High Engagement

in Physical Activity
Five studies have looked at the role of passion in physical activity engage-
ment. Three of these studies have been conducted in exercise and two in
sports. In a first study on exercise (Parastatidou, Doganis, Theodorakis, &
Vlachopoulos, 2012), participants were Greek male and female middle-aged
adult exercisers who were members of different fitness centers. On aver-
age, they had been exercising for close to six years and were exercising
for over six hours each week at the time of the study. They engaged in a
variety of activities such as weight training, aerobic activities, personal
training, and so on. Participants completed a questionnaire that con-

tained the Greek Passion Scale for exercise (Parastatidou et al., 2012) and
a scale assessing exercise behavior, the Godin Leisure Time Exercise
Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985). This scale measures the weekly
frequency of mild, moderate, and strenuous exercise participants for more
than 15 minutes per session.
The results from the Parastatidou et al. (2012) study revealed at least
three findings of interest. First, exercisers were passionate. Indeed, although
the authors did not report the use the passion criterion items, the means on
the Harmonious and Obsessive Passion Subscales revealed that participants
had moderate to high levels of both types of passion. Second, results revealed
that both the harmonious and obsessive passions predicted engagement fre-
quency in strenuous exercise. Thus, both forms of passion predicted heavy
engagement in physical activity. Passion did not predict engaging in exercise
of low and moderate intensity. This last finding could be due to the fact that
these participants rarely engaged in a less demanding type of exercise, if at
all. Finally, positive correlations were also obtained between the harmonious
and obsessive passions and total months of engagement in exercise. Thus,
these findings provide support for the first two hypotheses derived from the
DMP with respect to the role of both types of passion in leading one to heav-
ily engage in exercise and to do so on a sustained basis over time.
Other exercise research has replicated the results from the Parastatidou
et al. (2012) study. Thus, in a study with undergraduate physical education
students, Halvari, Ulstad, Bagoien, and Skjesol (2009) found that partici-
pants displayed moderate to high levels of harmonious passion and that har-
monious passion positively predicted regular involvement in physical activity
(obsessive passion was not assessed by the authors). Similarly, in a study on
passion for yoga with middle-aged male and female English Canadians who
engaged in yoga on average for close to five hours each week, Carbonneau,
Vallerand, and Massicotte (2010, Study 2) found that the participants dis-
played high levels of harmonious passion but low levels of obsessive passion.
This may be a reflection of the nature of yoga, which favors a more relaxed,
non-obsessive type of involvement. Of greater interest, both the harmonious
and obsessive passions were positively related to the number of weekly hours
engaged in yoga. However, there were no significant correlations between
the two types of passion and the number of years of yoga engagement.
Two other studies have looked at the role of passion in sport engage-
ment, this time using athletes as participants. In the first study (Stephan,
Deroche, Brewer, Caudroit, & Le Scanff, 2009), participants were male and
female competitive long-distance runners from France with a mean age of
37 years. They trained on average three times per week and had been doing
so for an average of 10 years. Participants completed the Passion Scale for
running and a scale assessing the number of training sessions per week.
The results revealed two findings of interest. First, participants had a high
level of harmonious passion and a moderate level of obsessive passion.
Second, as expected, both the harmonious and obsessive passions predicted
the number of training sessions per week that they engaged in.
The second sport study (Gustafsson, Hassmén, & Hassmén, 2011) was
conducted with male and female high school students who engaged in one of
21 different individual and team sports at one of two Swedish sport acad-
emies. This study yielded slightly different findings. First, results revealed
that participants displayed high levels of both harmonious and especially
obsessive passion. Second, results from correlations revealed that only
obsessive passion correlated significantly with the number of weekly train-
ings. The lack of correlation with harmonious passion may have been due to
a restricted range in training time available. Because all participants were
living in national academies and trained with their sport team, there was
thus limited time for additional training. When the authors created groups
of harmoniously and obsessively passionate athletes, the number of weekly
training hours favored the latter (obsessively passionate) group but were
very similar (Ms = 11.6 vs. 10.9 hours). In any event, the results of this study
suggest that in certain conditions, such as a controlled training environment
(or perhaps an environment that is potentially obsessive in nature, as was
discussed in Chapter 8), obsessive passion may lead one to engage in physical
activity slightly more than harmonious passion.
Overall, the findings from the studies conducted so far on the relationship
between passion for exercise and/or sport and behavioral engagement in phys-
ical activity lead to five conclusions. The first conclusion is that participants
who engage in physical activity are highly passionate. Whether it is aerobic
classes, yoga, weight training, running or competitive sports, participants
who engage in physical activity display moderate to high levels of passion for
their activity. This is in line with other research with sport samples that has
shown participants to display high levels of passion in sport activities such
as basketball (Vallerand et al., 2006, Studies 1, 2, and 3; Vallerand, Mageau,
et al., 2008, Study 1), water polo and synchronized swimming (Vallerand,
Mageau, et al., 2008, Study 2), ice hockey (Amiot et al., 2006), soccer refer-
eeing (Philippe et al., 2009, Studies 1 and 2), and coaches of various sports
(Lafrenière et al., 2009). Thus, passion seems implicated in physical activity
engagement. Second, both the harmonious and obsessive passions predict
heavy engagement in physical activity. Participants surveyed in the reviewed
studies engaged in physical activity for at least twice as much and sometimes
much more than the recommended minimum 2.5 weekly hours. However, it
should be noted that the strength of the correlations between passion and
training time was typically moderate at best (correlations ranged between
.17 and .39). Of interest is the fact that those correlations involving obsessive
passion were somewhat higher than those with harmonious passion. This
last finding may reflect the rigid persistence that obsessive passion induces
in people where they train no matter what, irrespective of conditions. The
net result may be that overall having an obsessive passion leads one to exer-
cise slightly more. A third conclusion is that in most studies the two types
of passion also predict sustained engagement over time. It thus appears that
having a passion for a specific type of physical activity leads one to remain
engaged in this activity for years. It should be underscored that, as expected,
both forms of passion were found to predict heavy sustained engagement in
physical activity.
A fourth conclusion from the above studies is that the level of passion for
sports seems relatively higher than that for exercise. These findings should be
taken with caution, as the number of studies reviewed on exercise (n = 3) and
sports (n = 2) is limited. However, it should be noted that such findings are in
line with other studies that show that typically exercise participants report
lower levels of intrinsic motivation than sport participants (see Wilson,
Mack, & Gratta, 2008). This conclusion may be especially important from a
practical standpoint. Indeed, if passion leads to sustained heavy engagement
in physical activity and passion is higher for sport than for exercise, then
it might be more adaptive for someone to engage in sport than exercise to
ensure regular participation and ensuing health benefits. Of course, this is
a generalization, and some people who engage in weight training or aerobic
classes may also display high levels of passion for their activity. But on aver-
age, if one wants to maximize regular engagement in exercise, then choosing
a sport that fits one’s identity and at which one feels competent enough to
derive enjoyment and become passionate about may be the way to go.
A final conclusion is that at least two methodological considerations
need to be underscored. First, studies conducted so far in the field have
used self-reports of physical activity engagement (although one study used
the validated Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire). Clearly, future
research should use objective assessments because passionate participants
may be biased to report higher levels of engagement than would be objec-
tively warranted. Second, all studies used correlational design. Future
research should use experimental designs wherein passion is manipulated to
more clearly delineate the causal role of passion in sustained heavy engage-
ment in physical activity.
Passion Protects Against Acute Injuries During Exercise
We have seen in the previous section that regular engagement in physi-

cal activity leads to a variety of physiological benefits. We have also seen
that both the harmonious and obsessive passions predict sustained heavy
engagement in physical activity. Thus, it follows that being passionate
should facilitate physiological benefits and health. One of the perks of regu-
lar physical activity is that our body becomes more resistant to wear and
tear. Thus, perhaps another advantage of sustained engagement in exercise
that deserves attention is that people will develop the appropriate muscular
endurance that should not only allow them to engage successfully in exer-
cise but also to protect themselves from experiencing injuries. Passion might
indirectly lead us to be resistant to acute (or little nagging) injuries. Indeed,
one of the things that physiotherapists will tell you is that a large portion of
their clientele comes from “Sunday morning athletes” who engage in their
favorite activity only once in a while. Because their body is not ready to sus-
tain the physical demands of the activity, these people get injured. Such
should not be the case for passionate exercisers, as they engage regularly in
physical activity and thus should be protected from acute injuries such as
muscle pulls and twisted ankles. Further, because both types of passion lead
to sustained regular engagement in physical activity, they should both pro-
tect against acute injuries.
One study has looked at the issue. In this study, Rip, Fortin, and Vallerand
(2006) asked modern-jazz dance students and professional dancers with an
average of 11 years of dance experience to complete a questionnaire. The
questionnaire contained the Passion Scale for dancing and various questions
pertaining to injuries. One of the questions focused on the number of days
over the past 12 months when they could not dance because of acute injuries,
defined as injuries such as muscle pulls, twisted ankles, and the like that were
not recurring or chronic injuries. Results from partial correlations revealed
that both the harmonious and obsessive passions were negatively correlated
with the number of days missed because of acute injuries. In other words,
the more one is passionate, the less one is severely injured. Thus, being pas-
sionate for some form of physical activity such as dance serves to protect the
person from acute injuries while engaging in the activity.
It should be noted that being in top physical shape may also have its advan-
tages outside the dance floor. Indeed, if my passion for dancing leads me to
go through some demanding dancing regimens repeatedly over time without
injuring myself (and while getting stronger physically), then I should be able
to navigate the icy streets and sidewalks of Montreal during winter better
than non-exercisers. In light of the fact that hundreds of people each winter
sustain fractures following falls, I would suggest that this also counts as a
worthy additional health benefit from being passionate for exercise!
Passion and Chronic Exercise Injuries
Because our body is the instrument through which we engage in physi-

cal activity, overdoing it may mean getting injured. Does passionate
engagement lead one to being susceptible to injuries? And if so, which type
of passion may be more likely to do so? These questions have been asked
by Stephan et al. (2009). In this study, the authors had runners complete
the Passion Scale, a scale assessing their susceptibility to an injury in their
sport, and the number of injuries sustained during the preceding running
season. Results from regression analyses showed that obsessive passion
positively predicted perceived susceptibility to injury while controlling for a
number of variables, including the number of weekly training sessions and
years of experience in running. Harmonious passion was negatively related
to susceptibility to injury. Of additional interest, Stephan et al. reported
that obsessive (but not harmonious) passion was positively related to the
number of past injuries. Thus, it would appear that obsessive passion rep-
resents a risk factor for sport injuries. Such is not the case for harmonious
passion.
In the above study, Stephan et al. did not specifically look at chronic
injuries. They simply looked at susceptibility to injuries. In the Rip et al.
(2006) study discussed previously with modern-jazz dancers, the authors
did ask the dancers about chronic injuries. Apparently, the important ques-
tion with dancers is not whether or not they get injured, but rather how
they respond once they do (Turner & Wainwright, 2003). Obsessive pas-
sion, as we have seen in this book, is associated with rigid persistence.
Therefore, when injured, obsessive passion should lead people to not want-
ing to stop and to continue dancing, thereby leading to chronic injuries.
On the other hand, with harmonious passion, the person is mindful and
in control of the activity. Therefore, persistence is expected to be flexible,
allowing the harmoniously passionate dancers to let go and to stop danc-
ing when injured if there is a risk of developing a chronic injury. In the
Rip et al. (2006) study, dancers completed the Passion Scale for dancing
as well as questions pertaining to chronic injuries incurred over the past
year. Results from partial correlations revealed that obsessive passion was
positively related to the number of weeks missed due to chronic injuries,
whereas harmonious passion was unrelated to chronic injuries. The results
along with those for acute injuries are illustrated in Figure 9.1.
In sum, research reviewed in this section reveals that passion (both har-
monious and obsessive) predicts heavy engagement in physical activity that
is sustained over months and years. Further, both forms of passion can
provide protection against acute injuries. However, obsessive passion was
found to predict chronic injuries in dancers. Such is not the case for harmo-
nious passion that allows one to fully engage in physical activity without
sustaining chronic injuries. Future research is needed in order to replicate
these results with other types of physical activities. Of additional impor-
tance is the need to replicate the studies on injuries with more objective
medical records.
Harmonious Passion Obsessive Passion

0.5
0.4
0.3
Partial Correlations
0.2
0.1
0
–0.1
–0.2
–0.3
–0.4
–0.5
# of Weeks Missed Due # of Weeks Missed Due
to Acute Injuries to Chronic Injuries
Figure 9.1:
The Role of Passion in Acute and Chronic Injuries.
Adapted from Rip et al. (2006).
Chancing It: Obsessive Passion Leads to Risky Health Behavior
Physical activity can be tricky. We tremendously enjoy doing it and some-

times expectations of pleasure might lead us to engage in certain behaviors
that we should not do. Our passion can lead us to engage in risky behavior
that can have some dire consequences for our health. Consider the following.
“I have fell tens of times before and have suffered fractures. But I love ski-
ing even more each year” (Sarah Burke). Canadian athlete Sarah Burke was
an outstanding freestyle skier, a former world champion (2005), but most
of all she was seen as a pioneer of the superpipe event. She loved to jump
and to take risks. She died at the young age of 29 on January 19, 2012, nine
days after sustaining a fall while attempting a dangerous jump. This tragedy
raises the question of the role of passion in engaging in risky behavior that
can put one’s health in jeopardy. Specifically, can obsessive passion lead to
excess and move people to engage in fitness behavior when they should not,
thereby putting their health at risk? It need not be dangerous ski jumps like
Sarah Burke used to perform. It could be one last run down the mountain at
the end of a long ski day when one is tired. Or playing one more set in ten-
nis when the signs are there that one should stop. Can one say no when the
body has had enough, or is there a desire for more that one just cannot resist?
At some point, when health is at stake, people need to be able to disengage
and let go (Wrosch, Scheier, Carver, & Schulz, 2003). If one has a harmoni-
ous passion, one is more mindful and should be in a position to more easily
recognize the danger inherent in the situation and do so. Because of the flex-
ibility that harmonious passion entails, one can call it a day without feeling
bad about it. Not so for people with an obsessive passion. Because obsessive
passion leads to a rigid persistence for the activity, these are exactly the type
of people who may not be able to stop and who may put themselves at risk of
sustaining an injury.
Take cycling. In the spring, summer, and fall, this activity can be a lot
of fun and can promote one’s health. However, the reality in the winter can
be very different (at least in the Province of Quebec). The roads are icy and
full of snow, and they make cycling a very hazardous affair that may lead to
falls and injuries. Clearly, it would be advisable not to cycle under such condi-
tions. If the hypothesis on the rigid persistence induced by obsessive passion
is correct, then obsessive passion should lead one to engage in risky behav-
iors such as winter cycling. On the other hand, if we are correct with respect
to the flexible persistence of harmonious passion, then the latter should not
lead to such a behavior. Indeed, with harmonious passion, people are more
mindful of the changing situations and can then adapt accordingly, and they
should be able to refrain from cycling in winter.
Vallerand and colleagues (2003, Study 3) have tested these hypotheses
with regular cyclists from the general population. Participants completed
the Passion Scale in August with respect to cycling. Six months later, they
were contacted again through e-mail to determine who was still cycling in
February. Results showed that only 30% of participants were still cycling in
winter. It was found that those persistent cyclists had reported higher lev-
els of obsessive passion six months earlier than those who did not cycle in
the winter. No differences were found with respect to harmonious passion.
Results from a discriminant function analysis further revealed that obses-
sive passion was able to correctly predict group membership in 79% of all
cases. Thus, obsessive passion may negatively affect people’s health by leading
them to engage in certain risky activities that they should not (such as cycling
under dangerous conditions). Such is not the case for harmonious passion.
Although informative, the above study (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 3)
did not show that those who cycled during the winter saw winter cycling
as dangerous. They may be quite cautious and may even see such behav-
ior as relatively safe. So, the question remains, does obsessive passion lead
one to engage in risky behavior? In a study with swing dancers (Harvey &
Vallerand, 2013), participants were asked to complete the Passion Scale and
their level of engagement in moves that they recognized as safe or danger-
ous. The results revealed that only obsessive passion positively predicted
engaging in both safe and dangerous acrobatics (such as air steps). For harmo-
nious passion there was only a tendency (p <.11) to positively predict engag-
ing in safe acrobatics. There was no relationship with dangerous acrobatics. It
would thus appear that obsessive (but not harmonious) passion does lead to
engaging in behavior that is dangerous and risky. Akehurst and Oliver (2013)
also found that obsessive (but not harmonious) passion predisposed profes-
sional modern-jazz and ballet dancers to engage in risky behavior.
PASSION AS ENERGY PROVIDER
It has long been inferred that engaging in activities out of passion pro-
vides energy. For instance, it will be recalled that the famous entrepreneur
Donald Trump posited that “[w]‌ithout passion, you don’t have energy, with-
out energy, you have nothing” (see Table 1.1, Chapter 1). Research seems to
support Trump. Indeed, we have seen in Chapter 6 that passionate people
are perceived as energetic and enthusiastic (Cardon et al., 2009; Chen et al.,
2009). Of greater importance, people who are passionate for a given activ-
ity report having high levels of energy and enthusiasm (e.g., Donahue et al.,
2012; Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al., 2008, Study 2). What is proposed here is
that one reason that passionate people are seen as having high energy levels
is that such energy is provided by the passion they have for their favorite
activity. Thus, engaging in a passionate activity should provide us with high
levels of energy and vitality because we engage in something that we love
and that we find meaningful. Experiencing enjoyment, enthusiasm, mean-
ing, and purpose for some activity I do (any activity, not just physical activ-
ity) represents a very powerful combination that is likely to generate fuel and
high levels of energy and vitality.
However, what I would like to propose is that not only should we experi-
ence high energy during engagement in the passionate activity, but we should
also do so following activity engagement. This second effect is most likely to
take place with harmonious passion. This is because harmonious passion
opens up access to adaptive self-processes that help regenerate our batter-
ies. Imagine if engaging in a fun and meaningful activity left people with
more energy after engagement than when they came in. This would repre-
sent a valued health outcome on two counts. First, people could now use this
renewed energy to embark in other life activities with more zest, such as
adaptive recovery activities (Sonnentag, 2003) that can provide some health
benefits in their own right. Second, having more energy at our disposal can
allow us to resist temptations such as smoking, eating junk food, and drink-
ing excessively that may be harmful to our health (Baumeister et al., 1994),
thereby further promoting our health. Thus, the role of passion in energy
during and after activity engagement would appear to represent an impor-
tant consideration. However, if my passion for a given activity leaves me with
less energy than before, then such a loss in energy can eventually leave me in
a state of exhaustion and depletion that could negatively affect my immune
system and lead to important health problems.
Below, I focus on two streams of research that address the above issues.
First, the role of passion in energy and vigor experienced during activity
engagement is reviewed. Second, the same effects are assessed but this time
as experienced following activity engagement. In addition, research on an
opposite state of low energy, namely emotional exhaustion, is also reviewed.
It should be underscored that in the studies reviewed, the activities engaged
in were varied and did not pertain only to the exercise domain.
Harmonious Passion Provides High Energy

During Activity Engagement
Some studies have looked at the relationship between passion and energy
during engagement in physical activity. In line with the DMP, it was
hypothesized that harmonious passion would be more positively related to
high energy than obsessive passion because it provides access to adaptive
self-processes devoid of conflict, thereby preventing the person from wasting
unnecessary energy. In a first study involving male and female competitive
high school basketball players, Vallerand et al. (2006, Study 2) asked par-
ticipants to complete the Passion Scale as well as the Vitality Scale (Ryan &
Fredrick, 1997) with respect to when they play basketball in general (e.g., “I
feel alive and full of energy when I play basketball”). Results from partial cor-
relations revealed that harmonious passion was positively and significantly
correlated with vitality. In contrast, obsessive passion was unrelated to it.
In another study, Rousseau and Vallerand (2008) had male and female
senior citizens (M age = 66 years) who were passionate for exercise to com-
plete short questionnaires at two points in time separated by five weeks. At
Time 1, they completed the Passion Scale. Then, at Time 2, they completed
the Positive Engagement subscale of the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory
(EFI; Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993), a scale that assesses high energy during exer-
cise. Results from a path analysis revealed that only harmonious passion pos-
itively predicted high energy (the Positive Engagement subscale) five weeks
later during the exercise class. Obsessive passion was unrelated to it. These
findings were replicated in a study with soccer fans that showed that har-
monious passion positively predicted the experience of enthusiasm during
the 2006 World Cup, while obsessive passion did not (Vallerand, Ntoumanis,
et al., 2008).
In a final study, Stoeber, Childs, Hayward, and Feast (2011) had under-
graduate students complete the Passion Scale for their studies and a scale
assessing vigor experienced while studying (e.g., “When studying, I feel
strong and vigorous”). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for one’s studies
were also assessed. Results from regression analyses revealed that both the
harmonious and obsessive passions positively predicted vigor during activity
engagement while statistically controlling for intrinsic and extrinsic motiva-

tion (they did not significantly predict vigor).
In sum, the above studies paint a very coherent picture: harmonious pas-
sion leads to higher levels of energy, vigor, and enthusiasm during the activ-
ity and irrespective of the type of activity, while obsessive passion is unrelated
to energy in sport and exercise but positively related to it in a more cogni-
tive task such as studying (Stoeber et al., 2011). Future research is needed
to replicate these last findings. Of interest is that most participants were
middle-aged men and women and also included male and female senior citi-
zens (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008). Thus, these findings do not only apply
to students and young adults but also to older individuals. Because it can
go a long way in facilitating both mental and physical health in old age, it
appears that harmonious passion can have a positive indirect impact on
health through the energy it triggers.
Harmonious Passion Also Provides Energy

Following Activity Engagement
Other studies have looked at the relationship between passion and energy
experienced following activity engagement. In a study involving gaming,
discussed previously, Przybylski et al. (2009) had video game players com-
plete an online questionnaire that contained the Passion Scale as well as
the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Checklist (Thayer, 1986). This mea-
sure contains scales assessing post-play energy (feeling active, energetic,
vigorous, etc.) and post-play tension (e.g., feeling jittery, fearful, etc.) after
having played. As expected, results of correlations revealed that harmoni-
ous passion was positively related to post-play energy, but was unrelated to
post-play tension. In contrast, obsessive passion was positively related to
both post-play energy and post-play tension (although the correlation with
post-play energy was weaker than that involving harmonious passion).
Of interest is that a series of four studies have also assessed the extent
to which activity engagement leads people to feeling empty and exhausted
from their engagement in the activity. In their study with Swedish athletes
in sports academy, Gustafsson et al. (2012) also had athletes complete the
Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) that includes the
dimension of emotional exhaustion (e.g., “I feel overly tired from my par-
ticipation in basketball”). Results from partial correlations controlling for
the other type of passion revealed that harmonious passion was negatively
related to emotional exhaustion while obsessive passion was positively
related to it. These findings were partially replicated in a study with high
school men and women basketball players (Lalande et al., 2014, Study 3),
where it was found that obsessive passion was positively (and significantly)
correlated with emotional exhaustion while harmonious passion was unre-

lated to it. In the third study, Stoeber et al. (2011) found that harmonious
passion was negatively related to exhaustion, but no significant relation-
ship was obtained for obsessive passion. Finally, in the last study (Curran,
Appleton, Hill, & Hall, 2011), conducted with young male elite soccer players,
results revealed no significant correlation between either type of passion and
emotional exhaustion.
Overall, the results from the studies reviewed in this section lead to
one clear conclusion: after having engaged in an activity out of harmoni-
ous passion, one experiences more energy and overall less tension and
emotional exhaustion than if one’s engagement was fueled by obsessive
passion. While obsessive passion may at times leave one with an increase
in energy, such energy is also accompanied with tension and sometimes
with exhaustion and thus may have some costs. Thayer (1987) has shown
that the constructs of “calm-energy” versus “tense-energy” obtained by
crossing energy level by the calm-tension dimension are not equivalent,
as they can lead to different implications for one’s health. Calm-energy
is associated with more positive health outcomes than tense-energy (see
Thayer, 1987). Based on the results from the Przybylski et al. (2009)
study, it would appear that harmonious passion is characterized by a
calm-energy and obsessive passion by tense-energy. Future research is
needed to replicate these findings and to ascertain the consequences of
these two types of energy on the health of individuals who are passionate
for a given activity.
A second conclusion, which is less definitive, deals with the potential pro-
tection offered by harmonious passion and the negative effects of obsessive
passion in respect to emotional exhaustion. Such a buffer effect was obtained
in two studies, while no relationship was found in two other studies. In con-
trast, obsessive passion was positively related to emotional exhaustion in
two studies but was found to be unrelated in the other studies. The results
do not seem to depend on the type of activity, as harmonious passion was
negatively related to exhaustion in both a sport (Gustafsson et al., 2012) and
a cognitive study (Stoeber et al., 2011) and no relationship was found for
obsessive passion in both a sport (Curran et al., 2011) and a cognitive activ-
ity (Stoeber et al., 2011). Future research is needed to clarify the conditions
under which the two types of passion affect lack of energy and exhaustion.
The implications of these findings, while important with respect to any type
of activities, are particularly interesting as they pertain to physical activity.
Clearly, if engaging in physical activity leads one to feel burned out or even
tense, as is the case with obsessive passion, the overall beneficial physiologi-
cal effects of exercise may be diminished by the negative effects that exhaus-
tion may ultimately have on health. In contrast, it would appear that the
effects of harmonious passion on health are doubly positive, as the beneficial
effects of energy combine with those that the nature of the activity (exercise)
provides on the physiological side.
ON PASSION, AFFECT, AND HEALTH
In this section, I focus on studies that have looked at the relationship between
passion, affect, and health. One of the reasons why affect is important to look
at is that it has been found to be involved in health benefits such as longevity
(Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001). Four dimensions are scrutinized here.
First, the link between passion and health (and minor illnesses) is reviewed.
Second, the role of affect in health is surveyed. It will be seen that such a role
is multifaceted. Third, the link between passion and affect as pertains to a
specific illness, namely cancer, is addressed. Finally, because passion is an
important determinant of affect, and affect can influence health, research
that has integrated the three constructs is reviewed.
Passion and Health
Research has started to look at how passion for an activity may lead to
engagement in the passionate activity that may have some implications for
one’s health. One type of activity that has been surveyed is gaming. Gaming
is of interest because people may engage in these activities for excessively
long periods of time, leading them to disregard biological needs such as hun-
ger, thirst, and sleep. Over time, such neglect may take its toll on physical
health and people may come to experience illnesses, sometimes serious ones.
Stories abound of people who engaged in gaming for days and suffered seri-
ous health problems as a result (e.g., Chuang, 2006). In fact, in some cases,
prolonged engagement in gaming has led to death (Danger, 2009). Because of
the rigid persistence it entails, obsessive passion may positively predict such
extreme health problems. Indeed, people with an obsessive passion cannot
let go of the activity, become oblivious to their biological needs, and may
experience severe health problems. Conversely, because harmonious passion
allows one to remain mindful during activity engagement and entails a flex-
ible persistence in the activity, the person should then be able to stop activity
engagement when the time comes to attend to one’s biological needs. Thus,
harmonious passion should prevent hurtful health consequences.
In a first study on gaming (Lafrenière, Vallerand, Donahue, & Lavigne,
2009), participants were male and female Massively Multiplayer Online
gaming players (M age = 23 years). These games are interactive and always
ongoing, 24 hours a day. Thus, the nature of the game encourages players
to engage almost continuously in it. On average, participants in this study
engaged in their favorite gaming activity (e.g., World of Warcraft) for 22

hours per week. That is a lot of hours! Lafrenière et al. asked participants
to complete a number of scales online, including the Passion Scale for gam-
ing and a scale assessing physical symptoms (adapted from Emmons & King,
1988), with respect to various minor acute physical problems (e.g., appetite
loss, sleep disorders, dry eyes, etc.). Results revealed that, controlling for
age, gender, and the number of hours spent on gaming, obsessive passion
for gaming was found to positively predict negative physical symptoms. In
contrast, harmonious passion was unrelated to physical symptoms.
These findings were replicated in a second study on passion for gaming
(Przybylski et al., 2009) using a large number of male and female video game
players from a variety of types of video games who completed the Passion
Scale for gaming and a broad positive measure of physical health (i.e., general
health, physical functioning, absence of physical limitations, and absence of
pain). As expected, results of correlations revealed that obsessive passion
was negatively related to physical health, while harmonious passion was
unrelated to physical health.
These two studies on passion for gaming activities converge: obsessive
passion seems to negatively affect one’s health, while harmonious passion
is unrelated to it. However, it should be noted that these two studies simply
measured passion and physical symptoms at the same point in time. It is
then difficult to make the case that passion has causal influences on health.
One study (Carbonneau et al., 2010, Study 2) went further and looked at
changes in health outcomes that took place over a three-month period as a
function of passion for exercise. Carbonneau et al. (2010, Study 2) had men
and women passionate for yoga from most of the Provinces across Canada
complete the Passion Scale and a measure of minor illnesses in one’s life (a
physical symptoms measure from Berne, 1995) that included headaches, diz-
ziness, sleep disorders, and the like at Time 1 and again at Time 2, three
months later. The results from structural equation modeling analyses (con-
trolling for the number of weekly hours and years of involvement in yoga)
revealed that only harmonious passion predicted decreases in (negative)
physical symptoms over the three-month period. Obsessive passion did not
predict changes in physical symptoms.
In sum, research overall on the relationship between passion and health
reveals that harmonious passion has a more positive relationship to health
than obsessive passion. However, it should be underscored that the particu-
lars of this relationship vary from one study to the next. For instance, while
harmonious passion was unrelated to positive (Przybylski et al., 2009) and
negative health indices (Lafrenière et al., 2009), it predicted decreases in
minor physical problems over time (Carbonneau et al., 2010, Study 2). On
the other hand, obsessive passion was positively (Lafrenière et al., 2009) and
negatively related (Przybylski et al., 2009) to negative and positive health
indices, respectively, but was unrelated to changes in a negative health index

that took place over time (Carbonneau et al., 2010). So, overall, while these
findings suggest that harmonious passion contributes more positively to
health than obsessive passion, future research is needed to better under-
stand the intricacies of these different results that take place in the various
studies.
The Role of Affect in Health
Passion can also contribute to health indirectly through the benefits it has
on affect. Indeed, as was seen in Chapter 7, passion, especially harmonious
passion, for basically any activity (and thus not only physical activity) plays
a major part in facilitating positive affective states. Research has typically
shown that positive affect has some positive effects on health (Fredrickson,
2009). Of major interest are the findings that suggest that positive affect
may contribute to longevity. For instance, in the now famous longitudinal
“Nun Study,” Danner, Snowdon, and Friesen (2001) related the positive
affect displayed in a written segment by nuns at age 20 to the number of
years they lived afterward, sometimes more than half a century later. What
is important is that these nuns were living in a cloister and thus shared the
same living conditions throughout their whole life. The results revealed that
those nuns who were in the upper half in terms of positive affect at age 20
ended up living 9 years more than those in the bottom half!
Of additional interest is the fact that research by Pressman and Cohen
(2012) suggest that it may not be all positive affect that is conducive to lon-
gevity but positive affect that entails some higher levels of activation to be
found in emotions such as lively, vigorous, and attentive. Although such emo-
tions may be experienced as a function of a number of variables, it is clear
that passion is likely to induce these types of positive emotions. It would
thus appear that passion positively affects longevity through the positive
emotions that it induces although not all forms of positive emotions may be
equally adaptive. Future research on this issue is necessary.
Other research suggests that positive affect can also protect people
against the negative effects of stress on health (see Cohen & Pressman, 2006;
Huppert, 2009; Marsland, Pressman, & Cohen, 2007). For instance, Cohen
et al. (2003) found that participants who had experienced high levels of posi-
tive affect over a three-week period before being exposed to a cold virus were
less likely to subsequently develop the cold than participants with lower lev-
els of positive affect. Other research has shown that positive affect not only
leads to a buffer effect against stress (Robles, Brooks, & Pressman, 2009), but
also leads to a quicker “rebound effect” (or recovery) after a stressful encoun-
ter (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). Other research with community-residing
elderly samples (e.g., Levy et al., 2002; Ostir et al., 2000) obtained similar
findings. There seems to be one exception: positive affect may be harmful
in situations where people are not in good health (see Pressman & Cohen,
2005). The level of activation inherent in the emotion may be at play, with
high levels of activation (e.g., excitement) having a negative effect on the
immune system of sick people. However, these findings are not entirely clear,
and research is needed on this issue.
Research also reveals that negative affect seems to be implicated in ill-
ness. For instance, in a diary study in which undergraduate students were
followed over 21 days, Emmons (1991) found that on days in which high
levels of unpleasant affect were experienced, more common physical symp-
toms of minor illness (e.g., headache, backache, colds, etc.) were experienced.
Similarly, Brown and Moskowitz (1997), using a similar methodology, found
that negative affect predicted higher levels of minor illnesses. The above
research was correlational in nature. Using an experimental induction of
negative affect, Knapp and colleagues (1992) found that negative emotions
led to less adaptive physiological functioning, such as mitogenic lymphocyte
reactivity and increases in systolic blood pressure.
In a classic study on the role of negative affect in minor illness, Cohen,
Tyrell, and Smith (1993) monitored undergraduate students’ level of nega-
tive affect experienced the week before receiving a low, infectious dose of
a common cold virus. Participants were then quarantined. Results revealed
that participants who had experienced higher levels of negative affect the
week before were more likely to become infected with the virus (and thus to
catch a cold), controlling for a number of factors (gender, age, stress, weight,
health practices, etc.). More recent research reveals that one of the pathways
through which the negative effects of negative affect take place could be the
immune system (for a review, see Segerstrom & Miller, 2004).
Passion and Affect in Illness
The research reviewed above underscores the fundamental role of affect in

health-related outcomes. However, such research did not assess passion.
Recent research has looked at the role of passion for a given activity in the
quality of affect derived from passionate activity engagement in a popula-
tion dealing with a specific illness, namely breast cancer (Burke, Sabiston, &
Vallerand, 2012). Much research reveals that breast cancer represents the
second major leading cause of cancer death in women (right after lung can-
cer; Canadian Cancer Society, 2010). Based on the Canadian Cancer Society,
approximately 20,000 Canadian women are diagnosed with breast cancer
each year! The prognosis of such a cancer improves every year. For instance,
88% of breast cancer survivors show a five-year survival rate following
diagnosis. While these numbers are encouraging, they still hide an important
fact. Women diagnosed with breast cancer suffer emotionally. They experi-
ence depression, anxiety, and distress that can have a number of negative
effects on their lives, including some on one’s physical health. For instance,
Brown, Levy, Rosberger, and Edgar (2003) showed that negative affect, espe-
cially depressive symptomology, is an important predictor of shortened sur-
vival time, controlling for several demographic and medical risk factors. It
may very well be that experiencing negative affective states due to one’s can-
cer condition leads to lower longevity and additional negative effects on the
breast cancer survivor’s health.
This is probably where having a passion for a meaningful activity can
have important protective and potentially life-saving effects on one’s life.
As seen in this chapter, if one can regularly engage in a passionate activity
such as walking (one of the favorite passionate activities in breast-cancer
survivors), then the positive physiological and emotional effects could
combine, leading to the most beneficial health effects, especially if the pas-
sion is harmonious in nature. A study by Burke et al. (2012) has started to
look at the role of passion in the affective states of breast-cancer survivors.
Participants were 177 breast cancer survivors with a mean age of 55 years.
They had been diagnosed with Stage I to III breast cancer and had under-
gone multiple treatments for the disease (e.g., surgery, chemotherapy). They
did not have additional health concerns preventing them from engaging in
various activities such as exercise. Participants completed a questionnaire
that contained the Passion Scale, as well as scales assessing positive and
negative affect (the PANAS Scale) and the Assessment of Cancer Concerns
(Gotay & Pagano, 2007), a scale to assess worries of cancer recurrence.
Cancer worry has been found to predict depression and other psychological
problems associated with experiencing a condition such as cancer.
The results of a path analysis yielded three results of interest. These find-
ings are illustrated in Figure 9.2. First, in general, a picture in line with the
research reported previously in this chapter was obtained. Specifically, har-
monious passion for a given activity (not necessarily for a physical activity)
positively predicted positive affect but negatively related to cancer worry
(there was also a non-significant negative relationship with negative affect).
In contrast, obsessive passion positively predicted both negative affect and
cancer worry and was unrelated to positive affect. These results corroborate
past findings on the role of passion in affective states. Further, these find-
ings suggest that having a harmonious passion for a given activity may pro-
tect one from cancer through the protection it provides against cancer worry
and the positive indirect impact it may have on health through its impact on
positive affect. Conversely, through its positive impact on negative affect and
cancer worry, obsessive passion may put one at risk of cancer resurgence and
shortened survival time (Brown, Levy, Rosberger, & Edgar, 2003).
Positive
Affect
.24*
Harmonious Negative
Passion Affect
–.19* .23*
Obsessive .24* Post-traumatic

Passion Growth
.21*
Cancer Worry
Figure 9.2:
The Role of Passion in Post Cancer Treatment Outcomes.
Adapted from Burke, Sabiston, & Vallerand (2012).
The second finding was somewhat more surprising. In this study, par-
ticipants also completed the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeshi &
Calhoun, 1996). This scale assesses the extent to which cancer patients
have experienced positive changes (or growth) in five dimensions of their
lives: relating positively to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiri-
tual change, and appreciation of life. Results revealed that obsessive passion
was found to positively predict post-traumatic growth, and there was no rela-
tionship with harmonious passion. In other words, those with an obsessive
passion reported having found an increase in positive changes in their lives,
and this finding was not obtained with harmonious passion. A number of
explanations are possible. It can very well be the case that cancer was an
eye opening experience for some women, especially those with an obsessive
passion toward a given activity. Cancer may have led them to see life differ-
ently and to appreciate it more fully. Such may not have been the case for
women with a harmonious passion because they already had “a life.” Thus,
there was no need to change their lives that much. In addition, it is possible
that the negative affect and cancer worries that are generated by obsessive
passion lead one to re-examine one’s life and to make some changes leading
to growth in some areas. Clearly future longitudinal research is needed to
test these hypotheses.
Finally, results also revealed that almost 50% of the women engaged
in a number of physical activities ranging from sports to walking and
swimming. Other non-physical activities included painting, photography,
reading, and listening to music. Of applied interest, women who reported

engaging in more relaxing leisure pursuits (e.g., reading, listening to music)
experienced lower levels of harmonious passion than those who engaged in
more active types of activities such as physical activity. Thus, the type of
activities that cancer patients engage in may matter, as this seems to affect
the level of harmonious passion experienced, which, in turn, is known to
facilitate positive affect and to protect against cancer worry with ensuing
health effects. These findings have some clear implications for community
programs.
The Integrated Role of Passion, Affect, and Health
We have seen in Chapter 7 that typically, obsessive passion positively

(while harmonious passion negatively) predicts negative affect (e.g.,
Philippe, Vallerand, et al., 2010). Furthermore, health research reveals
that negative affect has negative effects on health (e.g., Brown, Levy,
Rosberger, & Edgar, 2003; Cohen et al., 1993). Thus, it follows that
harmonious passion should negatively predict (while obsessive passion
should positively predict) negative affect, which, in turn, should posi-
tively predict physical illness. In other words, through their respective
effects on negative affect, obsessive passion should lead to minor physi-
cal illnesses, while harmonious passion should protect against them. Two
studies have been conducted to test these hypotheses. In a first study
(Vallerand, Rousseau, & Dumais, 2013, Study 1), male and female elite
high school basketball players completed a questionnaire during a pro-
vincial tournament. The questionnaire contained the Passion Scale, the
negative affect subscale from the PANAS Scale, and a scale assessing
various negative physical symptoms, as seen previously. Results from a
path analysis provided support for the proposed model. Specifically, the
harmonious and obsessive passions negatively and positively predicted
negative affect, respectively, which, in turn, positively predicted negative
physical symptoms.
The model obtained in Study 1 was tested in a prospective study that took
place over a five-month period (Vallerand, Rousseau, & Dumais, 2013, Study
2). The authors had elite high school water polo and synchronized swimmers
(including some who were part of their respective junior national teams)
complete two questionnaires over a complete season. The questionnaire at
Time 1 contained the Passion Scale as well as the negative affect subscale
used in the first study, while the questionnaire at Time 2 simply contained
the negative physical symptoms scale (adapted from Emmons, 1991) used
in the first study. It was hypothesized that harmonious passion would nega-
tively, while obsessive passion would positively, predict negative emotions
TIME 1 (October) TIME 2 (March)
HARMONIOUS
PASSION
(water polo) –.28
R2 = .31 R2 = .12
NEGATIVE
.34 PHYSICAL
EMOTIONS
SYMPTOMS
(water polo)
.48
OBSESSIVE
PASSION
(water polo)
Figure 9.3:
The Mediating Role of Negative Emotions in the Passion-Physical Symptoms Relationship.
that, in turn, would positively predict the negative physical symptoms expe-
rienced five months later. Results of a path analysis provided support for the
hypothesized model. These findings are displayed in Figure 9.3.
In sum, the results from these last two studies provide empirical support
for the mediating role of negative emotions between passion and health.
Specifically, harmonious passion protects one against minor illnesses by
leading people to experience lower levels of negative affect. Conversely,
obsessive passion leads to health problems through its positive relationship
to negative affect. Clearly, the harmonious and obsessive passions lead to
different health effects, and negative affect is the mediator. These findings
are in line with past research on the role of negative affect in health prob-
lems (e.g., Cohen et al., 1993; Segerstrom & Miller, 2004). Future research
is needed to determine the potential protective role of positive affect in the
harmonious passion-health relationship.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, the role of passion in health was addressed. I first proposed
that a growth-oriented health model provides a more complete view of both
the illness and wellness perspectives in health wherein the person plays a
more active role in his or her health and where passion can contribute to well-
ness and prevent illness. I then documented three pathways through which
passion can affect health. Specifically, I elaborated on the role of both types
of passion in heavy and sustained engagement in physical activity, in provid-

ing one with energy and vigor (or prevention of the opposite, exhaustion)
both during and following activity engagement, and finally in the mediat-
ing role of affective states in the passion-health relationship. While much
research remains to be done, passion does matter as it pertains to physical
health.
w
C H A P T ER 10
Passion and Performance and Creativity
W hen one looks at some of the outstanding performers in various

fields of endeavors, one can only be in awe of the high levels of
proficiency that they display. Let’s take Bob Dylan, Michael Jordan, and
Bill Gates. These three individuals have come to redefine the fields of
music, sports (basketball), and computer technology, respectively. For
instance, Dylan has written around 1,000 (good) songs, recorded 35 orig-
inal albums, sold over 100 million records, won 11 Grammy awards, and
has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, over a 50-year
career that as of 2014 was still going strong. Jordan has been recognized
as arguably the best basketball player of all time, with a variety of records
such as finishing top scorer of the regular season 10 times, being the only
player in the history of the National Basketball Association to finish top
scorer of the regular season and being named the defensive player of the
year (in other words, the best offensive and defensive player during the
same season), being named 14 times an all-star, and being inducted into
the Basketball Hall of Fame. Finally, Bill Gates is widely known as the
famous cofounder and past CEO of Microsoft, who has developed new
computer programs year after year for over 35 years. So, why is it that
these three individuals have achieved such high levels of performance
and, in some cases, creativity? I suggest that passion for their craft is the
answer.
In this chapter, I review research dealing with the role of passion in
performance and creativity. I first address the issue of the determinants
of high-level performance, including passion. Having shown that passion
is involved in performance, I then focus on the processes involved in both
long-term and short-term performance. Finally, I look at the role of passion
in creativity.
( 244 )
Pa s s i o n a n d P e r f o r m a n c e a n d C r e a t i v i t y ( 245 )
ON THE DETERMINANTS OF
HIGH-LEVEL PERFORMANCE
Several determinants of high-level performance have been proposed. Three

such factors are presented here: natural ability, special circumstances, and
passion.
Natural Ability
Over the years, much effort has been expended to identify some of the fac-
tors involved in expert performance (see Ericsson, 1996; Starkes & Ericsson,
2003). Some authors have suggested that natural talent is one of the key
elements (see Gagné, 2007). Indeed, some minimal talent or ability would
appear to be necessary to achieve the highest levels of excellence in most
fields of endeavor. For instance, if one is color-blind, it might prove highly
difficult to become an acclaimed painter. Similarly, if you are a “vertically
challenged” (or very short), it might prove difficult to become a profes-
sional basketball player. But there are exceptions. For instance, at 5'3" (1.60
meters) Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues has enjoyed a stellar career in the National
Basketball Association where the average height is 6'7" (slightly more than 2
meters). Boggs was a starting point guard on the four teams he played for. He
played for the Charlotte Hornets for 10 years and he still holds team records
for minutes played, total number of assists, and total number of steals. Thus,
while “natural” ability, such as height in basketball, is indeed important, it
surely does not explain all, as evidenced by Bogues’ performance.
To go back to our examples of Bob Dylan and Michael Jordan as top per-
formers, it is often overlooked that both of them initially failed at their craft.
Indeed, Dylan (known as Robert Zimmerman then) was often booed off the
stage and could not complete his sets. Further, his band mates often deserted
him early in his career in his home state of Minnesota. Obviously, if you are
told several times to get off the stage because your music and singing are not
appreciated, it goes without saying that you may not have an “innate talent”
for writing and signing songs. Similarly, people often forget that Jordan was
cut from his varsity high school basketball team when he first tried out for
the team. The fact that he was cut underscores that he may not have had
some “natural” ability or skills for basketball. Interestingly, research with
top-level athletes provides support for this claim (see Moran, 2009). Contrary
to popular belief, controlled laboratory research reveals that outstanding
athletes do not have faster reaction times than the normal population. What
they do have is a cognitive (knowledge) rather than physical advantage that
has developed over time with practice and that is specific to their sports. In
other words, top performers, like Jordan, do not have an innate advantage
over regular athletes and non-athletes. What advantage they have is specific
to their activity because they can pick up the cues that trigger, often auto-
matically, the appropriate response. Such an advantage is not innate, but
rather has been acquired through hard work and is specific to their realm of
activities. In fact, most athletes and top performers get upset when people
tell them that their success is due to their “innate ability” because such com-
ments downplay how hard they have worked to achieve success.
Special Circumstances
Other authors suggest that special circumstances are responsible for the
success of high performers. For instance, research with hockey players has
revealed an interesting phenomenon: A large proportion of those who make
it as professionals are born early in the year (January through March). Why
would that be? According to Barnsley and Thompson (1988), being born in
these early months of the year provides a physical advantage, as such chil-
dren are physically more mature than other children born later in the year.
For instance, if you are born in January and you compete in hockey against
other players born in December, you are almost a full year older than these
other players. At age eight, a full year of physical development can make a
drastic difference in your strength and motor development. Because hockey
is a physical sport, being more mature physically may indeed yield an impor-
tant advantage over less mature players. Because most sports leagues are
organized by age levels, such an advantage is being repeated again and again
as one goes through the various ranks, until players are drafted to play in the
professional leagues. Similar findings have been obtained in other sports,
such as soccer (see Helsen, Starkes, & Winckel, 2000; Musch & Grondin,
2001). So, a special circumstance such as being born early in the year may be
responsible for one’s success in the realm of sports.
Another type of special circumstance has to do with what is to be found
in one’s environment. For instance, Malcolm Gladwell (2008) in his book
Outliers gives the example of Bill Gates. According to Gladwell, the reason for
Bill Gates’s success is that he benefited from access to a personal computer in
his high school, a rare feat at the time in the 1960s. Indeed, back in the day,
very few computers were to be found, let alone personal computers. Thus, it
might be the case that what one has access to (i.e., affordances; Gibson, 1979)
in a giving environment, such as a very rare personal computer, may actually
be responsible for achieving high levels of proficiency in this field.
Although the above analysis on special circumstances seems to make
sense at face value, there is one problem. It is incomplete. Specifically, the
presence of special circumstances may explain the proficiency of some hockey
players but leaves out at least two other important types of cases: (1) What
about young children who were born later in the year and who made it as
professional hockey players? and (2) What about those who were also born
early in the year and didn’t make it as professional players? Further, with
respect to the example of Bill Gates, (1) What about those who did not have
access to personal computers and still made it big in the computer business?
and (2) What about those students who were in Gates’s high school, who had
access to the personal computer, and who did not achieve greatness in the
computer business? Clearly, something important seems to be missing from
the contribution of special circumstances to high-level performance.
Passion
The above discussion underscores the fact that although natural talent and
special circumstances may play a role in high achievement, they do not
explain all. So what is it that matters with respect to high-level performance?
While it is hard to dispute that some talent is necessary to reach high levels
of performance and that special circumstances may give one an edge over the
competition, I suggest that passion for the activity is the necessary ingredi-
ent in developing high-level proficiency. For example, it is passion for hockey
that led children either born early or late in the year to persist in hockey
(and not in some other activities) and eventually to make it as professional
players. And lack of passion may have led those born early in the year to drop
out of hockey, thereby explaining why a sizable portion of those early born
still failed to make it in the professional ranks. Similarly, it was a passion
for computers that led Gates to sneak out from home at night to work on the
high school computer until the early morning hours (and that has him still
involved in computers some 40 years later!). Such a passion may not have
been present in other students at his high school who, although they had
access to the personal computer, did not feel the urge to work on it, and did
not achieve excellence in this field.
While passion is important for everybody, I would like to add that pas-
sion is especially important for those deprived of natural talent and special
circumstances, or those who are subjected to harsh conditions and setbacks
from the start. Such individuals need passion even more to persevere in spite
of it all. For instance, while they failed initially, Dylan and Jordan did not
give up. Rather, they worked harder at their craft each day for long hours.
For instance, Dylan left Minnesota for New York, personally interacted and
learned from the best folk performers there, played in small bars and cafés,
and moved his way up by building his own style of music. Jordan did the
same by practicing each morning at 7:30 a.m. before school with the same
high school coach who had cut him from the varsity team (imagine the drive
and passion it took to work with the person who had turned him down!). His
passion for basketball kept him working hard on his game to the point where
the next year he made his high school varsity team.
People may believe that once they make it big, people like Dylan and
Jordan lose their passion for their activity. For instance, people may believe
that late in his career, Michael Jordan was only playing for his $36 mil-
lion annual salary and not for his passion for basketball. Of interest is the
little-known fact that Jordan was one of the rare professional athletes to
have a “love of the game” clause in his professional contract with the Chicago
Bulls. Typically, professional teams do not let their star players engage in
pick-up games due to the risk of injuries. However, Jordan was so passion-
ate about basketball that he insisted that he had a clause in his contract that
would allow him to play wherever and whenever he wished to do so. And he
did, as can be attested by several Chicago YMCA Sunday morning basketball
players who have seen him come in the gym and heard him say, “Give me four
[other players]!”
Clearly, Dylan’s and Jordan’s passion was not a fleeting interest, and it
helped them overcome obstacles and eventually reach the pinnacle of their
fields. And they are not the only ones. Coaches and athletes who make it to
the Olympics need to be passionate, as the road to high-level performance
is not an easy one (Vallerand, Lalande, Donahue, & Lafrenière, in press).
For instance, those coaches who make it to the Olympics report that their
passion for their sport led them to reach the top of their respective field
(Olusoga, Maynard, Hays, & Butt, 2012). Indeed, if one is to engage in the
activity for long hours over several years and sometimes a lifetime, one must
love the activity dearly and have the desire to pursue engagement, especially
when times are rough.
PASSION AND HIGH LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
The above discussion on top performers was just anecdotal in nature. So

is there empirical evidence supporting the claim that passion is indeed
involved in high-level performance? One way to look at the issue consists
in comparing the passion of people who have achieved high levels of pro-
ficiency in a given field with the passion of those who have just started
engaging in the field and who have not reached high levels of performance
yet. A study conducted by Mageau et al. (2009, Study 3) sheds some light
on this issue. In this study, Mageau and her colleagues compared two
groups of passionate musicians on harmonious and obsessive passion and
the passion criteria discussed previously. A first group had become pas-
sionate after five months of their first music classes in their high school.
In other words, they were passionate for music but had just been play-
ing music for five months. The second group were college students at a
highly recognized Canadian University Faculty of Music who had on aver-

age 10 years of music experience and included musicians of national and
international caliber. As such, this last group can be seen as a high-level
performing group of musicians.
If the above hypothesis is correct, then, the high expert group should
score higher on the various passion indices than the novice group, even
though the latter were still passionate for playing a musical instrument.
Results revealed that the hypothesis was confirmed. The high performance
group scored significantly higher than the novice performance group on
both harmonious and obsessive passions, as well as on three of the four pas-
sion criteria (activity valuation, time investment, and music being seen as a
passion). It should be underscored that, based on our criteria, both groups
displayed at least a moderate level of passion toward music (an average score
of 4 and up on the passion criteria). It is simply that those who persisted for
10 years and who reached high levels of performance were much more pas-
sionate than the low-performance group. Of interest, as seen in Chapter 4, it
should be noted that there was no difference between the two groups on one
passion criterion item, love for music. Both groups scored very high on this
item (Ms = 6.27 and 6.29 on a 7-point scale). This lack of difference between
the two groups on love for the activity reinforces the view that while pas-
sion and intrinsic motivation are related, as both entail a love of the activ-
ity, the two constructs are indeed different constructs. Specifically, passion
goes beyond mere love of the activity and also includes activity valuation (or
importance and meaningfulness) and high activity engagement in terms of
time and energy expenditure in the activity. Similarly, Thorgren and Wincent
(2013c) found that habitual entrepreneurs who have successfully launched
ventures display higher levels of passion than novice entrepreneurs who
have not. It should be noted that the Mageau et al. study, as well as that of
Thorgren and Wincent (2013c), were cross-sectional in nature, and longitu-
dinal research is needed in order to replicate their findings. Nevertheless, the
results are in line with the hypothesis that passion is a necessary ingredient
in the achievement of high-level performance.
Results from the above research support the hypothesis that passion is
involved in high-level performance. Indeed, high performers display higher
levels of passion (on the passion criteria) as well as on both harmonious and
obsessive passions than lower performers. If it is the case that passion is
involved in high performance, then what are the processes through which
passion affects performance? In order to look at these, we need to distinguish
between long-term and short-term performance. Long-term performance
entails looking at the variables that enable one to develop and achieve pro-
ficiency in the long run. On the other hand, short-term performance deals
with achieving at one’s best at one point in time, once one has achieved some
level of proficiency. We look at both issues below.
PASSION AND LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE
What is it that is so important with passion as it pertains to long-term

performance? I suggest that passion motivates sustained engagement in a
special type of activity that is essential to improve performance over time,
namely deliberate practice. Further, passion also facilitates certain types of
achievement goals that play an important role in improving on the task and
in performance. However, as we will see below, the harmonious and obses-
sive passions differ in important ways with respect to these two processes.
Passion Motivates Sustained Engagement

in Deliberate Practice
Research on expert performance (Ericsson & Charness, 1994) reveals that

people who attain exceptional levels of proficiency, such as Michael Jordan,
must undergo a long, active learning process, during which they improve
and refine their abilities and skills. Simon and Chase (1973) were among
the first to document that expert chess masters engaged in at least 10 years
and over 10,000 hours of training before being able to reach international
stature. Later, Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesh-Römer (1993) proposed that it
was not any kind of training that was important. Rather, deliberate prac-
tice, defined as a highly structured activity motivated by the explicit aim of
improving performance, plays a key role in performance. Deliberate practice
provides optimal opportunities for learning and skill acquisition because
it affords immediate feedback and knowledge of results relevant to perfor-
mance. Coaches and professional teachers usually design these activities in
the interest of improving specific aspects of performance through repetition
and refinement. After a period of instruction, individuals can autonomously
use these strategies. Deliberate practice is highly demanding and thus can
only be engaged in for a few hours each day.
Research supports the role of deliberate practice in the development of
high-level performance. For instance, Ericsson et al. (1993) have shown
that performance is a monotonic (linear) function of deliberate practice.
Specifically, they reported that by age 20, the top-level violinists in their
study had practiced 2,500 hours more than the second-most accomplished
group of expert violinists, and 5,000 hours more than the lowest level of vio-
lin experts. Subsequent research in soccer (e.g., Ford & Williams, 2012) has
shown that by the age of 15 years, those soccer players who signed with the
developing team of a professional soccer organization had engaged in delib-
erate practice a total of 1,260 hours more in soccer than those who were not
retained. Similarly, de Bruin, Smits, Rikers, and Schmidt (2008) showed
that deliberate practice in chess is closely associated with high objective
performance throughout the developing years. Furthermore, this is true for

all performers, not only the very top ones. Finally, reducing the number of
hours of deliberate practice in chess leads to a decrease in performance and
eventually in dropping out from chess. These findings and several others
support the link between deliberate practice and performance in areas as
diverse as science (Ericsson, 2004), opera (Skull, 2011), arts (Winner, 1996),
chess (Charness, Krampe, & Mayr, 1996; Charness et al., 2005), and sports
(Baker, Côté, & Deakin, 2005; Starkes, Deakin, Allard, Hodges, & Hayes,
1996; Ward, Hodges, Williams, & Starkes, 2004).
Overall, research supports the fact that deliberate practice leads to
high-level performance. There is more, however. Not only is deliberate prac-
tice necessary to reach high-level performance, but one needs lots of it. As
seen above, the research of Simon and Chase (1973) and Ericsson and col-
leagues has shown that to reach professional levels in most fields of endeavor,
it takes at least a full 10 years of dedication and 10,000 hours of deliberate
practice (Ericsson & Charness, 1994). This amounts to 4 hours a day, 6 days a
week, 50 weeks per year for 10 years. That is a lot of practice! And such prac-
tice is not pure fun. Indeed, deliberate practice differs from leisure activities
in that it is demanding, repetitive, and not always inherently enjoyable. In
spite of the fact that certain activities can have inherent appealing qualities
(e.g., kinesthesic, visual), continued repetition could lead to habituation and
fatigue. Deliberate practice also differs from professional work in that exter-
nal or monetary rewards are rarely present. For instance, Michael Jordan
would have received his salary even if he hadn’t stayed an extra 45 minutes
after team practice to work on his fade-away jump shot. The fact that deliber-
ate practice can be frustrating (and not intrinsically motivating) at times has
led Ericsson and Charness (1994) to raise the question of the nature of the
motivational energy underlying deliberate practice.
I suggest that passion represents the major motivational force underly-
ing deliberate practice. Indeed, I posit that passion represents an important
source of fuel that allows people to go through long and at times frustrat-
ing practice sessions, and that eventually helps them attain, over time, high
levels of performance. This is because the activity that people are passionate
about is so important and meaningful to them, that they can cope with the
frustration that comes with repeated failure while seeking task mastery. It is
not simply that the activity is fun or enjoyable. It is more than that: people
care deeply about the activity. It is highly important to them. In part because
of years of high involvement in the activity, people have come to attribute
high levels of importance to the activity. Furthermore, because the activ-
ity has become part of their identity, of who they are deep down, people are
willing to go to great lengths to improve, work hard, and grow within the
perspective of the activity. In other words, when passionate about an activ-
ity, people are willing to work hard at it, even if it is demanding and at times
frustrating. When such an intense mastery-oriented engagement in an activ-

ity is repeated over weeks, months, and years, over time one can achieve high
levels of proficiency.
What the above perspective posits is that both types of passion will lead
one to engage in deliberate practice that, in turn, as shown by research, should
lead to high performance in the long run. Thus, passion is not hypothesized
to influence performance directly. Rather, passion sets things in motion by
providing people with the energy, fuel, and purpose to engage in deliberate
practice, and it is this deliberate practice that is hypothesized to have a more
direct positive influence on performance. This hypothesis is in line with
research that has shown that both forms of passion have been associated
with prolonged involvement in activities that would appear to facilitate the
development of competence and the attainment of excellence (e.g., Mageau
et al., 2009, Study 1).
This basic model was first tested in a study with dramatic arts performers
(Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1). Early in the school year, male and female
dramatic arts students enrolled in the best schools of the Province of Quebec
completed the Passion Scale for dramatic arts and a scale assessing deliber-
ate practice. This scale was based on the definition of Ericsson and Charness
(1994). Then, later in the school year, teachers independently rated the stu-
dents’ performance on a number of dimensions previously identified by
teachers as key to a career in this field of excellence. A path analysis provided
support for the basic model. Specifically, results revealed that both types of
passion led to engagement in deliberate practice that, in turn, led to objective
performance as rated by the teachers.
The findings from the first study above (Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1)
provided support for the proposed model in the field of dramatic arts.
One important question deals with external validity: Can these results be
obtained in other fields of excellence? In order to provide some answers to
this question, the basic model involving passion, deliberate practice, and
objective performance was tested again, this time in sports, with basket-
ball players (Vallerand, Mageau et al., 2008, Study 1). Basketball differs sig-
nificantly from dramatic arts as it involves both mental and physical skills
within a team concept. Replicating the results from the Vallerand et al. (2007,
Study 1) study would provide important support for the passion-deliberate
practice-performance model. In this second study (Vallerand, Mageau et al.,
2008, Study 1), male and female college basketball players completed the
Passion Scale as well as a scale of deliberate practice as applied to basket-
ball. The athletes’ performance was measured by the coaches themselves
following the first game of an important tournament. A path analysis was
conducted to test the model. Results revealed, once more, that both types
of passion led to engagement in deliberate practice, which, in turn, led to
objective performance. Thus, just like Michael Jordan early in his basketball
career, the passion of the basketball players in this study led them to engage
in deliberate practice, which led them to become proficient.
In sum, the findings from the two Vallerand et al. studies (2007, Study 1;
Vallerand, Mageau et al., 2008, Study 1) provided support for the role of both
harmonious and obsessive passions in providing the energy to engage in sus-
tained bouts of deliberate practice that, over time, contributes to improve-
ment and high levels of performance. Deliberate practice thus represents a
key factor involved in gaining proficiency, and passion plays a major role in
providing the fuel that allows people to engage repeatedly in such an activity.
On Passion and Achievement Goals
Initial research by Baum and Locke (2004; see also Baum, Locke, & Smith,
2001) has shown that the CEO’s passion for entrepreneurship predicted the
company’s growth (or performance) through the mediating role of differ-
ent factors, including goals. Such initial research does provide some support
on the role of goals as mediator of the passion-performance relationship.
However, such research did not look at the types of goals that passionate
people are actually trying to achieve while engaging in their passionate
activity and the role of the two different types of passion in adopting such
goals. Much research reveals that achievement goals play an important role
in performance. As we have seen in Chapter 6, achievement goals repre-
sent the competence-based aims that an individual seeks to accomplish in
an achievement setting (e.g., Dweck, 2006; Elliot, 1997). It will be recalled
that Elliot and colleagues (Elliot, 1997; Elliot & Harackiewicz, 1996) have
proposed three types of achievement goals: mastery goals (which focus on
the development of competence and task mastery), performance-approach
goals (which focus on the attainment of competence relative to others), and
performance-avoidance goals (which focus on avoiding incompetence rela-
tive to others).
Of particular importance are the findings reported in Chapter 6 to the
effect that the harmonious and obsessive passions relate differently to the
three types of achievement goals. Specifically, because it reflects an autono-
mous form of motivational process characterized by a self-growth perspec-
tive, harmonious passion should trigger the adaptive goals of mastering
achievement-related activities (Duda, 2001; Dweck, 1986). Further, because
harmonious passion is based in an open and secure state of mind, it is not
expected to relate to performance goals of either type. Conversely, obses-
sive passion should trigger a conflicted regulatory process, because it is a
more pressured, internally controlled, form of motivational process. Thus,
with obsessive passion, the individual should feel compelled to pursue any
and all forms of approaching success and avoiding failure at the activity,
including mastering the task, trying to beat others, and trying to avoid doing
poorly relative to others. Research has supported these various relation-
ships (Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, & Vallerand, 2011; Vallerand et al., 2007,
Study 2; Vallerand, Mageau et al., 2008, Study 2).
So, if the two types of passion lead to different types of achievement
goals, how are these related to deliberate practice and to performance?
Deliberate practice seems to go hand in hand with mastery goals, as this
construct has been described in terms of striving effortfully to improve
task performance (see Ericsson et al., 1993). Consequently, mastery goals
are expected to directly predict engagement in deliberate practice. For
performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, the prevalent
foci are to beat others and to avoid doing poorly relative to others, respec-
tively. While such types of goals do not preclude task mastery as a way to
outperform or avoid losing to others, improvement per se does not repre-
sent the main focus of performance-approach and performance-avoidance
goals. Thus, these two types of goals should not predict deliberate practice.
However, research on achievement goals in educational settings (e.g., Elliot
et al., 1999) reveals that performance-avoidance goals commonly have a
negative influence on performance, while performance-approach goals are
either unrelated or positively predict performance.
Thus, engagement in the passionate activity may look like the follow-
ing. Harmonious passion leads to the adoption of only one type of goals,
namely mastery goals that have a strong effect on deliberate practice,
which, in turn, facilitates objective performance. Obsessive passion should
facilitate mastery goals, but to a lesser extent than harmonious passion.
More important, obsessive passion should especially lead to the adop-
tion of performance-avoidance and performance-approach goals. While
performance-avoidance goals should directly undermine performance, the
role of performance-approach is not clear, as it has been found to facilitate,
undermine, or have no appreciable effects on performance.
Research has directly tested the above integrated model. Specifically,
three studies have been conducted in three different domains (educa-
tion, sports, and music) to test this model (Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2011;
Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2; Vallerand, Mageau et al., 2008, Study 2).
A first study was conducted with high-level male and female water polo
and synchronized swimmers over an entire season (Vallerand, Mageau et
al., 2008, Study 2). At Time 1, athletes completed the Passion Scale and the
Achievement Goals Scale (see Elliot & Church, 1997). At Time 2 (4 months
later), they completed the Deliberate Practice Scale (in line with Ericsson &
Charness, 1994). Finally, at Time 3 (1 month later), coaches assessed play-
ers’ performance over the entire season. A path analysis tested the proposed
model. The results are illustrated in Figure 10.1. As hypothesized, harmoni-
ous passion positively predicted mastery goals that, in turn, led to deliberate
TIME 1 TIME 2 TIME 3

(OCTOBER) (FEBRUARY) (MARCH)
Subjective
Well-Being
.39
–.04
Harmonious .41 Mastery .47 Deliberate
Passion Goals Practice
.35
.22
Objective
Performance
Obsessive .36 Performance-
Passion Approach Goals
.45 –.35
Performance-
Avoidance
Goals
Figure 10.1:
The Role of Passion, Achievement Goals, and Deliberate Practice in Performance.
practice, which positively predicted objective performance. On the other

hand, obsessive passion was positively related to all three goals, but to dif-
ferent degrees. The weakest link was with mastery goals, and the strongest
one with performance-avoidance goals. While performance-approach goals
did not predict any variables in the model, performance-avoidance goals
strongly and negatively predicted performance. This finding is of interest, as
it is in line with qualitative research with team-sport athletes that suggests
that having an obsessive passion may negatively affect one’s performance
(e.g., “. . . the game of soccer is my passion … I think I choke because of this …
I care too much for the game …”; Hill & Shaw, 2013, p. 107).
The hypothesized model was thus supported with respect to team sports.
However, team sports (such as water polo and synchronized swimming)
represent a highly specific field of excellence. Can the findings be replicated
in a more individualistic activity? Furthermore, although coaches’ assess-
ment is more objective than that of the athletes themselves, a completely
objective assessment would be even better. Thus, a second study (Vallerand
et al., 2007, Study 2) was conducted to replicate the above findings while
improving on the two limitations previously mentioned. In this study,
early in the term, students who had a passion toward studying psychol-
ogy as their future profession completed, in class, the Passion Scale, the
Achievement Goals Scale (Elliot & Church, 1997) for their studies, as well
as a scale assessing deliberate practice regarding their studies. At the end
of the term, objective exam scores in a psychology course subsequent to
questionnaire completion were used as a measure of objective performance
(Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2). A path analysis was conducted on the data
and found support for the integrated model wherein the adaptive mastery
goals mediated the impact of both types of passion on deliberate prac-
tice (but with a stronger link from harmonious passion to mastery goals),
whereas the maladaptive performance avoidance goals mediated the nega-
tive impact of obsessive passion on performance. Finally, these results
were replicated in a third study (Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, & Vallerand,
2011) with musicians, including some professional world-class classical
musicians.
Also of interest is the finding that in three of the passion-performance
studies (Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1;
Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2), psychological well-being was also assessed.
Results of all three studies revealed that harmonious passion was posi-
tively and significantly related to psychological well-being, while obsessive
passion was either negatively related or unrelated to it. This is in line with
research reported previously in Chapter 8 on the role of passion in psycho-
logical well-being. It thus appears that both types of passion can positively
contribute to long-term performance. However, with harmonious passion,
there is a bonus, as one may reach high levels of performance while “hav-
ing a life” and being happy. Such does not seem to be the case for obsessive
passion.
Overall, the above findings suggest that there are two roads that lead to
high-level performance over time. The first is rather straightforward and
is triggered by harmonious passion that fuels mastery goals that lead to
deliberate practice, which, in turn, leads to performance. No other goals are
involved. Further, people who adopt this road report being happy in their
life. These findings run contrary to popular belief that high-level perfor-
mance can only be attained through some sense of suffering. There is some
support for this stereotype, however, and it is to be found in the second road
to excellence. The main point with respect to the first road is that it is pos-
sible to reach the highest levels of performance through a harmoniously pas-
sionate engagement in the activity and feeling happy both in one’s field of
achievement and in one’s life in general. The second road to performance is
more complex and emanates from a more obsessive involvement in the pas-
sionate activity. Obsessive passion positively predicts mastery goals to some
degree (which lead to performance through deliberate practice) but mostly
lead to performance-approach goals that do not seem to greatly affect per-
formance and to performance-avoidance goals that negatively and directly
influence performance. Thus, this second road to excellence would appear
less productive than the first, especially as it seems to lead to some costs for
one’s happiness. Overall, these results have profound implications not only
for how we engage in our passionate activity, but also for how we teach and
coach people to go about striving for excellence in a given area. One need not
choose between excellence and having a life. To the extent that harmoni-
ous passion underlies one’s involvement in the passionate activity, one can
achieve high-level performance and fully engage in life’s other pursuits and
be happy while doing it.
PASSION AND SHORT-TERM PERFORMANCE
The above section reported research on the role of passion in allowing one
to develop one’s expertise as a performer over the long run. However, once
proficiency has been developed to a reasonable degree, certain factors may
be involved in allowing one to maximize his or her performance potential
and thus perform at a high level at one given point in time. We now turn to a
discussion of the role of passion in these factors.
Cognitive Processes
One factor that has been found to facilitate performance is that of cognitive
engagement (e.g., Kahn, 1990). Cognitive engagement refers to one’s psycho-
logical presence and focus on the task. It has been further distinguished in
two factors, absorption and attention (Rothbard, 2001). Absorption can be
defined as the intensity of focus and immersion that one experiences when
task engaged, while attention refers to the amount of cognitive resources
that an individual spends thinking about the task, including concentration.
Absorption and attention can be seen as, respectively, the quality and quan-
tity dimensions of cognitive engagement. Common sense would predict that
both cognitive dimensions matter with respect to performance. Indeed, the
greater the cognitive capacity and the deeper the level of cognitive process-
ing, the better should be the performance. This should be especially the case
when the task is complex and necessitates finding solutions under demand-
ing conditions. Much research in cognitive psychology supports this hypoth-
esis (Pashler, Johnston, & Ruthruff, 2001).
As discussed in Chapter 6, one would expect harmonious passion to
facilitate both types of cognitive engagement. This is because harmonious
passion entails a flexible and mindful type of task engagement that allows
one to be fully task involved and to have full access to his or her cognitive
functions during the process. On the other hand, because obsessive pas-
sion facilitates a more conflicted and defensive form of task engagement,
one’s cognitive states should be less than fully focused on the task. In sum,
harmonious passion should facilitate performance through its positive
impact on both absorption and attention. Conversely, obsessive passion
should have little positive impact on short-term performance because it
is expected to be either negatively related or unrelated to both types of
cognitive processes.
A study by Ho, Wong, and Lee (2011) has tested these hypotheses. In
this study, a large number of employees from a large insurance company
completed the Passion Scale for their work and a scale assessing two types
of cognitive processes at work, namely levels of absorption (Rothbard,
2001; “When I am working, I am completely engrossed in my work”) and
attention (“I pay a lot of attention to my work”). In addition, for statisti-
cal control purposes, participants also completed scales assessing job sat-
isfaction, organizational commitment, and job identification, as well as
information on their gender, number of years on the job, and their rank
in the organization. Finally, “objective” work performance was obtained
from the assessment of the workers’ supervisor. Results from a path anal-
ysis revealed that harmonious passion positively predicted both absorp-
tion and attention, while obsessive passion was unrelated to absorption
but negatively predicted attention. In turn, only absorption positively
predicted objective performance. The “harmonious passion →quality and
quantity of one’s on-task cognitions→performance” sequence was basi-
cally replicated by Dubrueil et al. (2014).
These findings are interesting for at least two reasons. First, they provide
support for the role of passion in cognitive processes in line with the DMP.
Specifically, harmonious passion was found to positively influence both
types of cognitive processes (absorption and attention), while obsessive pas-
sion was only found to negatively predict attention. These results suggest
that harmonious passion facilitates the use of cognitive processes of both
high quality and intensity. Thus, with harmonious passion, one has the best
of both worlds: cognition of quality and intensity. With obsessive passion,
however, lower levels of cognitive intensity were experienced with no advan-
tages as to the quality of such cognitive processes. Thus, as seen in Chapter 6,
the two types of passion affect cognitive processes differently, with harmoni-
ous passion leading to more positive effects. A second reason why the pres-
ent findings are interesting is that only absorption was found to positively
predict performance. Although future research is needed to replicate these
results, this finding suggests that it is the quality of one’s cognitive involve-
ment (not its mere quantity) that matters with respect to performance. Thus,
overall, these results support the positive role of harmonious (but not obses-
sive) passion in short-term performance through its impact on high-quality
cognitive processes.
Success and Failure Information
Success and failure are parts of life. Among the many effects they can have
is that they can affect subsequent performance. What are the effects of such
information on one’s immediate performance? Let’s take an example. Your
friend plays the piano from time to time. Before playing in front of friends at
a party, someone mentions that she is very skilled. How will she perform after
such a compliment? How would she perform at this very moment if someone
else were to say that she is not very good? One would typically assume that
success breeds success and failure leads to subsequent poor performance.
Much research conducted under controlled laboratory settings has indeed
shown that success leads to improved performance, while failure tends to
undermine subsequent performance (e.g., Bandura, 1986, 1991; Diener &
Dweck, 1978; Mikulincer, 1989; Seligman, 1975; Vroom, 1964). But there
is a caveat. Much of past research on the effects of success and failure infor-
mation on performance has been conducted with laboratory tasks that are
novel to the participants. Although novel tasks are important to use in order
to control for individual differences that may exist in participants, there is
a downside to their use. Specifically, such tasks may have little meaning for
participants. As such, participants are typically not heavily involved in the
activity, and the effects of success and failure information may not be as dra-
matic as when people are heavily involved or even passionate for the task.
When Obsessive Passion Is Operative, Presenting

Negative Information Increases Performance
Failure can take place in a number of areas, including self-defining domains

where people care deeply about the activity and are highly committed to it. In
such instances, success with regard to a meaningful and important activity
may suggest that all is well and may have little or no bearing on the subse-
quent behavior of highly committed individuals. Negative information such
as failure, on the other hand, may pose a self-threat and may instill a state
of insecurity that motivates behavior aimed at correcting the situation and
thus should improve subsequent performance. According to this perspec-
tive, the prospect of failing or receiving negative information is a facilitat-
ing factor that should lead to high subsequent performance. Research has
provided some support for this analysis. Specifically, failure on self-defining
tasks leads to an increase in subsequent performance, whereas success infor-
mation has little effect (see Brunstein, 2000; Brunstein & Gollwitzer, 1996;
Peters, Greenberg, Williams, & Schneider, 2005).
However, here again, some variability in how people react to success
and failure information, even on tasks that they care deeply about, is to be
expected. It should be underscored that past research on the effects of suc-

cess/failure on the performance of highly committed individuals has only
considered the “quantity” dimension of commitment, where people are seen
as either high or low on the commitment dimension. Of importance, the DMP
posits, and research has shown, that one’s passion for a given activity leads to
high commitment that varies in “quality.” Whereas obsessive passion reflects
a sense of insecurity that may lead one to indeed perceive failure informa-
tion as threatening (regarding the negative implications for one’s self) and
to expand energy to improve subsequent performance, harmonious passion
reflects a sense of secure self that should lead one to accept failure informa-
tion with a flexible, mindful mindset and thus accept it as what it is, informa-
tion. The person should then be able to engage in the beloved task as usual
without feeling threatened and should be motivated to alleviate the threat
and restore completeness. Thus, although failure should lead to increases
in performance relative to success when obsessive passion is at play, with
harmonious passion no difference should be found. Therefore, increases in
performance following failure among highly committed individuals may not
necessarily be as inevitable as the evidence suggests. It should depend on the
type of passion for the activity.
Now, let’s say that your friend, the piano player, is highly passionate about
playing the piano and again someone presents her with positive or negative
information. What would the effects of such information be on her perfor-
mance? The DMP would posit that it would depend on the type of passion
she holds for playing the piano. A stronger performance than usual should
follow the negative information if she has a predominant obsessive passion
for piano, whereas a regular high performance should take place if she has a
predominant harmonious passion for playing the piano. Recently, Bélanger,
Lafrenière, Vallerand, and Kruglanski (2013a) have conducted a series of
studies to test the above hypotheses and related issues. A first study was
conducted with regular exercisers at a university fitness center (Bélanger
et al., 2013, Study 1). Participants first performed a task directly relevant to
exercise, namely a pretest strength performance task (the hand grip dyna-
mometer task in which people are asked to squeeze a hand grip as hard as
possible). Participants completed next the Passion Scale and were then ran-
domly assigned to either a success or failure information manipulation. In
the failure information condition, the manipulation involved asking par-
ticipants to elaborate on two important personal weaknesses that they dis-
play as exercisers. The success information condition entailed writing about
two personal strengths that they display as exercisers. Subsequent to the
manipulation, their physical performance on the hand grip dynamometer
task was assessed once more at Time 2. It was hypothesized that an inter-
action would take place such that with high obsessive passion, exercisers
should display an increase in performance from Time 1 to Time 2 following
0.5
Physical Performance
0
Success Failure
–0.5
–1
High Obsessive Passion Low Obsessive Passion
Figure 10.2:
Performance Increments as a Function of Obsessive Passion and Success and Failure
Information.
Adapted from Bélanger et al. (2013a, Study 1).
the failure information, but that this should not be the case following suc-
cess. No effects due to the success or failure information were expected
to take place with harmonious passion. These results are displayed in
Figure 10.2. As expected, the hypothesized interaction was obtained with
obsessive passion. No effects were found for harmonious passion.
When Obsessive Passion Is in Operation, Self-Threat

Leads to High Performance
The results of the above study provide support for the different effects of har-
monious and obsessive passion on objective performance following recep-
tion of positive and negative information. The question is, why? As indicated
above, the DMP posits that receiving negative information on the passionate
activity has some important negative implications for the self for people with
a predominant obsessive passion because the activity is part of one’s identity
in a way that makes performing well on the passionate activity highly impor-
tant to the person’s self. That is, as we have seen in Chapters 3 and 6, doing
well in the activity becomes contingent for having a positive sense of self
(Mageau et al., 2011). Thus, the potential negative implications of failing go
beyond the activity as such and are relevant to one’s broader sense of self.
If indeed it is the case that the negative information threatens the self, then,
if the passionate activity is not available following negative information, one
will try to redeem oneself and to try to do well on another task to the extent
that it has some relevance for the self. Research on Self-Affirmation theory
(Aronson, Blanton, & Cooper, 1995; Steele, 1988) has shown that when expe-
riencing self-threat, individuals can maintain their self-integrity by affirm-
ing other important parts of the self in domains unrelated to the source of
threat. Thus, following negative information, obsessive passion should pre-
dict greater performance in an activity that is unrelated to their passionate
activity but is nevertheless related to the self. However, this effect should
not take place following the receipt of positive information. Furthermore, as
in Study 1, because with harmonious passion the self is not threatened, no
change in performance should follow the presentation of positive or negative
information.
Bélanger et al. (2013, Study 2) tested these hypotheses in a second
study. Participants were university students who were tested in classrooms.
Students were informed that the researchers were interested in knowing
more about students’ leisure activities as well as their linguistic aptitudes.
First, participants completed the Passion Scale with respect to their favorite
activity. Second, they were randomly assigned to a success, failure, or control
information condition as pertains to their passionate activity in the same
way as in Study 1. Finally, they completed an anagram task for five minutes.
This task was presented as a measure of linguistic ability. Because partici-
pants were university students, such a skill should be highly relevant to
their sense of self. Consequently, doing well on this task should represent a
worthwhile activity to use to redeem the self following negative information
on the passionate activity, but only if one’s passion is obsessive in nature.
No effects should take place for harmonious passion. Results on the ana-
gram performance revealed the presence of the same interaction obtained in
Study 1. In other words, people with an obsessive passion who have received
negative information regarding the passionate activity seem to experience
self-threat. Because the passionate activity was not available to allow them
to secure their threatened self within the passionate activity, they used a
self-relevant activity to outdo themselves and thus redeem their sense of
self. As in Study 1, no effects were found for harmonious passion. It should
be noted that these results were replicated in another study (Bélanger et al.,
2013a, Study 3) while controlling for various other constructs such as regu-
latory fit (Higgins & Spiegel, 2004) and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
(Ryan & Deci, 2000).
The above results provide support for the fact that the positive perfor-
mance effects yielded by obsessive passion following reception of negative
information take place because the person wishes to eliminate self-threats.
Thus, to the extent that one’s performance (either on one’s passionate
activity or on some other task related to the self) can redeem one’s sense
of self, someone with an obsessive passion should be highly motivated to
outdo him- or herself. However, what happens when the task is unrelated
to one’s sense of self? One’s motivation to highly perform should go down
considerably because high performance does not allow the person to elimi-
nate the self-threats and restore the self. In another study, Bélanger et al.
(2013a, Study 4) set out to directly test the above hypothesis. In labora-
tory settings, participants completed the Passion Scale for their academic
studies and were then randomly assigned to one of three subliminal prim-
ing conditions (success, failure, and control prime conditions). As was dis-
cussed in Chapter 6, passionate participants can process information related
to their passionate activity even out of consciousness. This is because they
have overlearned to process information related to their passionate activity.
Participants were given a lexical decision task in which they were asked to
judge whether different strings of letters represented a word or a non-word.
Participants were instructed to do this as quickly as possible. Unbeknownst
to participants, prior to the presentation of the target string of letters, a
subliminal prime word was presented. Participants were randomly assigned
to one of three priming conditions where one of several words was sublimi-
nally flashed: a neutral (words were: table, chair, wheel, floor, wall), a suc-
cess (words were: success, victory, win, triumph, winner), or a failure prime
(words were: failure, fail, lose, defeat, loser) condition. Finally, participants’
performance was measured on a subsequent puzzle-solving task that was
presented either as relevant to their academic studies (a measure of intel-
ligence) or as irrelevant (a fun word task). It is important to underscore that
the task was the same for all participants (the Raven’s Progressive Matrices
Test II, Raven, 1962). Only participants’ perceptions of its self-relevance
was varied. A three-way interaction was expected. As predicted, the posi-
tive performance effects of obsessive passion following the presentation of
negative information were replicated, but only in the self-relevant task. No
such effects were found when the task was described as non self-relevant.
And, of course, as in the other studies, no effects were found with harmoni-
ous passion. In other words, self-threats led to surpassing oneself, but only
if the person had an obsessive passion for one’s studies and if the task was
self-relevant.
When Obsessive Passion Is Operative, Fear of Failure

Leads to High Performance
The results of the different studies conducted by Bélanger et al. (2013a) pro-
vide strong support for the proposed hypotheses derived from the Dualistic
Model of Passion. Namely, when one has an obsessive passion for an activ-
ity, receiving negative information on this activity leads to an increase in
objective performance on the passionate activity, if available, or on another

task if the passionate activity is unavailable and only if this second activity is
self-relevant. Such an increase in performance does not take place following
success information, or if the subsequent activity is not self-relevant, or if it
is engaged in out of harmonious passion.
These high levels of performance are hypothesized to take place because
the self is threatened. Because obsessive passion is rooted in an insecure self,
such threats are expected to instill a fear of failure that becomes highly moti-
vational. While the above studies reveal that when obsessive passion is at
play, one is highly motivated to eliminate self-threats through high perfor-
mance, they do not show, however, that fear of failure is the mediating agent
in the observed performance effects of obsessive passion. In Study 4 con-
ducted by Bélanger et al. (2013a, Study 4) and described above, participants
were also asked to complete the Revised Achievement Motives Scale (Lang &
Fries, 2006) to assess fear of failure (e.g., “I am afraid of failing in somewhat
difficult situations when a lot depends on me”) following the lexical decision
task. It was then possible to conduct a path analysis to test the mediating
effects of fear of failure between obsessive passion and performance in the
negative information (or failure) condition. This path analysis was expected
to only take place in the failure condition (as fear of failure should not be
triggered in the control or positive information conditions) and only with
the self-relevant task (as an irrelevant task would not allow one to redeem
him- or herself, even following the reception of negative information). The
results revealed that all hypotheses were supported. No other effects involv-
ing passion were obtained.
Overall, the findings of the above series of studies (Bélanger et al., 2013a,
Studies 1 through 4) are important for at least four reasons. First, they pro-
vide empirical support for the hypothesis that increases in performance dis-
played by people with an obsessive passion following failure information are
due to their fear of failure. It is now clear why obsessive passion leads to an
increase in performance: it is the fear of failing and its implications for the
self that drive it. When obsessively passionate, one does not want to feel low
in self-esteem or to feel incompetent. Thus, one will go to great lengths to
avoid failure. When obsessive passion is in operation, people are motivated
to protect the self and consequently are highly sensitive to negative informa-
tion. These results are in line with other findings that portray people with an
obsessive passion as driven by self-concept vulnerability and defensiveness
(e.g., Donahue et al., 2009; Lafrenière et al., 2011; Mageau, Carpentier, &
Vallerand, 2011; Rip, Vallerand, & Lafrenière, 2012) and as performing at
high levels under demanding conditions (Omorede, Thorgren, & Wincent,
2013). Second, such a mode of insecure, defensive functioning seems to be
deeply ingrained, as it can be triggered by negative information presented
subliminally and thus that cannot be consciously perceived. It would thus
appear that preserving the integrity of the self is of major importance and
has been automatized when operating out of obsessive passion. Future
research will be needed to more fully explore the motivational ramifications
of such an automatized defensive functioning.
A third reason why these findings are important is that they clearly show
that with harmonious passion, people do not react to success or failure (or
positive/negative) information, or at least, their performance is not affected
by such information. While these results may seem intriguing at first, it
should be underscored that such information was presented in very general
terms, as the manipulations entailed elaborating on personal strengths or
weaknesses regarding the activity or on subliminally viewing words deal-
ing with success or failure. Future research is needed to determine whether
people with a predominant harmonious passion do not react at all to any
positive/negative information, if they do not react only to information spe-
cifically dealing with the self (as in the present research), or if they are more
likely to react to crucial task information allowing them to improve on the
task. It might be that with harmonious passion people are more attuned to
information that may be useful to improve and master the task. Such an
orientation would be in line with the mastery goals that harmonious pas-
sion triggers (Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2;
Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2).
Finally, fourth, the fact that following the presentation of negative infor-
mation the highest level of performance was obtained by people with an
obsessive passion underscores the fact that under certain conditions obses-
sive passion can lead to more desirable outcomes than harmonious passion.
Future research is needed in order to determine if such a finding can be repli-
cated with other outcomes and to identify the conditions under which other
advantages of obsessive passion over harmonious passion are likely to take
place. At the same time, research is needed to address whether this increase
in performance may hide some deleterious effect on other dimensions. For
instance, sport research reveals that while both the obsessive and harmoni-
ous passions lead to similar positive performance, obsessive passion predicts
lower levels of vitality than harmonious passion in the process (Li, 2010).
Passion and Ego Depletion
Roy Baumeister and his colleagues have uncovered an interesting phenom-

enon. When people expend a lot of energy on a given task, the level of energy
at their disposal may then be depleted. Because one’s energy is not infinite
and is necessary to perform on other, subsequent tasks, performance on later
tasks is undermined (e.g., Baumeister, Bratlavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998).
For example, someone who is studying very hard for an exam may, right
after studying, do badly on a crossword puzzle. This ego-depleting effect has

been obtained on a variety of tasks ranging from the personal to the inter-
personal and to the cultural (see Bauer & Baumeister, 2011). We have seen
in Chapter 6 that when in an obsessive passion mindset, people engage in
goal shielding—that is, when they think about their passionate activity and
are presented with another potential goal, people with an obsessive passion
will use some cognitive activity to push aside this second goal. Such cogni-
tive activity, even if automatized and out of awareness, may exact a cogni-
tive cost, as it may consume mental resources and energy. Thus, engaging
in goal shielding may lead to a state of ego depletion that may have some
negative effects on subsequent performance. Such an effect should only take
place with obsessive passion, however, as the goal-shielding effect does not
take place with harmonious passion because different goals (including that
involving the passionate activity) can peacefully coexist.
Bélanger et al. (2013b, Study 5) conducted a study to test this hypoth-
esis using the goal-shielding paradigm presented in Chapter 6. Participants
completed the Passion Scale and were randomly assigned to conditions of
either high goal shielding where 40% of the trials involved being primed
(subliminally) with the passionate activity and having to judge the impor-
tance of the alternative goal, or a condition of low goal shielding where only
10% of the trials involved the crucial passionate activity-alternative goal.
Following the trials, participants were asked to subsequently engage in a
second color recognition task (i.e., the Stroop task). In this task, participants
were instructed to state aloud the color with which target words were written
on the screen. The color of the text either coincided or did not coincide with
the corresponding color name. For instance, the word “green” was presented
with either green or red characters. The number of errors was assessed.
If the hypothesis of Bélanger and colleagues is correct, participants with
an obsessive passion who were in the high goal-shielding condition should
experience higher levels of ego depletion and make more errors on the
Stroop task than participants in the other conditions. The results appear in
Figure 10.3. As can be seen, the hypothesis was supported. Engaging in
goal shielding (the high goal suppression condition) depletes one’s energy.
In turn, such a loss in energy takes place even at the unconscious level and
leads to some performance decrements on a subsequent task. However, such
negative effects of high suppression on one’s performance only take place if
one’s passion is obsessive in nature. If passion is harmonious, no goal shield-
ing takes place, and no subsequent performance losses occur.
In sum, passion matters with respect to both short-term and long-term
performance. While both types of passion may contribute to performance,
obsessive passion may at times lead to higher levels of performance than
harmonious passion. However, obsessive passion may also at times lead to
ego-depleting effects. Such is not the case for harmonious passion. Finally, it
Stroop Task Errors 5
High OP
3 Low OP
0
Low Goal Suppression High Goal Suppression
Experimental Conditions
Figure 10.3:
Performance as a function of the Experimental Conditions of Alternative Goal
Suppression and Obsessive Passion.
Adapted from Bélanger et al. (2013b, Study 5).
should be underscored that all mechanisms triggered by passion that affect

performance and are discussed in this chapter are intrapersonal in nature.
Recent research from Ho and Pollack (2014) suggests that having a broader
network of positive relationships at work may lead to better performance
in certain types of work such as sales. Research is needed to replicate these
findings and to determine if they apply to other types of performance where
the social dimension is heavily involved.
PASSION AND CREATIVITY
Pablo Picasso, Jimmy Hendrix, Julius Erving (Dr. J.)—here are some of the
most creative performers who have existed in the fields of painting, music,
and sport (basketball), respectively. Picasso changed painting by having
people see glimpses of the world never imagined before. Jimmy Hendrix
redefined the use of a guitar by creating sounds never heard before. And
Dr. J. created new basketball moves above the rim that seemed to defy the
law of gravity in a way never seen before. All three were outstanding at their
activity, certainly, but they had something different to offer. They had their
own peculiar way of doing things. They were unique and original; they were
creative!
So what is creativity? Creativity refers to the production of work that is
original, of high quality, and appropriate to the task at hand (Amabile, 1996;
Kaufman & Sternberg, 2010; Sternberg & Lubart, 1999). Although related
to performance, creativity is nevertheless a distinct construct. For instance,

one may perform at a high level but with little novelty or originality, and
thus with low levels of creativity. This would be the case of a figure skater at
the Olympics whose routines, while technically flawless, would lack the origi-
nality dimension that would give her the edge in the judges’ eyes. Creativity
is involved in most spheres of society and is necessary for society improve-
ment (Moran, 2010). It thus deserves our attention.
In this section, I first address the question, is passion involved in creativ-
ity? Then, I look more closely at which type of passion is more conducive to
creativity. Finally, I focus on the role of passion in the creative process and
the mediating role that certain factors play in that process.
Passion Is Involved in Creativity
It has been implicitly accepted that passion is involved in creation (Goldberg,

1986). For instance, Amabile and Fisher (2009) recommend that individuals
be passionate so as to maximize creativity. This is in part because the cre-
ative process, both at the long-term and short-term level, is so demanding
that one needs to be passionate to seek it to the end (Simonton, 2010). Just
like Bob Dylan and Michael Jordan, Picasso, Hendrix, and Dr. J. were not
great at first. However, all three overcame difficult initial conditions, includ-
ing lack of receptivity for how they did things. They never gave up on their
passion for their activity and remained true to the unique vision they could
see in their mind. Eventually, their persistence paid off. The world’s reaction
changed from rejection to acceptance, and they came to be seen as highly
original, creative, and important contributors to their respective fields. So,
if passion is important in performance, it may be even more important in
creativity. Indeed, one needs to be highly passionate not only to hone one’s
skills but also to resist giving up on an idea, vision, or way of doing things
that is not part of mainstream, or may even be rejected by the majority. Thus,
passion should be involved in creativity. Is it the case?
In one study, Lafrenière, St-Louis, Vallerand, and Donahue (2012, Study 1)
asked professional artistic painters to complete the Passion Scale for paint-
ing. These painters had been painting professionally for 20 years. These were
not amateur painters. They were professional artists (painters) living from
their craft. Painting, as a profession, necessitates at least some levels of cre-
ativity. Thus, if these painters have been successfully painting profession-
ally for 20 years, making a living out of it, then it can be safely assumed
that their painting contains at least some degree of creativity. The findings
underscored that the painters were indeed highly passionate for their craft.
This conclusion was supported by two results. First, using a cutoff point of 4
on the criteria items (as in the Philippe et al., 2009 studies), it was found that
100% of the painters were passionate for painting. Second, the means of the
harmonious and obsessive passion subscales were fairly high (Ms of 5.65 and
3.78, on a 7-point scale, respectively, for the harmonious and obsessive pas-
sions) with low levels of variability. It would thus appear that individuals
who earn their living from a creative activity are indeed highly passionate.
Which Type of Passion Facilitates Creativity the Most?
If passion is involved in the creative process, then which type of passion is

the most likely to lead to creativity? We have seen in the preceding sections
on performance that both types of passion can lead to high levels of perfor-
mance. However, creativity differs slightly from performance. As mentioned
previously, creativity entails not only high performance but also originality
and appropriateness regarding the task at hand (Sternberg & Lubart, 1999).
For instance, a guitar solo is only creative if it is different (i.e., original)
and in the same tonality as the rest of the song (i.e., appropriate). If not, it
may sound terrible and not creative at all! Therefore, in addition to work-
ing extremely hard at one’s craft so as to achieve proficiency (or long-term
performance), as seen previously, one must also engage in the task so as to
maximize novelty, originality, and creativity. Past research has shown that
constraints from others or even those that are self-imposed are not condu-
cive to creativity (Amabile, 1983; Hennessey, 2010). Thus, engaging in the
activity with the goals of beating others or avoiding performing worse than
others should not be conducive to high levels of creativity. These goals char-
acterize obsessive passion. Rather, what seems to be necessary is a sense of
freedom, openness to experience, and mindfulness when engaging in the
activity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Hennessey, 2010). Because such states of
mind characterize a harmonious passion toward the activity, one would thus
expect harmonious passion to facilitate creativity much more than obsessive
passion.
The Lafrenière et al. study above assumed that professional painters were
creative, as it is inherent in the activity. Thus, being passionate for painting
suggests that it contributes to painting, and therefore to creativity. Other
studies have directly related passion to creativity. For example, in a study
conducted with design students from Taiwan, Luh and Lu (2012) had partici-
pants complete the Passion Sale for design activities and a self-report of cre-
ativity achievement (Carson et al., 2005). Results from correlations revealed
that both the harmonious and obsessive passions were positively corre-
lated with creativity. Similarly, Shi (2012) conducted a study on innovative
behavior in employees from different firms in China. Participants completed
the Passion Scale for their job and the employee’s innovative behavior was
assessed by the employee’s supervisor through a scale developed by Scott and
Bruce (1994). Such a measure is more objective than a self-report measure

completed by the employee him- or herself. Correlational results revealed
that harmonious passion was positively related, but obsessive passion nega-
tively related, to innovative behavior.
The results of the above two studies yielded somewhat different findings.
While both studies revealed that harmonious passion was positively associ-
ated with creativity, obsessive passion was found to positively predict cre-
ativity in one study with design students (Luh & Lu, 2012) but not in the
second with employees (Shi, 2012). Two studies conducted by Liu, Chen, and
Yao (2011, Studies 1 and 2) further probed the passion-creativity link in
the work domain. In Study 1, Liu et al. had employees from a porous metal
company in China complete the Harmonious Passion subscale from the
Passion Scale (obsessive passion was not assessed in Study 1). The employ-
ees’ supervisors completed a 13-item scale assessing the employees’ level
of job creativity (Zhou & George, 2001). Some of the items included “this
employee comes up with creative solutions to problems” and “this employee
seeks out new technologies, processes, techniques, and/or product ideas.”
Results from correlational analyses revealed that harmonious passion was
positively correlated with the supervisor-rated level of creativity. These
results held up even after controlling for a number of variables, such as par-
ticipants’ age, gender, level of education, tenure, technical positions, and
work unit, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic work motivation. In Study 2,
a longitudinal design was used with bank employees of a large commercial
bank from China. This time, the employees completed both the harmonious
and obsessive passion subscales from the Passion Scale, and their supervi-
sors completed the same creativity scale used in Study 1. The same control
variables were used as in Study 1. The results revealed again that harmoni-
ous passion was positively related to creativity, while obsessive passion was
unrelated to it.
Of additional interest is that Liu and colleagues (2011) also tested for the
presence of the following causal sequence “Autonomy support→ Passion→
Creativity”. In line with the DMP and findings presented in Chapter 5 on the
determinants of passion, Liu et al. reasoned that autonomy support from
either one’s immediate work team or one’s larger department should pro-
mote harmonious passion that, in turn, should lead to creativity as assessed
by the supervisor. Results from both studies provided support for these link-
ages. Obsessive passion was unrelated to autonomy support or creativity.
These findings thus underscore the role of providing a sense of autonomy
and freedom where harmonious passion can grow thereby allowing creativ-
ity to flourish.
In the other study dealing with creativity in design students, mentioned
above, Luh and Lu (2012) also tested for the presence of a sequence involving
a personal determinant of passion and creativity. In addition to the Passion
Scale and a creative achievement scale, students also completed a measure

of innovative cognitive style, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory
(Kirton, 1976). Results from hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for
demographic variables such as gender and age) revealed that the personal-
ity cognitive style positively predicted both the harmonious and obsessive
passions. However, once more, only harmonious passion positively predicted
creativity.
In sum, harmonious passion would appear to facilitate creativity, while
obsessive passion seems unrelated to it. Further, some personal and social
determinants may allow harmonious passion to come out, and thus to indi-
rectly facilitate creativity. One such determinant is a context of autonomy
support in one’s work environment. As was seen in Chapter 5, autonomy sup-
port from others seems important in order to trigger harmonious passion so
that it is available to facilitate creativity. Finally, certain cognitive styles may
also predispose people to experience harmonious passion and, consequently,
creativity.
The Role of Passion, Absorption, and Social

Self-Esteem in Creativity
We have seen above that passion, especially harmonious passion, is posi-

tively related to creativity. So, what would be some of the processes through
which passion leads to creativity? As seen in the first section on passion
and performance, cognitive processes mediate the effects of passion on
performance. Thus, a similar picture may exist with respect to creativity.
Specifically, the greater the cognitive capacity and the deeper the level of
cognitive processing, the more one should have access to one’s cognitive
abilities and knowledge and, in turn, the more one should be able to dis-
play creativity. As seen in Chapter 6, harmonious passion positively predicts
cognitive processes, while obsessive passion is unrelated or even negatively
related to adaptive cognitive processes. Another important factor has to do
with one’s immediate surroundings. Being able to connect positively with
co-workers should allow one to feel free to share one’s ideas without being
afraid of being ridiculed or having them stolen by others. Thus, deriving
innovative ideas from one’s cognitive absorption may not be sufficient to
display innovative behavior in a given work environment. A sense of solid
social self-esteem that allows one to trust colleagues is necessary as well.
Because harmonious passion is anchored in a secure sense of self and obses-
sive passion is not (or at least less so), one would expect harmonious pas-
sion to positively predict experiencing high levels of social self-esteem,
while obsessive passion should be either negatively related or unrelated to
it. In sum, harmonious passion should predict both cognitive absorption
and social self-esteem, while obsessive passion should be either negatively

related or unrelated to both. In turn, absorption and social self-esteem
should positively predict creativity.
Shi (2012) conducted a study to test the above model. Employees from
19 enterprises in China completed a questionnaire containing the Passion
Scale, a scale of cognitive absorption (Rothbard, 2001), and a measure of
social (in this case, organizational) self-esteem (Pierce & Gardner, 2004).
Creativity was assessed through a scale of innovative behavior completed
by the employee’s direct supervisor. Results from a path analysis revealed
that harmonious passion positively predicted both cognitive absorption and
social self-esteem. While obsessive passion was negatively related to both,
only the path to social self-esteem was significant. As expected, absorption
and social self-esteem both positively predicted supervisor-rated innovative
behavior. In sum, harmonious passion facilitates creativity by making opera-
tive personal adaptive self-processes (absorption and social self-esteem) that
allow creativity to flourish.
The Role of Passion and Emotions in the Creative Process
We have seen in Chapter 7 that harmonious passion positively affects positive

emotions during task engagement. Furthermore, research reveals that posi-
tive emotions facilitate creativity (e.g., Isen, 1987). Thus, it might be hypoth-
esized that the positive effects of harmonious passion on creativity may also
take place, at least in part, through the effects it has on positive emotions.
Such should not be the case for obsessive passion. In Chapter 7, we have seen
some of the functions of emotions. Some of these are crucial as they pertain
to the creative process. A first function is to open up access to the self and the
cognitive repertoire. In the words of Barbara Fredrickson (2009, p. 21): “The
first core truth about positive emotions is that they open our hearts and our
minds, making us more receptive and more creative” (italics are mine). Alice
Isen (1987) is even more specific and posits that positive emotions serve at
least three functions in creativity: (1) they make additional cognitive mate-
rial available, thereby facilitating the use of different cognitive elements and
their interrelations for association; (2) they increase the breadth of the ele-
ments that serve as elements (allowing us to be more inclusive than exclusive
with respect to ideas); and (3) positive emotions increase cognitive flexibility
and thus the potential linkages among ideas. Indeed, much research reveals
that in general, positive emotions facilitate creativity compared to neutral
emotional states (Amabile 1996; Baas, DeBreu, & Nijstad 2008; Kaufman
2003; Lubart & Getz, 1997). On the other hand, research reveals that there
is a negative relationship between negative affect and creativity (e.g., Koy &
Yeo, 2008; Wright, Cropanzano, & Meyer, 2004).
The second function of emotion pertains to the energy it provides. Thus,

while positive emotions of lower levels of activation have been most studied
and have been found to lead to the opening up effect described by Fredrickson
(2000, 2009), emotions of high activation (e.g., enthusiasm) have been much
less studied and have been posited to serve to provide energy to facilitate
one’s progression in the activity throughout the entire creativity process
(e.g., Carver, 2006). It is noteworthy that enthusiasm and excitement are
often reported by passionate individuals when they are engaged in the pas-
sionate activity (e.g., Klaukien, Shepherd, & Patzelt, 2013; Przybylski et al.,
2009; Vallerand, Ntoumanis et al., 2008, Study 2). Research tends to reveal
that it would be negative emotions of high activation (e.g., fear, anxiety, etc.)
that would impair the creative process. Other negative emotions of low and
moderate activation may not produce less creativity than emotion-neutral
controls (to this effect, see Baas, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2008).
The above discussion suggests that both the valence and the levels of
activation of emotions are important to consider in creativity. Specifically,
it would appear that while positive emotions of lower levels of arousal play
a key role in opening up the self and cognitive repertoire, positive emotions
with higher levels of activation should especially serve the purpose of help-
ing one sustain the energy required to go through the creativity process from
beginning to end. On the other hand, negative emotions, especially those
with higher levels of activation, should prove disruptive. Of particular inter-
est is the role of the two types of passion in emotions. As noted in Chapter 7,
harmonious passion is more conducive to positive emotions in general than
obsessive passion. However, it will be recalled that some evidence reveals
that while harmonious passion facilitates the experience of positive emo-
tions of both lower and higher levels of activation, obsessive passion is mostly
associated with positive emotions of high activation (Lafrenière et al., 2013).
Finally, as we have seen in Chapter 7, obsessive passion has been repeatedly
found to predict the experience of negative emotions during activity engage-
ment, while harmonious passion is unrelated and may even be negatively
related to such type of emotions.
In sum, the positive effects of harmonious passion on creativity that have
been empirically supported might be due to the fact that it promotes positive
emotions of moderate and high levels of activation, thereby facilitating both
the opening up effect (ensuring the quality of one’s creative product) and the
energizing effect (ensuring completion of the creative process). Through its
positive effects on positive emotions of higher levels of activation, obsessive
passion, on the other hand, should facilitate mostly the energizing effect,
thereby maximizing completion of the creative process. If one considers the
fact that obsessive passion also facilitates the experience of negative emo-
tions, including some of high activation (e.g., fear of failure), then the out-
come of the creative process may not be of the highest quality.
St-Louis and Vallerand (2015) have conducted two studies to shed some
light on some of these issues. Specifically, they looked at the types of emotions
experienced by harmoniously and obsessively passionate artists across the
different phases of a recent successful creative process. The creative process
refers to the sequence of thoughts and actions that leads to a novel, adaptive
production (Lubart, 2000). In line with Amabile (1996) and Mace and Ward
(2010), four phases of the creative process were scrutinized: (1) preparation
of materials or ideas; (2) idea generation, when the actual idea comes out;
(3) creation/production, or working on the actual creative product; and (4)
project completion. Participants in Study 1 were artists involved in differ-
ent fields (e.g., painting, design, photography, drawing). They completed the
Passion Scale and then were asked to picture themselves in the last success-
ful creative production they had achieved. They then were asked how often
they experienced various emotions during each of the four phases of the cre-
ative process. These emotions were derived from Barrett and Russell’s model
of affect (1998). This scale contained positive emotions of moderate levels of
activation (e.g., “feeling happy,” “feeling joyful”) and those of higher levels
of activation (e.g., “having a blast,” “feeling positively excited”). Artists were
divided into a harmoniously passionate group and an obsessively passionate
group (as seen in Chapter 4) and then analyses of variance were conducted
to determine how passion affected the emotions experienced during the cre-
ative process and the types of emotions that were predominant in the vari-
ous phases of the creative process. Because the authors looked at a successful
creative process, the findings should yield some valuable answers regarding
how passion and emotions positively contribute to creativity.
Four major findings emerged. First, in general, across all four phases of the
successful creative process, artists experienced positive emotions of mod-
erate level of activation more often than those of high activation. Second,
however, the difference between the two types of positive emotions was the
greatest in Phase 1, where the most opening up needs to be done to generate
the creative idea. In the other three phases, the difference between the two
types of positive emotions was much less pronounced, suggesting that both
types of positive emotions (their opening up and energizing functions) were
at play. Third, it was found that across all four phases, harmoniously pas-
sionate artists experienced positive emotions of moderate activation level
more often than those of high activation (and more so than those with a
predominant obsessive passion). Finally, while obsessively passionate artists
experienced positive emotions of moderate and high activation to the same
degree, harmoniously passionate artists experienced higher levels of positive
emotions of moderate than high activation.
The above findings were basically replicated in a second study (St-Louis &
Vallerand, 2015, Study 2), again focusing on the four phases of a successful
creative process with another sample of artists involved in similar fields to
those in Study 1. Furthermore, negative emotions (both of high and moder-

ate levels of activation) were also assessed. Negative emotions were found
to be of low frequency and thus were relatively absent from the successful
creative process. Of major importance, obsessively passionate artists expe-
rienced negative emotions much more often than harmoniously passionate
artists across all four phases of the creative process. Because negative emo-
tions (especially those of high activation) are particularly toxic for the cre-
ative process (Baas et al., 2008), it would appear that obsessive passion leads
to lower levels of creativity than harmonious passion through the negative
emotions that it engenders. Clearly, future research is needed to determine
the relative role of positive and negative emotions and how harmonious and
obsessive passions influence the two types of emotions during an unsuccess-
ful creative process.
The findings of the two studies above are preliminary and need to
be replicated in future research before some firm conclusions can be
drawn. Nevertheless, these results are in line with past research on the
passion-emotion and the emotions-creativity literature, and as such they
lead to some important implications for the creative process. A first impli-
cation deals with the role of positive emotions in creativity. As suggested
by emotion theorists (Fredrickson, 2000; Isen, 1987), positive emotions are
involved in the successful creative process. However, these theorists do not
make a distinction between positive emotions of moderate and high activa-
tion; nevertheless, the present findings suggest that it may be important to
do so. Emotions of moderate level of activation (e.g., happy, joyful) would
appear important across all phases but especially during the first phase,
when one is searching for the creative idea and needs to open up to have
access to his or her complete cognitive repertoire to be able to do so. At this
point (first phase), positive emotions of high levels of activation (e.g., excite-
ment) are less useful. However, in subsequent phases, once the creative idea
has come out, positive emotions of high levels of activation become more
important and can fruitfully coexist with those of moderate levels of activa-
tion. Positive emotions with a high level of activation are important because
they ensure that high levels of energy are mobilized, allowing one to move
through all phases of the creative process (including completion) while allow-
ing creative ideas to emerge. A second conclusion is that negative emotions
do not seem to be involved in the successful creative process, as they tend to
be experienced much less than positive emotions. These findings are in line
with the literature on the role of negative emotions, especially those of high
activation level (see Baas et al., 2008). Future research is needed in order to
determine if negative emotions are implicated in an unsuccessful creative
episode.
Finally, the third important conclusion from these studies deals with
the role of passion in emotions. The results of the St-Louis and Vallerand
research reveal that the emotional pattern involved in successful creation

seems triggered by harmonious passion and less so by obsessive passion.
The fact that for harmoniously passionate individuals, negative emotions
are very low and positive emotions of moderate activation are high (and
are much higher than those of high activation, which are still moderately
high) paints an emotional picture that is conducive to creativity. Indeed,
by providing access to these two types of positive emotions, harmonious
passion ensures that adaptive self-processes are made available during the
entire creative process. Because obsessive passion facilitates positive emo-
tions of high activation more so than those of moderate activation and
because obsessive passion facilitates the experience of both types of nega-
tive affect, such an emotional pattern would appear to be less adaptive
than that of harmonious passion. In other words, one reason why people
who engage in the creative process with a harmoniously passionate mind-
set are more creative (e.g., Liu et al., 2011; Shi, 2012) is that they experi-
ence patterns of emotions that are more conducive to high creativity than
those who are in an obsessively passionate mindset. Once more, passion
and emotions intertwine.
SUMMARY
In sum, passion plays a major role in performance. Both the harmonious

and obsessive passions can lead to high performance through different
roads. Long-term performance is achieved through engaging in deliberate
practice over several years. It is passion that allows one to pursue engage-
ment in such type of practice over months and years. Achievement goals
also play an important role, especially mastery goals. Short-term perfor-
mance is facilitated by both the quality and quantity of one’s cognitions
(or high levels of absorption and attention, respectively), and both seem to
benefit from harmonious passion. There is one circumstance where obses-
sive passion leads to higher levels of performance than harmonious pas-
sion: when one is presented with negative information regarding his or
her competence at the task and experiences fear of failure in the passion-
ate activity or an activity related to the self. Finally, passion also matters
with respect to creativity. Creativity seems to benefit more from harmoni-
ous, rather than obsessive, passion, mainly through the positive effects
that harmonious passion induces in positive emotions and its protection
against negative emotions.
PA RT I V
xwx
Interpersonal Relationships, Intergroup
Relations, and Societal Consequences
w
C H A P T ER 11
Passion and Interpersonal Relationships
T he topics discussed so far in this book have focused on intrapersonal out-

comes, such as cognitions, affect, psychological well-being, health, and
performance and creativity. Part IV of this book focuses on outcomes with
implications for other people and even for society as a whole. Specifically,
the two chapters in the present section address the role of passion in inter-
personal relationships (Chapter 11) as well as in intergroup and societal
outcomes (Chapter 12). In the present chapter, the focus is on how passion
matters for interpersonal relationships.
Our relationships are important to us. In fact, connecting to others is so
important that several theories have posited the existence of an innate need
to belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) or to relate to others (Deci & Ryan,
2000). Such a need directs us to interact with other people on an ongoing
basis in a number of relationships. For instance, we interact with coworkers
and supervisors, or with fellow students and teachers at school, with friends
and at times with strangers during leisure activities (teammates), and with
one’s family (i.e., parents, romantic partner, children) when at home, to
name just a few. I suggest that passion has the potential to affect each of
these relationships for better, of course, but also for worse. This should not
surprise us, as passionate activities are central in people’s lives (Vallerand,
2010; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1) and as such, these activities should be
centrally related to a lot of our relationships.
In what follows, I focus on three ways in which passion matters for inter-
personal relationships. The first addresses how one’s passion for a given activ-
ity can affect our relationships with people with whom we interact within the
purview of the passionate activity. For example, my passion for research may
influence the quality of friendships that I develop and maintain with fellow
scientists and graduate students with whom I conduct research. Second, my
passion for a given activity may also influence the relationships I have with
( 279 )
people in other spheres of my life. Having an obsessive passion for research

may lead me to neglect my relationship with my family. Finally, I can have a
passion for the romantic relationship I have with my wife. Here the passion
is for a person, namely my romantic partner and the relationship I have with
her. In all three cases, the outcomes induced by passion can be profound and
important. We now address these issues in turn.
PASSION AFFECTS INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIOR WITHIN

THE PURVIEW OF THE PASSIONATE ACTIVITY
Research reveals that most passionate activities are engaged in a social envi-
ronment. Indeed, Lecoq and Rimé (2009, Study 2) report that 83% of people
engage in their passionate activity with at least one other person. It thus
becomes quite relevant to determine how being passionate for a given activ-
ity affects the behavior we display with the other persons with whom we
engage in this activity. Below, I look at three types of impact of passion on
interpersonal behavior within the passionate activity, namely how passion
affects the development and maintenance of relationships, our moral behav-
ior in achievement situations, and our aggression toward others who engage
with us in the passionate activity.
Development and Maintenance of Friendships
There are at least two types of people with whom we interact while engaging
in a passionate activity, namely same-status collaborators (e.g., teammates)
and higher status supervisors (e.g., teachers, coaches, work supervisors). We
look at both types of relationships below.
Passion and Friendships with Same-Status Collaborators
Passionate people are full of energy and thus may be perceived as attrac-
tive to others. Thus, they may develop better quality friendships. Is this the
case? Does the type of passion come into play in the new relationships that
we develop? Recent research conducted in a variety of settings, includ-
ing work, sports, and study groups, has started to address these issues.
For instance, in one study, Philippe, Vallerand, Houlfort, Lavigne, and
Donahue, (2010, Study 3) followed basketball players during a one-week
basketball camp to ascertain the quality of the new relationships they
would develop. Athletes completed the Passion Scale early in the camp
and again toward the end of the camp. The authors assessed the quality of
the new relationships that athletes developed during the camp with the
Pa s s i o n a n d I n t e r p e r s o n a l R e l a t i o n s h i p s ( 281 )
Quality of Interpersonal Relationship Scale (QIRS; Senécal, Vallerand, &

Vallières, 1992). This scale assesses the extent to which relationships
one has with other people (in this case, other basketball players at camp)
are enriching, satisfying, and so on. Results from correlational analyses
revealed that the more athletes had a harmonious passion for basketball,
the more they developed new friendships of high quality during the bas-
ketball camp. Obsessive passion was not found to affect the quality of
these relationships. Thus, harmonious, but not obsessive, passion seems
to positively affect the development of new relationships of high quality.
These findings were replicated in another study with students who did not
know each other initially and who interacted in study groups over a whole
semester (Philippe, Vallerand, Houlfort et al., 2010, Study 4). I return to
this study more fully below.
But what about existing relationships (the people we interact with
already within the activity)? Are they affected in the same way by our pas-
sion as the new relationships that we develop? One possibility is that the
popularity of passionate people, although quite high initially, may go down
over time as other people may tire of the zest and intensity that they dis-
play or because people may get fed up with always hearing about the pas-
sionate activity and nothing else. This may be especially the case for people
with an obsessive passion. Conversely, relationships may remain positive
throughout, especially with people who display a predominant harmonious
passion. This is because they are more even keel and may be more relaxed,
as we have seen previously (Verner-Filion et al., in press). Thus, the two
types of passion should affect the maintenance of existing relationships
differently.
In a study on Massively Multiplayer Online role-playing games such as
World of Warcraft, Utz, Jonas, and Tonkens (2012) asked a large number
of gamers to complete the Passion Scale and scales assessing the number
of friends that they have online, the quality of such friendships, and the
number of hours they engage in gaming each week. Controlling for the
number of weekly hours played, results from regression analyses revealed
that both the harmonious and obsessive passions positively predicted the
number of friends online. However, only harmonious passion positively
predicted the quality of such friendships. These findings, on the quality of
existing friendships, were replicated by Philippe, Vallerand, and Houlfort
et al. (2010) in a number of settings, including work and leisure. Further,
Paradis, Martin, and Carron (2012) found that harmonious passion pre-
dicted higher levels of cohesion than obsessive passion in both recreational
and competitive teams of different sports. Finally, Stenseng, Forest, and
Curran (2014) showed that harmonious (but not obsessive) passion pre-
dicted belongingness with recreational athletes. It would thus appear that
passion, especially harmonious passion, positively contributes to both the
development and maintenance of quality relationships within the pur-

view of the passionate activity.
If harmonious passion facilitates the development and maintenance
of high-quality relationships, then what are the mediating processes
involved? In other words, why does harmonious passion foster positive
relationships? Conversely, what is it that obsessive passion does to pre-
vent the person from connecting positively with others? It was seen in
Chapter 7 that when harmonious passion is at play, people experience pos-
itive affective states. Conversely, when obsessive passion is operative, peo-
ple mainly experience negative affect or, at best, a mixture of positive and
negative affect. Of great importance is the fact that emotions serve some
functions, including some that are social in nature (Frijda & Mesquita,
1994). In particular, emotions serve to communicate our emotional state
to others. Thus, if we experience positive emotions while engaging in a
team activity such as soccer, it may bring other people closer to us, as
people typically want to connect with happy people. In addition, as seen
in Chapter 7, the Broaden and Build theory posits that positive emotions
allow people to open up not only to themselves (having full access to the
self) but also to their surroundings and to others (see Fredrickson, 2001;
Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). Thus, when in such a positive state, people
smile, touch, laugh, and engage in a positive sharing of the activity while
remaining attuned to others with an openness toward others that should
be conducive to positive relationships (see Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006).
I call this the “Magic Johnson effect,” referring to the former all-star bas-
ketball player of the Los Angeles Lakers who used to fully share his posi-
tive emotions after a nice play, by smiling to others and connecting with
his teammates by giving high fives and pats in the back. Unsurprisingly,
he would develop lifelong high-quality relationships with several of his
teammates and even opponents.
The effect of negative emotions on others deserves a word here as well. If
positive emotions send a positive signal to others and open us up in a way so
as to connect fully and positively with others, then negative emotions send
the opposite message. Most negative emotions send the signal to the per-
son experiencing the emotions that there is something wrong. In so doing, it
will lead the person to interrupt (Mandler, 1975) things, to freeze, in order
to ponder what is going wrong so as to correct the situation. Negative emo-
tions then constrict the self, instead of opening it up. Thus, the person will
be defensive and will stay to him- or herself. Instead of connecting with oth-
ers, the person is then likely to remain aloof, to shy away from others, and to
look unhappy. And if we look unhappy, we may keep others at bay, as people
typically do not want to interact with unhappy people (Fowler & Christakis,
2008). Overall, these are not the best conditions for inviting others to con-
nect with us and develop friendships.
Thus, overall, the DMP posits that because it promotes the experience of
situational positive affect, harmonious passion should therefore be condu-
cive to high-quality relationships. Conversely, because it is typically unre-
lated or weakly related to positive affect and positively correlated to negative
affect, obsessive passion would be expected to prevent one from experienc-
ing high-quality relationships within the purview of the passionate activity.
In their series of studies on passion and relationships, Philippe,
Vallerand, Houlfort et al. (2010) tested the proposed processes. For instance,
in the study discussed previously on the study groups (Philippe, Vallerand,
Houlfort et al., 2010, Study 4), students who did not know each other at the
beginning of the term completed the Passion Scale toward their studies in
management. Then, at the end of the term, 15 weeks later, they indicated
the positive and negative emotions experienced within their study groups
over the semester and reported on the positive (connectedness) and nega-
tive (seclusion) interpersonal aspects that they had experienced during the
term. Furthermore, participants were asked to rate their perceptions of each
of their teammates’ quality of interpersonal relationships developed with
the other people in the study group over the semester on the positive and
negative interpersonal dimensions. It was hypothesized that harmonious
passion would positively predict positive affect, but negatively predict nega-
tive affect, experienced over the semester. Conversely, obsessive passion was
expected to be unrelated to positive affect and to positively predict negative
affect. In turn, positive and negative affects experienced in the study group
over the semester were hypothesized to respectively predict the positive and
negative relationship assessments performed by both the participants and
their fellow students. Results from the structural equation modeling analy-
ses appear in Figure 11.1. As can be seen, the results provided support for the
hypotheses (see Philippe et al., 2010 for other studies supporting the present
perspective).
Overall, the findings from the Philippe and colleagues research on pas-
sion and relationships underscore at least five major points. First, they show
that passion does affect the quality of relationships that people develop in
the passionate activity, from day one. Thus, passion for an activity leads to
making new friends within the activity. Second, however, the positive effects
originate from harmonious, not obsessive, passion. In fact, obsessive passion
may even detract one from making new friends. Third, these studies also
reveal the nature of the processes through which harmonious and obses-
sive passion differentially affect relationships, namely positive and negative
affect, respectively. While positive affect facilitates high-quality relation-
ships, negative affect undermines quality relationships. Fourth, the same
processes seem at play in both the development of new high-quality rela-
tionships and the maintenance of such relationships. Specifically, positive
and negative emotions, respectively, mediate the impact of harmonious and
Interpersonal
Connectedness
.48***
Harmonious .24*** Positive

.25**
Passion Emotions
Teammates’
Positive QIR
–.06 Ratings
–.15*
–.27** –.28**
.17* .43*** Interpersonal

Obsessive Negative Seclusion
Passion Emotions
.21**
–.07
Teammates’
Negative QIR
Ratings
Figure 11.1:
Passion, Affect, and Relationships within the Activities.
Note: QIR: Quality of Interpersonal Relationships. Adapted from Philippe et al. (2010, Study 4).
obsessive passion on relationships. Finally, these affective processes are not

only experienced by the passionate performers, but are also being picked up
by the people with whom they engage in the activity, as was found in the
Philippe et al. research. In other words, the impact of passion on relation-
ship quality does not simply take place in the heads of passionate individuals
but rather fully extends to other people with whom they engage in the pas-
sionate activity. Our emotions are fully social in nature. Thus, other people
can see if we are feeling good, and when we do, they will be more inclined to
move toward us, and us toward them. The end result is that we are more likely
to create more positive relationships from both our and the other people’s
perspective. As posited by emotion theorists (e.g., Frijda, 2007), emotions
do serve some important social functions, including that of connecting with
others.
Passion and Relationships with People of Different Status
Research reviewed above involved the quality of relationships with teammates

and workmates. What characterizes such relationships is that people are at
the same level, with no one having a higher status than the other. However,
we do not know if these principles uncovered in same-status relationships
also apply to relationships where different status takes place. For example,
does passion matter for teacher-student, work supervisor–subordinate, and

coach-athlete relationships? Research conducted on this issue in field set-
tings reveals that it does (Jowett, Lafrenière, & Vallerand, 2013; Lafrenière,
Jowett, Vallerand, Donahue, & Lorimer, 2008, Studies 1 and 2). Such research
has looked at both sides of the issue—that is, at both the passion of the coach
and that of the athlete in assessing its role in the quality of the relationship.
For instance, research in the Lafrenière et al. (2008) article looked at the
role of passion in the quality of the relationship between athletes and their
coaches. Study 1 involved British athletes who completed the Passion Scale
regarding their sport and the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire
(Jowett & Ntoumanis, 2004), a scale assessing athletes’ perceptions of the
quality of their relationship with their coach on a number of indices. Results
revealed that athletes’ harmonious passion toward their sport was positively
related to most indices of relationship satisfaction with their coach, whereas
obsessive passion was negatively related to some and unrelated to the other
indices.
Other research has looked at the coach’s passion and how it affects the
coach’s interpersonal behavior toward the athletes. For instance, in one
study, Carpentier and Mageau (2014) have shown that coaches with an
obsessive passion provide more change-oriented feedback to their athletes
that, furthermore, is controlling in nature. In other words, such coaches
engage in what can be termed “controlling overcoaching.” Such interpersonal
behavior on the part of the coach’s part is likely to affect the quality of his or
her relationship with athletes. Indeed, such behavior does not leave room for
the athletes to experience autonomy in changing their behavior, and at some
point they may feel resentful toward their coach.
In their second study, Lafrenière and colleagues (2008, Study 2) attempted
to reproduce with coaches and athletes the sequence obtained in the Philippe
et al. (2010) study. The authors had over 100 French-Canadian coaches from
different sports complete the Passion Scale for coaching and a scale assess-
ing the quality of their relationships with their athletes (the Quality of
Interpersonal Relationship Scale; Senécal et al., 1992). In addition, coaches
also completed a scale assessing the emotions they experience while coach-
ing. Results from correlational analyses showed that harmonious passion
predicted quality relationships with the athletes, while obsessive passion did
not. Of greater interest, the results from a path analysis were directly in line
with those of Philippe, Vallerand, Houlfort, et al. (2010), discussed previ-
ously. Specifically, harmonious passion predicted positive emotions that, in
turn, predicted the quality of relationships with the athletes. Obsessive pas-
sion was unrelated to positive affect or relationship quality.
The findings from the Lafrenière and colleagues’ (2008) research under-
score the fact that passion matters with respect to the quality of relation-
ships involving “supervisor-supervisee” types of relationship. In addition,
they reveal that the same processes that were found to mediate the effects
of passion in the relationship with same-status level people (Philippe,
Vallerand, Houlfort, et al., 2010) are at play in “one-up” relationships. It
should be underscored that in their study, Lafrenière did not assess negative
emotions and thus could not test the path from obsessive passion to negative
emotions to relationship quality. Future research is needed to test this path
and to replicate the overall findings with a variety of one-up relationships in
areas such as work and school.
Passion and Moral Behavior
Moral behavior is highly relevant for relationships. Indeed, as Turiel (1983)

proposed, behavior that has consequences for others’ rights and well-being
pertains to morality and can be classified as moral behavior. Thus, how one
behaves in the moral sphere has important implications for others. For
instance, cheating during an exam may inflate one’s grades to the point
where it may cheat another student out of an A (at least in institutions where
the bell-curve system is used). Further, such behavior may negatively affect
the quality of the relationships that will develop between people who cheat,
for instance, and those who have been cheated against. Thus, moral behavior
is highly relevant for relationships.
Of great importance for the present discussion is that passion matters
as it pertains to moral behavior. Passionate individuals would appear to
have a lot at stake in achievement settings. Indeed, because the activity
they care about serves to define them, a poor performance in the purview
of the activity may have a negative connotation for their sense of self.
However, depending on whether their predominant passion is harmoni-
ous or obsessive, people may behave quite differently in such situations.
When obsessive passion is operative, individuals have more self-worth
contingencies pertaining to the activity (Mageau, Carpentier, & Vallerand,
2011). Their sense of self is then highly dependent on their performance.
Therefore, obsessive passion may lead one to engage in immoral behavior
that ensures that failure (and thus a potential loss of self-esteem) will
be avoided, or that a boost in self-esteem is possible through success.
Alternatively, with harmonious passion, the absence of self-worth contin-
gencies in the activity (Mageau et al., 2011) and a strong connection to the
integrated self and adaptive self-processes should make people more likely
to remain close to their moral ideals and to accept the negative perfor-
mance as such, without resorting to cheating to protect their sense of self.
Thus, people with a predominant harmonious passion should be respect-
ful of others involved in the activity, should not take unfair advantage of
them through cheating, and should engage morally and positively toward
others.
So, if passion influences moral behavior, what is the nature of the pro-
cesses through which it does so? The distinction between the two types
of passion and their link to the self has some implications for the type of
self-related affects that will be experienced by passionate individuals. One
type of self-related affect that would appear particularly relevant for moral
behavior is that of pride (Niedenthal et al., 2006). According to some authors
(e.g., Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, 2007), pride serves not only as a barom-
eter of our current sense of self but also as a reinforcement of the appropriate
behavior to emit. We have seen in Chapter 7 that both types of passion are
positively related to pride (e.g., Grenier et al., 2014; Vallerand, Ntoumanis,
et al., 2008, Study 2). This was to be expected because pride is a self-related
affect and passion is intrinsically related to the self. Interestingly, recent
research has shown that two different types of pride may be distinguished
(e.g., Tracy & Robins, 2007), namely, authentic pride and hubristic pride.
Authentic pride is hypothesized to be based on self-accomplishments and
to reflect genuine feelings of self-worth. Authentic pride is at play when one
mentions, “In general, during a game, I feel accomplished.” This type of pride
has been associated with self-esteem, long-term goal achievement, better
social interactions, and prosocial behavior (Carver et al., 2010; Tracy et al.,
2009; Tracy & Robins, 2007). Hubristic pride, on the other hand, is hypoth-
esized to be less based on self-accomplishments and to reflect distorted and
self-aggrandized self-views. Hubristic pride is operative when one says, “In
general, during a game, I feel arrogant.” This type of pride has been associated
with narcissistic self-aggrandizement, short-term goal attainment, and with
aggressive and antisocial behavior (Carver et al., 2010; Tracy et al., 2009).
Such a distinction between the two types of pride is particularly impor-
tant because they may lead to different moral functions. For instance,
authentic pride has been found to promote moral behavior such as acceptable
sales practices and positive citizen behavior at work (Verbeke et al., 2004),
whereas hubristic pride has been associated with aggression and hostility
(Tangney, 1999). Passion should matter with respect to the two types of
pride. Because passionate people persist in the activity over time, they are
likely to improve and thus to typically do well in the activity. As a conse-
quence, both the harmonious and obsessive passions should generally lead
to the experience of feelings of confidence and accomplishment in the realm
of the activity, which are elements of authentic pride (Tracy & Robbins,
2007). Conversely, obsessive passion leads people to adopt an ego-invested,
defensive mode of activity engagement that encourages them to feel supe-
rior over others. Such superiority should lead people to experience hubristic
pride. Furthermore, the fact that self-esteem is contingent upon doing well
in the activity (Mageau, Carpentier, & Vallerand, 2011) makes obsessively
passionate individuals prone to self-aggrandizement as a means to minimize

the threat to self-esteem that failure represents. This should not be the case
for harmonious passion, where the engagement is autonomous, under the
person’s control, and devoid from contingencies attached to the practice of
the activity. In sum, both the harmonious and obsessive passions should pre-
dict authentic pride, while only obsessive passion should be a determinant
of hubristic pride. Further, authentic pride should promote moral behavior,
while hubristic pride should impede it.
Bureau et al. (2013, Studies 1 and 2) conducted two studies to test this
basic model. Because the two studies led to very similar findings, only Study 2
is presented here. In this study, high-level athletes from the United Kingdom
completed the Passion Scale assessing the two types of passion and measures
of moral and immoral behavior. In addition, the athletes completed the Pride
Scale (Tracy & Robins, 2007) to assess the two types of pride. Bureau et al.
then conducted structural equation modeling analyses to test the proposed
model. The results provided support for the model. Specifically, both types of
passion led to authentic pride, while only obsessive passion predicted hubris-
tic pride. In turn, authentic pride predicted moral behavior, while hubristic
pride positively predicted immoral behavior but negatively predicted moral
behavior. These findings are illustrated in Figure 11.2.
The findings of the research conducted by Bureau et al. (2013) suggest
that passion matters with respect to moral and immoral behavior and that
the type of passion determines which course of action will be taken by indi-
viduals in achievement situations. Furthermore, the findings underscore
the fact that emotions related to either a secure (authentic pride) or an
insecure (hubristic pride) sense of self play a mediating role between pas-
sion and moral or immoral behavior. Future research is needed in order
to replicate and extend these findings with longitudinal and experimen-
tal designs and other types of moral and immoral behavior in a variety of
contexts.
.16* .30** Self-Reported

Harmonious Authentic
Moral
Passion Pride
Behavior
.41** –.33**
.55** .63** Self-Reported

Obsessive Hubristic
Immoral
Passion Pride
Behavior
Figure 11.2:
The Mediating Role of Pride in the Passion-Moral Behavior Relationship.
Adapted from Bureau et al. (2013, Study 2).
Passion and Aggression
We have seen in the previous chapter (Chapter 10) that when under threat,
obsessive passion leads the person to act with vigor so as to prevent failure.
This is especially the case when performance is directly under the person’s
control. Enhanced performance may then result from such a strategy, at least
momentarily. However, sometimes performance may be under the control of
another person. What happens when one has an obsessive passion and rigidly
clings to a highly important goal, and then such a goal is either threatened or
actively thwarted by someone? This could lead the person to engage in some
aggressive behavior, in order to ensure that success will be reached (or at
least that failure and its dreaded consequences will be avoided). Research has
been conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the role of passion
in aggressive behavior in such situations.
Passion and Instrumental Aggression in Competitive Situations
Typically, competitive situations represent zero-sum games. That is, when

the opponent wins, the other one loses and vice versa. As indicated above,
because losing has some important negative implications for their sense
of self and identity, people with a predominant obsessive passion should
then engage in aggressive interpersonal behavior in order to avoid this
undesirable state of affairs. In some situations, aggression may ensue.
Thus, although the person may not experience any negative feelings
or anger toward the other person, an obsessive passion for the activity
may lead him or her to engage in what is called instrumental aggression,
aimed at preventing the opponent from winning. Instrumental aggression
(Berkowitz, 1993) consists in causing a strategic nuisance to an opponent
in a desire to hinder his or her performance, such as an elbow in the face in
hockey, in order to prevent him or her from winning (and us from losing).
Such should not be the case with harmonious passion because people can
then face such a negative outcome (i.e., losing) in a mindful fashion. There
is thus no need to behave aggressively toward the other person in order to
avoid failure.
Donahue, Rip, and Vallerand (2009) conducted two studies in order to test
these predictions within the context of sport. In Study 1, college basketball
players completed the Passion Scale as pertains to basketball as well as a scale
assessing levels of aggressive behavior typically performed while playing
basketball (e.g., the Bredemeier Athletic Aggression Inventory; Bredemeier,
1985). In line with the above hypothesis, the Results of Study 1 confirmed
that college basketball players with a predominant obsessive passion gener-
ally behave more aggressively when they play than those with a predominant
harmonious passion.
The goal of Study 2 was to determine under which circumstances obses-

sively passionate athletes are more likely to display aggressive behavior. In
line with the DMP, the authors posited that aggressive behaviors would be
more likely to take place when one’s sense of competence and identity has
been threatened. Indeed, research has shown that aggressive behavior can
result from threatened egotism (i.e., highly favorable views of the self that
are disputed by others; Baumeister, Bushman, & Campbell, 2000). When
their self-views are threatened, people are motivated to act aggressively in
order to restore positive self-views (Steele, 1988). This should be even more
the case if such aggression leads to success (or at least prevents failure) in the
situation at hand. Furthermore, such an effect should be even more impor-
tant for obsessively passionate individuals. This is because their defensive
mode of functioning should lead them to be highly motivated to defend
against any threat that is targeted at the self (see Bélanger et al., 2013a;
Hodgins et al., 2006). Such should not be the case for harmoniously passion-
ate individuals, who can face threatening information non-defensively. Of
additional importance is the fact that research has shown that when indi-
viduals have the opportunity to self-affirm (Steele, 1988) or to focus on some
of their competent personal skills or abilities before having their identity
threatened, then they become less defensive about the threatening infor-
mation. One would then predict that people would be much less aggressive
under self-affirming conditions. In fact, as seen in Chapter 10, under condi-
tions of self-affirmation, differences between the two types of passionate
individuals should be much less pronounced because the sense of identity
of obsessively passionate individuals has been secured before receiving the
threatening information.
Donahue et al. (2009, Study 2) tested the above hypotheses in their second
study. College basketball players first completed the Passion Scale toward bas-
ketball and were then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: identity
threat or self-affirmation. In line with past research on identity threat (e.g.,
Steele, 1988), identity threat was induced by asking participants to reflect on
some of their weaknesses as a basketball player, whereas participants in the
self-affirmation conditions were asked to reflect on their strengths. Finally,
participants read three hypothetical situations and for each one responded
to four items that measured the athletes’ intention to use aggression in that
situation. For instance, the first hypothetical situation read:
There are two seconds left in an important game. Your team is winning by one
point. The other team shot the ball and there is a rebound. An opponent is
just about to make a “tip in” and win the game. You are under the basket and
nobody is looking at you (not even the referees) because all eyes are turned
toward the opposing player. What do you do to the opposing player?
Participants then indicated on a 7-point scale the extent to which they would
behave aggressively on each of four items that reflected a linear increase in
aggression: (1) “I let him (her) shoot”; (2) “I try to break his (her) concentra-
tion by screaming”; (3) “I touch him (her) slightly and hope that it will be
enough to make him (her) miss”; and (4) “I clip his (her) legs and act as if it
was a box out.” A composite aggression score reflecting the linear increase in
aggression from items 1 to 4 was computed, with a higher score reflecting a
higher level of aggression.
Players were assigned to either the obsessively or the harmonious pas-
sionate group, depending on their scores on the two subscales in line with
the procedures of Vallerand and Houlfort (2003). It was expected that play-
ers with a predominant obsessive passion in the identity-threat condition
would display higher levels of situational aggression compared to those
with a predominant harmonious passion because they would want to defend
against such threat and restore the integrity of their identity. Moreover, it
was hypothesized that no difference would be found in situational aggres-
sion between obsessively and harmoniously passionate players under the
self-affirming condition because the player’s identity has been secured and
no self-threat is experienced in such a situation. Results on the composite
aggression score supported the hypotheses. First, overall, obsessive passion
led to higher levels of aggression than harmonious passion. These findings
replicated those of Study 1. Second, the results also revealed the presence
of an interaction where no difference took place between the two types of
passionate groups under conditions of self-affirmation, but obsessively pas-
sionate athletes were found to be more aggressive than harmoniously pas-
sionate ones under identity threat conditions. In sum, whereas obsessive
passion leads to higher levels of instrumental aggression in general across
conditions, such aggression is maximized when one is obsessively passionate
and one’s identity is threatened.
When One’s Goal Is Actively Thwarted by Others:

Passion and Reactive Aggression
The research by Donahue and colleagues (2009, Study 2) confirmed that it is

especially when one has an obsessive passion and the self is under threat that
aggression is likely to take place. Another situation likely to lead to aggres-
sion is when another person actively thwarts a goal and the latter is impor-
tant for one’s identity. We may then experience anger and display what is
called reactive aggression (e.g., Baron & Richardson, 1994). In such a case,
reactive aggression usually involves frustration or anger, along with the
intent to harm or injure another. The primary goal is the resultant pain or
suffering of the victim. Such pain can be physical or psychological in nature.
A lot of people enjoy driving their automobile, and for good reasons. One
may enjoy the feeling of driving fast, of the challenge of the road ahead, of
avoiding obstacles while making good time. However, what happens when
someone else thwarts the goal of enjoying oneself on the road by driving
slowly in front of us and slowing us down? We may get angry and then engage
in road rage (DePasquale et al., 2001; Vest et al., 1997). The phenomenon of
aggressive driving behavior (or road rage) deals with the very situation that
interests us in the present section: the aggressive removal of the obstacle that
threatens one’s identity or identity-related goals. Indeed, in the phenomenon
of road rage, individuals display aggressive behavior toward the slow driver
because he or she represents a threat to their identity as a good driver by
slowing them down. Furthermore, by displaying aggressive behavior, not
only do people vent anger, but they also typically enhance their chances that
the slow driver will move to the side and let them go forward with their driv-
ing quest. Once more, such aggression should mainly be the case of obsessive
passion and not harmonious passion. Being slowed down by others should
instill anger and frustration in people with an obsessive passion for driving
that, in turn, should lead to aggressive driving behavior toward the culprit.
Such should not be the case for people with a harmonious passion because
one can mindfully and peacefully deal with the frustration of having one’s
passion for driving momentarily thwarted.
Philippe, Vallerand, Richer, and colleagues (2009) conducted a series
of studies to test the above hypotheses, two of which are particularly rel-
evant here. In one study (Philippe, Vallerand, Richer, et al., 2009, Study 2),
middle-aged individuals, who represented a large random sample represen-
tative of the drivers of the Province of Quebec, were first asked to complete
the Passion Scale for driving and then to recollect a recent real-life driving
event where they were frustrated by another driver. They then indicated the
extent to which they behaved aggressively using various behavioral indi-
ces such as “showing the finger” or “showing one’s fist to the driver,” “curs-
ing,” or even “using one’s car to get back at the driver” based on the Driving
Anger Expression Inventory (Deffenbacher, Lynch, Oetting, & Swaim, 2002).
Results from correlational analyses revealed that obsessive passion led to
aggressive behavior in the recent incident. Harmonious passion proved to be
unrelated to aggression.
The previous study showed some limitations because no control was made
of the severity of the incident reported by participants. So, it’s not clear
if incidents reported by obsessively passionate drivers were more severe
than those reported by the other drivers. Furthermore, aggression was
reported subjectively through self-reports. Thus, in another study (Philippe,
Vallerand, Richer, et al., 2009, Study 3), the authors went further and
assessed actual aggressive behavior under controlled conditions. Philippe
et al. had male drivers who were highly passionate for driving come to the
laboratory. Participants completed the Passion Scale and were then led to
a driving simulation lab. This lab contained a real car facing a huge screen
vividly simulating the road ahead. Participants were next introduced to a
second driver who ostensibly would be driving a yellow car in another room.
Both drivers were to be in the same “race.” In reality, the second driver was
an accomplice, and all obstacles, including the yellow car, were controlled by
the experimenter with a computer. There was only one condition, the same
for all participants. Participants were videotaped throughout. They were told
that their goal was to reach the destination by a certain time. Following some
practice on the task, the race began. Participants were able to drive freely
initially and should therefore have been able to achieve their goal of reaching
the destination on time. However, at some point the yellow car passed the
participant’s car, got in front of him, and clearly slowed down. Then, each
time that the participant tried to pass the yellow car, it would not let him
pass. From time to time, the participant was reminded by the experimenter
that he was already late and if it continued like this he would not reach the
destination on time. These messages served as identity threats. Finally, after
30 minutes, the participant reached the destination (late) and was asked to
complete various scales, including some dealing with his anger toward the
driver of the yellow car and his level of aggressive behavior displayed toward
the other driver while driving.1
Results from correlational analyses revealed that obsessive passion pos-
itively predicted aggression. Further, this finding was obtained with both
self-report and objective measures of aggression (as assessed by video observ-
ers). Harmonious passion was not predictive of aggression. These findings rep-
licate the results of previous research (Philippe et al., 2009, Studies 1 and 2).
Of greater interest, results from a path analysis revealed that obsessive
passion predicted feelings of anger that, in turn, predicted both the objec-
tive and subjective indices of aggression. No such relationships were found
for harmonious passion, as it was unrelated to anger and aggression. Thus,
obsessive passion matters with respect to road rage.
In sum, research reviewed in this section revealed that passion matters
with respect to a number of relationship indices, including the development
and maintenance of friendships, moral behavior, and instrumental and reac-
tive aggression. While harmonious passion was found to positively predict
high-quality friendships, such was not the case with obsessive passion. In
fact, obsessive passion was found to be either unrelated or detrimental to
1
It should be underscored that the whole setup was highly believable. In fact, sev-
eral participants vented their frustration toward the other driver, and one partici-
pant in particular got out of the car to let the driver of the yellow car know how he
felt about his driving! Thus, although this was a controlled lab study, the ecological
validity of the design would appear quite acceptable.
friendships and to facilitate negative interpersonal behavior, such as cheat-

ing and aggression. Although people are just as involved in the activity as
those with an obsessive passion, those with a harmonious passion do not
engage in such negative interpersonal behavior. It should be noted that these
findings were obtained in real-life situations as well as under controlled
laboratory conditions and in some cases using an objective assessment of
aggression (Philippe, Vallerand, Richer, et al., 2009, Study 3). Of additional
importance, it was found that aggression is especially likely to take place
for obsessively passionate individuals following identity threat and when
aggression is likely to help remove the obstacle (or threat) that prevents
achieving success. Research is needed to determine under which conditions,
if any, harmonious passion may lead to aggression.
PASSION FOR AN ACTIVITY AFFECTS RELATIONSHIPS

IN OTHER AREAS OF ONE’S LIFE
A second relevant context where passion for an activity may affect relation-
ships takes place when one’s passion for a given activity conflicts with the
quality of relationships in another life domain. Specifically, the DMP pos-
its that having an obsessive passion toward an activity can lead to negative
effects on relationships in other life contexts. This is because with obsessive
passion, one cannot let go of the passionate activity, and conflict between the
passionate activity and relationships outside it arises. At some point, such
conflict takes its toll, and negative effects on such relationships take place.
Such should not be the case for harmonious passion, as more than one goal or
activity can peacefully coexist without the person experiencing any conflict
among them. One will recall from Chapter 6 that results from the Vallerand
et al. (2003, Study 1) provided preliminary evidence for the role of obsessive
(but not harmonious) passion in creating conflict between the passionate
activity and other life domains. This basic hypothesis has important implica-
tions for the quality of interpersonal relationships that people experience
outside the realm of the passionate activity.
Research by Utz et al. (2012) on passion for gaming has indeed shown
that obsessive passion for gaming negatively predicts both the number of
offline friends that individuals have, as well as the quality of such friend-
ships. No relationships were found with harmonious passion. Although the
research of Utz and colleagues supports the role of passion in relationships
outside the passionate activity, it did not look for the role of conflict in such
a relationship. Séguin-Lévesque and colleagues (2003) have done so. These
authors addressed the role of passion for the Internet in romantic conflict
with regular Internet users who were in a relationship. Their results showed
that controlling for the number of hours that people engaged in the Internet,
obsessive passion for the Internet predicted conflict with one’s spouse,
whereas harmonious passion was unrelated to it. Thus, it is not necessar-
ily the number of hours devoted to the passionate activity that is the major
problem (although it can be!), but rather the type of passion at play and to
what extent such passionate engagement conflicts with one’s love life.
A subsequent research by Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. (2008, Study 3)
tested more directly the mediating role of conflict between passion for soc-
cer and the quality of one’s romantic relationship. English soccer fans were
contacted at the soccer stadium of a large metropolitan city and were asked
to complete a questionnaire that contained the Passion Scale toward soc-
cer, a scale assessing perceptions of conflict between soccer and the loved
one (adapted from Séguin et al., 2003), and the Perceived Relationship
Quality Components Inventory (Fletcher, Simpson, & Thomas, 2000).
Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted. The results appear in
Figure 11.3. As can be seen, the results revealed that obsessive passion
for one’s soccer team predicted conflict between soccer and the loved one.
Conflict, in turn, negatively predicted satisfaction with the relationship.
Harmonious passion was unrelated to these variables. In other words, con-
flict does mediate the role of obsessive passion in the quality of one’s roman-
tic relationship, but harmonious passion is not involved in such effects.
Of additional interest, in the above study, soccer fans who were single
were asked to indicate if their passion for soccer was responsible for being
single. Results revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between
obsessive passion and this measure, but a negative correlation for harmoni-
ous passion. In other words, if you are an obsessively passionate single soc-
cer fan, chances are that it may lead you to remain single so that you can
devote most of your time to your soccer club! Harmonious passion for soccer,
however, does not seem to impose such demands on you. It is likely that this
phenomenon takes place for activities other than soccer as well.
Findings from the above studies reveal that having an obsessive passion
for a given activity undermines the number (Utz et al., 2012) as well as the
Obsessive
.48**
Passion
Couple –.36* Couple

Relationship Relationship
–.15 Conflict Satisfaction
Harmonious
Passion
Figure 11.3:
The Role of Conflict in the Passion-Couple Relationship Satisfaction.
Adapted from Vallerand, Ntoumanis et al. (2008, Study 3).
quality of friendships (Utz et al., 2012) outside the realm of the passion-
ate activity. In addition, obsessive passion for activities such as the Internet
and being a soccer fan can also undermine the quality of one’s romantic
relationship (Séguin-Lévesque et al., 2003; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 3).
Furthermore, conflict mediates this relationship (Vallerand et al., 2008,
Study 3). Harmonious passion toward a given activity is unrelated to conflict
and decreases in relationship satisfaction. It thus appears that passion for an
activity can have important implications for the quality of our relationships
outside the realm of the passionate activity. Future research is needed to
explore whether obsessive passion for an activity can also affect other types
of relationships (e.g., parents, siblings, etc.) outside the passionate activity,
as well as to determine whether harmonious passion may positively contrib-
ute to these relationships and to identify the nature of the processes through
which such effects may take place.
PASSION IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS
A final area where passion can affect relationships pertains to the impact
that one’s passion for the loved one can have on the quality of the roman-
tic relationship. Thus, in this case the passion is for another person within
the romantic relationship and not toward an activity, as was the case in the
preceding section. In this section, I compare the DMP approach to two other
models that deal with romantic passion. Then, I specifically focus on the role
that romantic passion plays in relational outcomes. I conclude by reviewing
research on passion and conflict in romantic relationships.
Theoretical Perspectives on Romantic Passion
There has been much research in social psychology on romantic passion.

In fact, research on romantic passion goes back to the 1960s. Two of the
most important theories involving passion are those of Elaine Hatfield and
her colleagues (1993) and Sternberg (1986, 1988). According to Hatfield
and her colleagues (Hatfield & Rapson, 1990, 1993; Kim & Hatfield, 2004),
passionate love is defined as a state of profound physiological arousal
and of intense longing for union with another (Kim & Hatfield, 2004 &
Walster, 1978). It is conceptualized as an emotion, more precisely as a hot
emotion, characterized by intense feelings and sexual attraction, associ-
ated with moments of exaltation and transcendence (Hatfield & Rapson,
1993; Hatfield & Rapson, 1990; Kim & Hatfield, 2004). Hatfield and
Rapson posit that the behavior of our romantic partner looms large in the
effects that we experience in a relationship. Specifically, it is assumed that
reciprocated love is associated with fulfillment and ecstasy, whereas unre-

quited love leads to emptiness, anxiety, and despair. It should be noted
that Hatfield and colleagues have proposed the existence of a more sub-
dued form of love, called companionate love (a more mature form of love,
characterized by respect of and trust in the loved one), that may lead to
more adaptive outcomes. However, this form of love is not seen as being
passionate in nature—only passionate love is. Overall, research has shown
that passionate forms of love can lead to negative personal effects, while
companionate love leads to more positive effects (see Hatfield, Bensman, &
Rapson 2010; Hatfield & Walster, 1978).
Robert Sternberg has proposed a different theory of love in which pas-
sion plays an important role. According to the Triangular Theory of Love
(Sternberg, 1986, 1988), passion encompasses drives connected to both
sexual attraction and limerence and is manifested through touching and
sexual consummation. Thus, this theory views the concept of passion as fun-
damentally sexual in nature. Further, it should be underscored that passion
is only one of three components of love (commitment and intimacy being
the other two). Similarly to Hatfield and colleagues (e.g., Hatfield & Rapson,
1990, 1993), Sternberg (1986) acknowledges the existence of passionate (or
infatuated) love, which he defines as a type of love that entails a high level of
(sexual) passion, but low levels of both intimacy and commitment. Sternberg
posits that passion in itself leads to a rather empty form of love that should
lead to some of the weaker positive effects relative to other forms of love,
especially ideal love, which involves high levels of all three components of
love. Research provides some support for the importance of each of the three
components in relationship satisfaction (e.g., Acker & Davis, 1992; Lemieux,
2000). However, research on how the three components integrate into spe-
cific types of love proposed by Sternberg remains to be fully tested.
The Dualistic Model of Passion as Applied to Romantic Involvement
We have seen in Chapter 2, on the definition of passion, that passion can be

experienced toward an activity, object, or person. Thus, based on the DMP,
romantic passion is defined as a strong inclination toward a romantic partner
whom one loves and who becomes part of one’s identity, in a relationship that is
deemed important and into which significant time and energy are invested. In line
with the definition of passion seen in Chapter 2, and that dealing with roman-
tic passion presented above, to experience passion toward a romantic partner,
feelings of love are necessary but insufficient. For passion to be present, one
also needs to invest time and energy in the relationship and to highly value
this relationship, to perceive it as important. Finally, the loved one becomes
part of who we are, of our identity, and then a passion for him or her develops.
Furthermore, in line with the DMP, two types of romantic passion are
proposed. If the loved one is internalized through the autonomous inter-
nalization process (e.g., you love him or her and he or she is important
to you purely for who he or she is), a harmonious passion will develop.
Harmonious passion refers to a motivational tendency whereby people
willingly choose to engage in a romantic relationship with the partner.
Because people do not feel obligated to pursue this type of passionate rela-
tionship, they do so autonomously. Their romantic passion is in harmony
with other life domains. Conversely, if the internalization is controlled
in nature (e.g., you love him or her and he or she is important to you, at
least in part, because of the prestige you derive from your relationship
with him or her), an obsessive passion will develop toward the loved one.
Obsessive passion refers to an internal pressure that drives people to pur-
sue a romantic relationship with the partner whom one loves. With obses-
sive passion, people feel that the passion controls them and that it must
run its course. Because obsessive passion for the loved one comes to con-
trol the individual, this type of romantic passion can create conflicts with
other life spheres.
Of additional importance is that the two types of passion are expected
to have different types of impact on both personal and relational outcomes.
The quality of such outcomes will differ largely because of the way that one’s
passion will lead us to act toward our romantic partner while engaged in the
romantic relationship. In line with research with other passionate activities,
it is proposed that romantic involvement is experienced more positively when
fueled by harmonious passion relative to obsessive passion. This is because of
the adaptive nature of harmonious passion and the non-defensive and open
form of involvement that it promotes in the relationship. The person is not
in the relationship to compete and to “win” or be better than the loved one,
but to share and cooperate with him or her. Conversely, with obsessive pas-
sion a more defensive position is taken, thereby influencing our behavior in
the relationship in a way that minimizes the experience of positive outcomes
and even facilitates that of negative outcomes. Thus, as in friendships, one’s
passion should have a lot to say in the outcomes that we derive from our
romantic relationship.
Distinctions Between the DMP and Other

Theories of Romantic Passion
It is informative to compare the DMP position on romantic passion to the

two important theoretical perspectives on passion in romantic relation-
ships discussed previously, namely those of Hatfield and Rapson’s perspec-
tive on passionate love (e.g., Hatfield & Rapson, 1990, 1993) and Sternberg’s
Triangular Theory of Love (e.g., Sternberg 1986, 1988). First, it is impor-

tant to note that there are some similarities among the three models. For
instance, all three models agree on the importance of considering passion in
romantic relationships, as it represents a major aspect of such relationships.
Furthermore, all three models also agree that passion can lead to important
outcomes. However, the three models disagree on at least four counts. First,
there is some disagreement on the nature of passion. Hatfield and Rapson
consider passion to be an emotion (i.e., passionate love), and Sternberg sees it
as purely sexual. However, while it recognizes that people may have a passion
for sexual activities (see Philippe et al., 2014; Rosenberg & Kraus, 2014), the
DMP conceives of romantic passion as a type of high involvement in a love
relationship that encompasses the entire spectrum of activities involved in
a romantic relationship, including sex, without being limited to it. Finally,
because the DMP considers passion as a motivational factor, it should drive
outcomes, while for Hatfield, passion should result from other factors, as it
is an emotion.
A second distinction between the DMP and the other two models is that
the DMP posits the existence of two types of romantic passion, depending on
how the loved one has been internalized in identity. In fact, the DMP is the
only model of the three that posits that the loved one becomes part of one’s
identity. Thus, one’s passion can be harmonious or obsessive, and the two
types of passion represent two different ways of being involved in a romantic
relationship. The other models simply posit the existence of one type of pas-
sion. For example, Sternberg simply posits the experience of one type of (sex-
ual) passion, and so does Hatfield with passionate love. Although Hatfield
mentions the existence of a second more adaptive form of love, called com-
panionate love, it should also be underscored that this type of love is not a
form of passion. Thus, while the other models propose that passion can differ
only in terms of intensity (high or low passion), the DMP posits that passion
can differ in terms of quality, with harmonious passion representing a higher
quality of engagement in the relationship than obsessive passion, with cor-
responding outcomes.
A third distinction among the models pertains to the nature of love.
For the DMP, love for one’s partner represents one of the constituents of
passion (with time and energy commitment, valuation, and being part
of identity), while for the other models passion contributes to love. For
instance, for Sternberg, the way in which passion integrates with com-
mitment and intimacy determines the quality of one’s love for another
person. And for Hatfield, at least two different types of love exist (passion-
ate love and companionate love), but only one of these includes passion.
Thus, while for the DMP love contributes to passion, it is the opposite for
both Sternberg and Hatfield, because for them passion contributes to love.
Clearly, these models put a different emphasis on passion and love. These
conceptual differences lead to different types of explanations of roman-

tic behavior and outcomes that should be further compared in future
research.
A fourth and final distinction between the DMP and the other passion
models pertains to outcomes. Hatfield and Rapson posit that a contingency
between outcome valence (positive or negative) and reciprocity of love exists.
Specifically, it is assumed that reciprocated love is associated with fulfillment
and ecstasy in the passionate lover, whereas unrequited love leads to emp-
tiness, anxiety, or despair (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986; Hatfield & Walster,
1978). On the other hand, Sternberg’s model does not clearly specify how
(sexual) passion leads to outcomes without being integrated with the other
two dimensions of his triangular model of love (commitment and intimacy).
Although the DMP agrees that the partner’s behavior, including his or her
sexual behavior, can affect outcomes derived from one’s relationship (to this
effect, see Ratelle et al., 2013), the present perspective posits that passion
can, in and of itself, lead to outcomes because of the quality of one’s engage-
ment in the relationship. Thus, in addition to important distinctions with
respect to the nature of romantic passion, the DMP makes novel predictions
regarding the processes through which passion can lead to personal and rela-
tional outcomes.
Research on the Validity of the DMP as Applied

to Romantic Relationships
Catherine Ratelle (2002) conducted initial research to validate the construct of

passion as it pertains to romantic relationships. In her research, participants
who were in a romantic relationship completed the Passion Scale as applied
to romantic relationships. For instance, a harmonious passion item was “My
relationship with my partner is in harmony with my other life domains,”
whereas an obsessive passion item was “I have almost obsessive feelings
for my partner.” The results of a series of statistical analyses supported the
psychometric properties of the Romantic Passion Scale. Participants in the
Ratelle study also completed scales assessing passionate love from the theo-
retical perspectives of Hatfield and Sprecher (1986) and Sternberg (1997), as
well as the Aron et al. (1992) scale to assess the level of internalization of the
loved one in the self (the Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale).
Results revealed that both types of passion correlated equally high with
all scales, thereby supporting the hypotheses that both harmonious and
obsessive passions are perceived by individuals as a “passion” toward the
loved one and that the loved one is seen as highly internalized in the self.
In line with the initial study of Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1), affective
states were also assessed under three different conditions: when one spends
time with the partner, after one has spent some time with him or her, and
when the partner is unavailable. The results replicated those of the Vallerand
et al. (2003, Study 1). Specifically, in the first two conditions (during and
after spending some time with one’s romantic partner), harmonious passion
was strongly and positively associated with both positive affect and vitality,
whereas obsessive passion was unrelated to these variables. In the third con-
dition (when the person could not spend time with the partner), harmonious
passion positively predicted high feelings of vitality but not positive emo-
tions, whereas obsessive passion negatively predicted both variables. Finally,
in line with research from Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1), obsessive pas-
sion also strongly predicted not being able to concentrate on other activities
and feeling guilty when one’s partner was unavailable, whereas harmonious
passion was negatively associated with guilt but unrelated to concentration
problems.
Overall, these findings reveal that one’s romantic passion leads to highly
similar affective and cognitive (i.e., concentration) intrapersonal effects as
passion for any other type of activity. The above research thereby provides
some preliminary support for the validity of the DMP as applied to romantic
relationships. Below, I focus on relational outcomes.
Romantic Passion and Relational Outcomes
Typically, it is assumed that how “good” the relationship is depends on the

behavior of our partner. This is, in fact, the position of Hatfield on passion-
ate love. Of course, this assumption makes sense in some situations. For
instance, if you find out that your partner is cheating on you, chances are
that you will feel that the relationship is not going very well and you may
act accordingly. What the DMP adds to this perspective, however, is that we
are not strictly pawns to the behavior of our partner. Indeed, how we inter-
act with our partner also affects the quality of the relationship for better or
for worse. In other words, the quality of our relationship involvement, as
influenced by our romantic passion, determines in large part the quality of
relationship outcomes that my partner and I will derive from the relation-
ship. In line with the DMP, harmonious passion should typically lead to more
positive outcomes than obsessive passion.
A series of three studies conducted by Ratelle et al. (2013) tested the rela-
tive role of harmonious and obsessive passions in relational outcomes. In the
first study, male and female university students completed the Relationship
Passion Scale and the Perceived Relationship Quality Components Inventory
(Fletcher et al., 2000). This latter scale assesses six components of relation-
ship quality: satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, trust, sexual passion, and
love. Regression analyses were performed for all dimensions of relationship
quality, with harmonious and obsessive passions as predictors, while con-

trolling for gender. Results showed that harmonious passion was a strong
positive predictor of all evaluative components, whereas obsessive passion
predicted decreasing levels of trust and increasing levels of commitment and
love. Furthermore, the authors found the contribution of harmonious pas-
sion to all components of relationship quality to be statistically higher than
that of obsessive passion (see Table 11.1).
Thus, in line with our hypothesis, the findings obtained in Study 1 sug-
gested that harmonious passion predicted components of relationship qual-
ity more strongly and positively than obsessive passion. Obsessive passion
was characterized by love and commitment—which is not surprising, given
that central features of romantic passion include love of the romantic part-
ner and time and energy investment in the relationship—but was not associ-
ated with the benefits of having intimacy and being satisfied. Worse, it was
associated with distrust for the partner. This paradoxical finding reflects the
fact that individuals experiencing obsessive passion appear to be trapped in
a rigid persistence pattern whereby they stay in the relationship despite the
absence of positive experiences and the occurrence of some negative ones.
Rigid persistence seems at work once again with obsessive passion, but this
time with respect to romantic relationships.
The results of Study 1 showed that the harmonious and obsessive passions
were differently associated with indices of relationship quality. However,
these results were obtained considering only one partner of the couple. In
Study 2, Ratelle and colleagues (2013) used both partners of couples in order
to examine the relative contribution of the participant’s own harmonious
and obsessive passion and that of the partner’s in predicting relationship
quality. Such a comparison allowed the authors to test more directly the rela-
tive role of the person’s passion and that of his or her partner in predicting
Table 11.1. R EL AT IONSHIP QUA LI T Y A S A FU NC T ION OF H A R MONIOUS

A ND OBSESSI V E PA SSION A ND CON T ROLLING FOR GENDER
Harmonious Passion Obsessive Passion Gender
β p β p β p
1. Satisfaction .80 <.001 –.11 .15 –.02 .62

2. Commitment .59 <.001 .17 .006 –.09 .14
3. Intimacy .71 <.001 –.01 .91 –.09 .13
4. Trust .52 <.001 –.26 <.001 .00 .99
5. Sexual Passion .46 <.001 .11 .12 .14 .04
6. Love .58 <.001 .30 <.001 –.01 .89
Note: β= Beta value; p= probablility value. Adapted from Ratelle et al. (2013, Study 1).
relationship outcomes. This point is important as it deals directly with the

assumption of the DMP that we are not simply pawns who are merely react-
ing to our partner’s type of involvement. Rather, we also contribute to the
relational outcomes that we experience through the type of passion we bring
to the relationship.
Participants of Study 2 were both partners of heterosexual couples. They
completed the Romantic Passion Scale, as well as the Perceived Relationship
Quality Components Inventory (Fletcher et al., 2000). Results yielded four
findings of interest. First, the effects of one’s own passion obtained in Study 1
were replicated: harmonious passion led to more positive effects on the vari-
ous dimensions of relationship quality than obsessive passion. Second, the
passion of the partner made a significant contribution to the level of satisfac-
tion toward the relationship of the other partner. For instance, controlling for
women’s own harmonious and obsessive passion, men’s harmonious passion
positively predicted women’s general satisfaction with the relationship. In fact,
in this case men’s harmonious passion proved to be a better positive predic-
tor of women’s satisfaction with their sex life than women’s own harmonious
passion! Men’s obsessive passion for the loved one was a significant negative
predictor of women’s satisfaction with their sex life. These findings were also
obtained with men’s relationship satisfaction, although the prediction was
not as strong. These findings provide some limited support for Hatfield and
Rapson’s hypothesis to the effect that the passion of our partner does affect
the outcomes we experience in the relationship. However, third, in line with
the DMP, one’s own passion had much more important effects on relational
outcomes than the partner’s passion, again reinforcing the view that the qual-
ity of our own involvement in the relationship carries a lot of weight in terms
of what we derive from the relationship. Thus, through the passion one has for
one’s partner, one’s outcomes can be largely self-engendered.
A fourth and final finding from Study 2 pertained to whether romantic
partners had matching types of passion and how this would relate to relation-
ship quality. Past research had been inconsistent regarding the presence of
matching types within couples. Specifically, while some authors have found
support for a similarity in partners’ level of passionate love (e.g., Tucker &
Aron, 1993), Gao (2001) found discrepancies between men’s and women’s
reported levels of passion. There is evidence that discrepancies in passion-
ate love have relational costs (i.e., low intimacy, care, commitment, physi-
cal passion, and satisfaction; Davis & Latty-Mann, 1987; Morrow, Clark, &
Brock, 1995). Results from the Ratelle et al. study revealed that there was no
support for the matching of passion types among partners of a given couple
(i.e., the number of partners who were both obsessively or harmoniously pas-
sionate was not greater than the number of those who were mismatched).
However, it was found that for those couples who were matched on passion
type, there were some effects, but only for men. For instance, when both
partners were predominantly obsessively passionate, men reported being

least satisfied and least in love. Future research is needed to determine the
determinants of passion matching, as it may yield insights into the phenom-
enon of “collective passion” (e.g., Drnovsek, Cardon, & Murnieks, 2009).
Finally, in the third and final study, Ratelle et al. (2013, Study 3) assessed
the predictive role of passion as pertains to relationship continuity over time.
Because of its positive relation to indices of adaptive couple functioning, har-
monious passion was expected to promote a lasting relationship. Conversely,
because of its associated negative features, especially the distrust of one’s
partner, obsessive passion was expected to facilitate relationship dissolu-
tion. Study 3 aimed at testing these predictions, using a three-month pro-
spective design. Participants had been in a romantic relationship for close
to five years. They completed an online questionnaire that contained the
Romantic Passion Scale and the Perceived Relationship Quality Components
Inventory. The questionnaire at Time 2 contained questions about whether
the participants were still involved in the same romantic relationship or not.
Results from a multiple regression analysis revealed that harmonious passion
predicted remaining in the relationship, while obsessive passion predicted
being out of the relationship, even after controlling for gender and quality of
the relationship at Time 1. In other words, having a harmonious passion for a
relationship with our partner positively contributes to the relationship being
experienced as positive and, further, that it will grow and endure.
When Things Don’t Go Well:

Romantic Passion in Conflicted Situations
We have seen above that harmonious romantic passion leads to a number

of positive relational outcomes, while obsessive romantic passion leads to
more limited positive outcomes and even some negative effects. So, what
is it that people do differently in a relationship when moved by these two
types of passion? A central aspect of romantic relationships is the ways in
which partners behave when conflict arises (e.g., Hojjat, 2000). Contrary
to what some people believe, the issue is not whether conflict takes place
or not, but rather what one does when it arises. A pioneer of relationship
research, Gottman (1994, 1998) has convincingly shown that how partners
handle conflict is a strong indicator of the partners’ feelings of satisfaction
for their marriage, as well as the length of that marriage. Some specific
conflict behaviors appear to be especially corrosive to relationship happi-
ness. Gottman (1994, 1998) has identified four of them that he labels the
“Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”: contempt, criticism, stonewalling, and
defensiveness. Contempt is defined as attacking the partner’s sense of self
with the intention to insult him or her and includes mockery, name-calling,
and hostile humor. Contempt is seen as the worst of the Four Horsemen
because it conveys disgust with the partner. Criticism refers to using blame
to attack the personality or character rather than the behavior of one’s part-
ner. Stonewalling is a conversational behavior used in an attempt to isolate
oneself from the interaction and includes ceasing to respond, keeping an icy
distance, changing the subject, and leaving the room. Finally, defensiveness
refers to any form of self-defense that includes denying responsibility for
a problem, excuse making, cross-complaining (i.e., meeting the partner’s
complaint immediately with another complaint), and whining. The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been shown to predict deterioration of
marital satisfaction and to be strong predictors of early divorcing (Gottman,
1993, 1994; Gottman & Levenson, 1992).
The research conducted by Gottman and colleagues underscores the fact
that what happens during a conflict matters greatly for the relationship and
those involved in it. However, recently, Salvatore, Kuo, Steele, Simpson,
and Collins (2011) have argued that what happens after a conflict is also of
great importance. For example, post-conflict behaviors seeking to repair the
damage done and to reconnect with the partner, such as apologies and affili-
ative physical contact, have positive effects that include facilitating the res-
toration of relationship commitment and closeness (Tsang, McCullough, &
Fincham, 2006), enhancing both relationship satisfaction and stability (e.g.,
McCullough et al., 1998), and maintaining perceptions of partner care and
intimacy (Alvaro, 2001).
Romantic passion (either harmonious or obsessive) is marked by great
emotional involvement and intense focus and preoccupation with one’s
object of love. Such intense involvement in the relationship would appear
to set the stage for high levels of emotional reactivity when couple conflict
occurs. However, the type of behavior that will be emitted during the conflict
should be determined, in part, by the type of passion that the person holds.
With harmonious passion, the integrated self (Deci & Ryan, 2000) is at play,
allowing the person to invest in the relationship in a mindful (Brown &
Ryan, 2003), non-defensive (Hodgins & Knee, 2002) manner and with a
secure sense of self. Harmonious passion should therefore prevent one from
engaging in the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” behaviors and should
promote engagement in reparative behaviors following conflicts. Conversely,
because obsessive passion is entrenched primarily in an ego-invested sense
of self (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Hodgins & Knee, 2002) and is associated with
a fragile and contingent self-esteem, this type of passion should lead one
to protect the self and therefore to engage in the “Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse” behaviors and to refrain oneself from engaging in reparative
behaviors following conflicts.
Carbonneau and Vallerand (2013) conducted two studies in order to scru-
tinize the role of both forms of romantic passion in conflict and reparative
behaviors. In Study 1, young adults who had been engaged in a romantic

relationship on average for over four years completed the Romantic Passion
Scale as well as two scales assessing behavior generally displayed toward the
partner during conflict. The first scale assessed destructive behavior and
was based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (e.g., Gottman, 1994;
Gottman & Silver, 1999). A sample item is the following: “During conflicts
… I tell myself that my partner can be so stupid sometimes.” The second
scale assessed reparative behaviors (e.g., “After a conflict, I hug my part-
ner”). Results from multiple regression analyses revealed that controlling for
relationship length, harmonious passion negatively predicted engaging in
damaging behaviors and positively predicted the use of reparative behaviors
following conflict. Conversely, obsessive passion positively predicted engag-
ing in damaging behavior and did not significantly predict the use of repara-
tive behaviors following conflicts.
The above findings from Study 1 provide support for hypotheses derived
from the DMP as to the differential role of both types of romantic passion
in conflict situations. However, there were some methodological limitations.
Specifically, the authors did not control for the severity of conflict that par-
ticipants referred to when completing the two behavior scales. It is plausible
that people with a harmonious passion for the relationship remembered
mild conflicts, while those with an obsessive passion remembered more
severe ones. If such a situation took place, it would be hardly surprising that
obsessive passion leads to a less positive behavioral pattern than harmoni-
ous passion. A second important limitation was that participants were asked
to rate their behavior in general, based on recall. However, research reveals
that it is preferable to ask people to indicate how they behaved immediately
following a recent event because memory is then more reliable. In order to
address these two limitations, Carbonneau et al. (2013, Study 2) conducted
a diary study in which people were followed over a 10-day period in order
to assess the role of romantic passion in damaging and reparative behavior
each time that a conflict occurred during the 10-day period. The findings
replicated those of Study 1. Furthermore, these results were obtained even
after controlling for conflict severity and relationship length. These results
are important because they underscore the fact that the findings of Study 1
were not due simply to a recall bias where, for instance, people with an obses-
sive passion may have a more negative recall of events or focused on more
severe conflicts. The fact that the results of Study 1 were replicated using
a methodology wherein questionnaires dealing with events of the day were
completed each evening strongly suggests that such bias is not at play and
that the differential behavioral pattern triggered by the two types of passion
does take place.
In sum, the findings in this third section reveal that romantic passion
plays a key role in a number of relational outcomes and processes. It should
be noted that gender differences were not found in any of the studies on
romantic passion. Thus, romantic passion and processes do apply to both
genders. Overall, these findings are clear: romantic passion does matter in
love relationships. Clearly, future research will be needed to pursue these ini-
tial efforts. For instance, the findings that people with an obsessive passion
for the romantic relationship experience less trust (Ratelle et al., 2013) and
display a less adaptive behavioral pattern toward the partner (Carbonneau &
Vallerand, 2013) than those with a harmonious passion would appear to be
part of a causal sequence involving Passion → Trust→ Conflict Behavior. In
addition, the fact that people with an obsessive passion more rigidly cling to
the relationship (even in the absence of trust for the partner; Ratelle et al.,
2013, Study 2) and yet seem to experience more breakups (Ratelle et al.,
2013, Study 3) suggests that it may be the partner who eventually leaves the
relationship. Future research is needed to ascertain this hypothesis and, fur-
ther, to determine if the maladaptive conflict behavior displayed by obses-
sively passionate people is responsible for their partner leaving them, if this
turns out to be the case.
SUMMARY
Research reviewed in this chapter underscores the role of passion in a

number of interpersonal spheres. First, passion for a given activity deter-
mines the quality of the relationships that one develops and maintains
within the sphere of this activity: the more harmonious the passion, the
more positive the relationships. Emotions, once more, were found to medi-
ate the relationship between passion and relationships. Positive emotions
mediate the positive effects of harmonious passion on relationships, while
negative emotions mediate the effects of obsessive passion on relation-
ships. Passion also matters with respect to moral behavior and aggression.
The more one’s predominant passion is obsessive, the more one is likely
to act immorally and to act aggressively toward another person, espe-
cially if one’s sense of self and identity is threatened. Harmonious pas-
sion does not lead to these types of behavior. Second, passion for a given
activity (e.g., work) can also affect relationships in another life domain
(family life). The more obsessive the passion, the more negative the effects.
Conflict between the passionate activity and the other life domain medi-
ates the effects of obsessive passion on other life outcomes. Finally, one
can also have a passion for the loved one, and such romantic passion can
have important effects on both personal and relational outcomes experi-
enced within the romantic realm. The more harmonious the romantic pas-
sion, the more positive the personal and relational outcomes that one will
experience. Obsessive passion can lead to some negative outcomes, such
as personal suffering, lower levels of relational satisfaction, and relation-

ship breakups. These differential outcomes may result from different con-
flict and repair behaviors triggered by one’s romantic passion. Whereas
obsessive passion leads to high levels of conflict and low quality of repair
behavior toward the loved one, harmonious passion leads to the opposite,
more adaptive, pattern. It is thus hardly surprising that harmonious pas-
sion leads to more positive romantic outcomes, including the longevity of
the relationship. In sum, passion also matters in the interpersonal sphere
with a respect to a number of dimensions.
w
C H A P T ER 1 2
Passion and Intergroup and

Societal Outcomes
I n Chapter 11, we have discussed research on the effects of passion on rela-

tionships with other individuals. In this chapter, we now venture into the
world of intergroup territory. Specifically, in this chapter, I consider research
concerning how passion for a given activity may have an impact on our
behavior toward members of other groups. Thus, the first section deals with
passion and intergroup relations. Furthermore, sometimes our passion for a
cause may lead us to engage in a number of behaviors, some appropriate, oth-
ers less so, in order to promote the cause so dear to our heart. Therefore, the
second section focuses on the role of passion in promoting a societal cause.
Research in the second section deals with passion and behavior that is used
in order to make some changes happen in line with the cause that is pro-
moted. However, such changes may contribute or not to society. It depends
on a variety of factors, including the very cause that is promoted. In the third
section of this chapter, we focus on the role of passion in actually contribut-
ing to society.
PASSION AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS
Groups—they are inextricably part of life. Each of us belongs to several.

For instance, I’m a man, white Caucasian, and Canadian. While I did not
choose these groups, they still reflect who I am. There are other groups,
however, that I belong to out of choice. Thus, I am a university profes-
sor, a father, and an early riser. These informal groups are important to
different degrees, depending on the level of identification that I have for
them and how they are part of my identity. Objects and activities that I am
( 309 )
passionate about can put me in some groups as well. For example, by being
passionate about basketball, music, and research, I thereby belong to the
groups of basketball players, musicians, and scientists. And we know that
because I have a passion for these activities, I am likely to be passionate
about these groups as well. And you know by now that the type of passion
I have for my group is likely to affect my thoughts, emotions, and behavior
toward my group.
But there is more! Other people may also be passionate members of
other groups whose ideology may clash with that espoused by the groups
that I belong to. For example, members of the Parti Québécois nationalist
group may clash against those who are members of the Liberal Party, who
favor a united Canada. Their respective ideologies regarding Canada are in
opposition. When we consider how a member of one group behaves toward a
member of another group, we enter the field of intergroup relations (Tajfel &
Forgas, 2000). Much research has been conducted on intergroup relations
(see Bourhis & Leyens, 1999; Dovidio & Gaertner, 2010). Such research
reveals that the mere fact of seeing others as belonging to a different group
is often sufficient to trigger some negative behavior toward them (Tajfel,
1974). For example, members of the in-group typically show some favorit-
ism toward the in-group and levels of prejudice and discrimination toward
members of the out-group (Brewer & Brown, 1998; Efferson, Lalive, & Fehr,
2008). However, such an effect has some limits, and may even be reversed
under certain conditions (e.g., Lewis & Sherman, 2003).
The DMP posits that how passionate group members behave toward me as
an out-group member should depend on their level and type of passion for
the cause (or ideology) advocated by their group. Depending on the type of
passion held for the activity or ideology underlying participation in a given
group, different types of behavior may then be emitted. Some people may
behave more positively, even when threatened by members of the out-group,
while others may behave in a more extreme fashion so as to protect them-
selves. As was seen in other chapters, passion should matter for the type
of behavior emitted toward others, including members of other groups as
well. Specifically, having a harmonious passion should lead to more posi-
tive behavior because it is tied to the integrated self. Seeing other people
marshaling causes other than my own should therefore not be experienced
as threatening, and my behavior toward members of the out-group will not
be aggressive. Conversely, with obsessive passion, people should be in a
defensive, ego-involved mode, and they should feel threatened by a position
different from their own. They may then lash out against members of the
out-group.
In the first section of this chapter, we address the role of passion in inter-
group relations with respect to two issues. The first one pertains to interna-
tional sports, the second to religion.
Pa s s i o n a n d I n t e r g r o u p a n d Soc i e t a l O u t com e s ( 311 )
Passion and Intergroup Behavior in International Sports
International sport events are a fascinating area for the study of passion
from the fans’ perspective. Perhaps because passionate fans have internal-
ized both the sport and their country, valuation toward the activity is very
high. Soccer (or football) is the most played and followed sport in the world.
Soccer fans, for instance, display high levels of support for their team, rang-
ing from flag waving, to singing the team’s song, and even to having one’s
body painted in the team’s colors. If we refer to a country national team,
then the effects are multiplied, as people cheer for both their country and
the sport they are passionate about. International sport events are often the
scene of displays of pride in one’s team’s achievement, as well as frustration
and agony after defeat. They also showcase much intergroup behavior, as
these games are much more than games. Indeed, Canadian hockey fans old
enough to have witnessed the 1972 Canada–former USSR hockey series will
remember that series as more than just hockey games. As such, this hockey
series represented a confrontation of two countries and, in fact, two political
systems, a democratic and a communist one (at the time), at the height of the
Cold War.
It is thus not surprising that confrontations such as those that take place
in sports can lead to much antagonistic behavior (Stott, Hutchison, & Drury,
2001). For instance, it is amply documented that fans from one team have
often orchestrated violent attacks against fans from the opposing team.
The destructive behavior of hooligans is well known worldwide. Why would
fans engage in such behavior? Of course, frustration (e.g., Dollard & Miller,
1941) following a loss provides one answer. For example, after seeing their
team lose game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals at home, the fans of the
Vancouver Canucks hockey team took to the street, and riots erupted in
Vancouver. However, frustration does not explain all, as people can engage
in violent behavior even following team victory. For instance, hockey fans of
the Montreal Canadiens also took to the street and engaged in violent acts
after seeing their team win the Stanley Cup in 1993. What are the psycho-
logical processes underlying the same violent behavior after two seemingly
diametrically opposed situations of winning and losing?
It is hypothesized that the type of passion that one holds and the emo-
tions that it triggers can help explain such violent behavior. Two relevant
emotions are pride and hate. We have seen in Chapter 7 that pride is
closely linked to one’s identity. Therefore, passion should lead one to want
to express this emotion publicly, such as peacefully celebrating, especially
following a win by one’s team. On the other hand, hate is a negative emo-
tion, specifically oriented at someone. It can lead to outward behavior
aimed at someone, such as mocking other people, especially fans from
the losing (opposite) team. It is expected that both the harmonious and
obsessive passions would be positively related to the emotion of pride,

especially after success, because for both types of passion the team one is
rooting for is part of one’s identity. On the other hand, hatred felt toward
opponents should take origins in obsessive but not in harmonious passion.
Because harmonious passion takes roots in the integrated self (Deci &
Ryan, 2000; Hodgins & Knee, 2002), it should lead the person’s identity to
be secured and thus, the fans of the other team should not be perceived
as obstacles or enemies, but rather as mere opponents. Therefore, harmo-
nious passion should not lead to the experience of hate toward support-
ers of other teams. Conversely, because obsessive passion originates from
ego-invested self-structures (Hodgins & Knee, 2002), it may lead to the
perception that fans of other teams are obstacles in the way of the team’s
victory, or even a symbolic threat to the self (Steele, 1988). Thus, obses-
sive passion would be expected to lead to the experience of hate toward
opposing teams. Because of their social functions, the emotions of pride
and hate should have important, yet different, effects on the intergroup
behavior of the soccer fans. Specifically, hating supporters of other teams
should primarily lead one to go to the street to make fun of them or mock
them (or worse), whereas the emotion of pride is expected to primarily
lead to celebrating in the streets peacefully.
Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. (2008, Study 2) have conducted research to
explore these issues. In this study, conducted in Montreal just a few hours
before the start of the 2006 World Cup finals, the authors asked fans of the
two unbeaten finalist countries (France and Italy) to complete a question-
naire assessing their passion for being a fan of their favorite soccer team and
the various emotions experienced during the tournament up to that point,
including those of pride and hate toward the other teams that their team
had faced during the tournament. Finally, participants were also asked to
what extent they engaged in the two behaviors of “peaceful celebrating in the
street” and in “mocking the other team’s fans following team victory” during
the tournament. Because both teams had won all of their games up to the
finals, this study allowed us to provide some answers to the question posed
above with respect to acceptable and unacceptable behavior following team
victory. Results from structural equation modeling provided support for the
following model: both types of passion predicted the emotion of pride that,
in turn, predicted peacefully celebrating team victory. As expected, only
obsessive passion predicted the emotion of hate that, in turn, was found to
lead to mocking fans from the losing team.
These results provide support for the position that passion matters with
respect to intergroup relations, with harmonious passion leading to more
positive effects and obsessive passion to less adaptive outcomes. However,
this study did not assess the two types of pride (authentic and hubristic
pride) seen in Chapter 11 to mediate the impact of harmonious and obsessive
passion on adaptive and maladaptive behavior, respectively. Future research

is needed to assess the role of these two types of pride in intergroup behavior.
Passion for Religious Ideology and Intergroup Behavior
The events that took place on September 11, 2001, changed the world for-
ever. Some popular writers separate the periods before and after what is now
known as “9/11”, when Islamic terrorists from the Al-Qaeda group that is
engaged in a jihad (or holy war) against the West attacked the World Trade
Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., leaving over
3,000 people dead. From that point on, some observers have contended that
there is a clear division between Muslims and the rest of the world—a clear
intergroup relations paradigm!
In the Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al. (2008, Study 2) study described above,
the participants were passionate about the teams from France and Italy who
had won all of their games. And yet, despite the winning situation partici-
pants were in, they still displayed some negative intergroup behavior, espe-
cially if their passion for soccer was obsessive in nature. Imagine what could
have happened if they had lost some games, or if they had been verbally
threatened by fans of the opposite team! Rip et al. (2012, Study 2) conducted
a study in the context of passion for one’s religious faith to ascertain how pas-
sionate people would react to such a similar threat. Rip and colleagues (2012,
Study 2) experimentally manipulated threat and then assessed participants’
hatred and level of aggression toward the out-group, namely people outside
the Islamic faith. Participants were male and female devout Muslims who
were recruited at moderate mosques and prayer rooms in Montreal, Canada.
Participants completed the Passion Scale and were then randomly assigned
to either the identity threat condition or the control condition. In the iden-
tity threat condition, they read the following quote, publicly expressed by
Pope Benedict several months earlier, which Muslims around the world
found disrespectful and insulting to their faith:
Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find
things only evil and inhuman, such as the command to defend by the sword
the faith he preached.
A pilot study had revealed that the quote was indeed perceived by Muslims
as threatening. Participants in the control condition did not read anything.
Following the identity threat (or control) condition, participants completed
a scale assessing hatred (“To what extent do you feel hateful right now?”), as
well as two scales assessing peaceful religious behaviors (e.g., “Collaborate
with believers of other religions in order to restore good relations among
all world religions”) and religious extremism (e.g., “The condemnations are
insufficient; it is necessary to respond with weapons and prepare for a holy
war”). Thus, whereas the first type of behavior seeks to facilitate peace, the
second one encourages religious extremism and violence.
In line with the DMP and past research on passion and aggression
described in Chapter 11 (e.g., Donahue et al., 2009; Philippe et al., 2009), the
following hypotheses were formulated. First, it was hypothesized that har-
monious passion would positively predict only peaceful religious behavior.
Second, it was expected that obsessive passion would lead to hatred, but only
in the identity threat condition. That is, it is when people are provoked and
threatened that those with an obsessive passion for Islam would experience
hatred for those who threatened them. No such effect was expected with
harmonious passion or in the control condition. Finally, hatred was hypoth-
esized to lead to religious extremism or violent behavior. Results from
structural equation modeling provided strong support for the hypotheses.
These results appear in Figure 12.1. It can be seen that harmonious passion
positively predicts peaceful religious activism, irrespective of conditions.
Further, the experimental condition of identity threat was found to directly
predict hatred. However, of greater interest, the obsessive passion X identity
threat interaction revealed that the effects of identity threat on hatred were
only significant for those high in obsessive passion. Finally, hatred positively
predicted violent religious extremism. No other effects took place.
.34** Peaceful
HP for Islam Religious
Activism
OP for Islam
Religious
Extremism
Identity .30**
Threat .33**
Hatred
HP X ID
Threat
.37**
OP X ID
Threat
Figure 12.1:
The Role of Passion and Hatred in Religious Activism.
Note: HP X ID= the harmonious passion - Identity threat interaction; OP X ID= the obsessive passion -
Identity threat interaction. Adapted from Rip et al. (2012, Study 2).
In sum, it appears that passion matters as it pertains to intergroup behav-

ior. Specifically, the present research supported the view from the DMP that
harmonious and obsessive passion predict different emotions, which in turn
lead to different behaviors (including some that can lead to violence) toward
the out-group (e.g., fans of other teams or followers of a different faith). The
emotions of anger or hatred, in particular, would appear important from
an intergroup perspective. Future research is needed on this issue because
it may lead to an increased understanding of some of the roots of violence
expressed in hooliganism (e.g., Stott et al., 2001) and terrorism. Finally,
future research is needed to identify conditions, if any, under which harmo-
nious passion would be likely to lead to violent behavior.
PASSION FOR A CAUSE:

SEEKING TO PRODUCE SOCIETAL CHANGES
For a number of people, the passionate activity they engage in is related to

a cause, an ideology, or an aspiration that transcends the self and that may
have some implications (positive or negative) for one’s community, or even
society as a whole. Some causes are more local, such as raising money to
ensure proper computer equipment in one’s high school, whereas others are
more global, such as saving the environment (or the planet) or reinstating
democracy in one’s country, as in Burma (Myanmar) or Syria. Some of these
causes may translate into important societal changes, such as the fall of the
Berlin Wall in the late 1980s, whereas others may not, like the Tiananmen
Square massacre in China in 1989. And some causes may be positive, such as
providing medical help to countries in need (e.g., the Red Cross), while others
are much less positive, such as terrorism (e.g., Al-Quaeda). Irrespective of
the type of cause that is being promoted, working toward achieving a cause
would appear to result at least from two major determinants: having a vision
of how to achieve one’s cause, and having the necessary passion to pursue
such vision. As we will see below, the two issues are related. Indeed, the type
of passion one has for a given cause influences how one goes about trying to
reach the cause.
Passion as Necessary for the Cause to Be Actively Pursued
It would appear that one needs to be passionate in order to invest time and
energy on a long-term basis, sometimes for a lifetime, to reach one’s cause.
But is this the case? Is passion necessary to pursue one’s vision and to make
the cause a significant part of one’s life? It might be intuitively believed
that this is the case because it is not always easy to persist in cause-related
activities for years, and sometimes a lifetime, as the cause that is pursued
may run counter to a variety of factors, such as other important aspects of
one’s life (e.g., work, family), marshaling a controversial belief (e.g., abortion)
that runs contrary to a large part of society, or because it may lead one to
suffer greatly while facing a number of obstacles. For example, imagine what
Nelson Mandela must have suffered for a large part of his life while fighting
for the cause of ending apartheid in South Africa. So, is passion essential for
people to become (and remain) activists for a given cause?
In a series of three studies on passion for the environmental cause,
Gousse-Lessard, Vallerand, Carbonneau, and Lafrenière (2013) assessed the
passion of over 400 workers, members, and volunteers actively engaged in
the environmental cause through their involvement in environmental orga-
nizations in the Province of Québec. Participants in all three studies com-
pleted the Passion Scale, including the passion criteria. Taking the usual
cutoff point of 4 and above on the mean of the passion criteria (see Chapter 4
for more on this issue), it was found that over 93% of the participants of the
three studies were at least moderately passionate for promoting the cause of
the environment. Similar findings were obtained in a series of three stud-
ies conducted with people who were engaged in humanitarian activities for
associations such as the Red Cross (St-Louis, Carbonneau, & Vallerand, in
press), where 89% of those who espoused the humanitarian cause were found
to be passionate. Finally, similar numbers were obtained for those pursuing a
political cause (79%; Rip et al., 2012, Study 1).
Overall, the results from these series of studies provide support for the
hypothesis that people who marshal an environmental, humanitarian, or
political cause are indeed passionate for the cause.
Passion for a Cause and the Type of Means

Selected to Reach the Cause
We have seen in Chapter 6 that the two types of passion lead to a prefer-
ence for different types of means used to reach an important goal, such as
that involving the passionate activity or a cause that one seeks to promote
(Bélanger et al., 2013). Because obsessive passion is rooted in an insecure
ego-invested sense of self, it leads one to prefer counterfinal (or extreme,
or radical) means that maximize the probabilities of reaching one’s passion-
ate goal at the expense of other life goals. Conversely, because harmonious
passion is embedded in a secure and integrated sense of self, it leads one to
prefer multifinal (or mainstream or democratic) means that ensure reaching
one’s focal goal as well as other life goals (including respecting other peo-
ple). These preferences for different types of means have implications for the
strategies selected in order to attain the beloved cause or ideology. Thus, if
one has an obsessive passion for the cause, he or she should prefer counterfi-
nal or more extreme means, while if one has a harmonious passion, he or she
should prefer multifinal means that allows for the possibility of reaching the
cause as well as other life goals.
Rip, Vallerand, and Lafrenière (2012, Study 1) conducted a study to test
the above hypotheses with respect to passion for a political cause, namely
achieving the sovereignty (or independence) of the Province of Québec from
the rest of Canada, and the means to reach this goal. Like other parts of the
world, such as Scotland in the United Kingdom and the Basque country in
Spain, Québec has been seriously considering the possibility of separating
from the rest of Canada for much of the past 50 years. In fact, two refer-
enda took place, in 1980 and 1995, with the last one coming close to favoring
sovereignty (49.3% in favor of sovereignty or independence). A number of
people have been working extremely hard to help achieve this goal. As was
seen previously, they were passionate for the cause. However, do these people
use different means to attempt to reach the goal of the cause as a function
of the predominant type of passion they hold for the cause? This is what this
study sought to test.
Participants were male and female Québec sovereignty activists, mem-
bers of the PQ, the leading nationalist/separatist party in the Province of
Québec, Canada. They were recruited at political rallies during the party’s
leadership race of 2005. They completed the Passion Scale as pertains to
Québec sovereignty, as well as two scales of seven items each, assessing dem-
ocratic and radical political activism. Democratic activist behavior included
activities such as “organize public discussion forums to inform Quebeckers
about the ways in which sovereignty may be achieved” and “organize sover-
eignty themed cultural activities, such as a rock concert.” Radical behaviors
included “have recourse to acts of sabotage” and “take all necessary mans to
achieve independence.” Multiple regression analyses were conducted, with
the two types of passion serving as predictors and the two types of behavior
as dependent variables, while controlling for demographic variables. Results
revealed that harmonious passion positively predicted democratic but not
radical behavior. Conversely, obsessive passion positively predicted radical
behavior but not democratic behavior. These findings of Rip et al. (2012,
Study 1) provide support for the tenets of the DMP as pertains to the differ-
ential role of the two types of passion for a political cause in extreme versus
democratic activist behavior.
The above findings suggest that the two types of passion lead to different
types of means to reach the goals of a political cause. Can these findings gen-
eralize to other causes? One cause that has generated much interest over the
past 25 years is the preservation of the environment. Indeed, it is now widely
recognized that the way we live has an important influence on the preserva-
tion of the environment. A number of activist groups serve as watchdogs in
order to make sure that people do respect the environment. And the type of
activism displayed by members of these groups may differ. For instance, some
groups like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (directed by Paul Wilson)
may be willing to engage in more extreme behavior such as sinking ships
that track down and kill endangered species. Other groups such as Equiterre
(headed by Steven Guilbeault) or Greenpeace engage in more mainstream
behavior, such as providing people with information on how to change their
everyday behavior in order to be more respectful of the environment. Are the
harmonious and obsessive passions responsible for these two types of activ-
ist behavior? A recent series of three studies by Gousse-Lessard, Vallerand,
Carbonneau, and Lafrenière (2013) sought to provide an answer to this ques-
tion. In a first study, participants who had been committed to the environ-
mental cause for close to eight years, on average, completed the Passion Scale
as well as a scale asking to what extent they perceived a variety of behaviors
as acceptable in order to achieve their cause. Some of these behaviors were
mainstream, whereas others were clearly extreme (as determined by a pilot
study with environmentalist experts). An example of a mainstream behavior
was “participating in discussion groups to persuade people of the importance
of the environment,” whereas an extreme behavior was “physically attack a
polluting factory’s representative.”
A path analysis tested the above hypotheses. The results appear in
Figure 12.2. It can be seen that harmonious passion toward the environment
Harmonious .35*** Mainstream

Passion Behaviors
.25**
Obsessive .32*** Radical
Passion Behaviors
Sex –.24**
Age
Figure 12.2:
Relationship Between Passion and the Endorsement of Activist Behaviors, Controlling
for Sex and Age.
Adapted from Gousse-Lessard et al. (2013, Study 1).
positively predicted only mainstream behaviors. Conversely, obsessive pas-

sion positively predicted extreme behaviors but also, to a lesser degree, main-
stream behaviors. Presumably when obsessive passion is operative, failure to
achieve the goal of the cause is not an option, the ends justify the means,
and engaging in all kind of behavior, including extreme forms of behavior in
order to achieve their goal, becomes acceptable. Study 1 simply assessed the
extent to which environmental activists perceived the various behaviors as
acceptable. Thus, a second study was conducted, this time using a measure of
behavioral intentions rather than perceived acceptability in a real-life situ-
ation (Gousse-Lessard et al., 2013, Study 2). The same findings as in Study 1
were obtained. It thus appears that harmonious passion leads to mainstream
activist behavior. On the other hand, obsessive passion seems to contribute
to both types of activist behavior, although the link is stronger to radical or
extreme forms of activism.
Affect as a Mediator of the Passion-Activist

Behavior Relationship
Results from Studies 1 and 2 of the Gousse-Lessard et al. (2013) article
demonstrated that the two types of passion were differently associated
with the endorsement and the intention to perform mainstream and radi-
cal behaviors. Although these results underline the differential role of pas-
sion in activist behaviors regarding the environmental cause, they did not
address the following question: What are the psychological processes that
mediate the relationship between passion and the two types of activist
behaviors? The purpose of Study 3 was to attempt to provide an answer this
important question. In line with research reported in Chapter 11 on inter-
personal relationships, it was hypothesized that emotions would mediate
the relationship between the types of passion and the types of behavior
that aimed to lead to change in others. As seen in Chapter 7 on emotions,
with harmonious passion, people volitionally engage in the passionate activ-
ity with an openness and mindfulness that allow them to fully partake in
the activity. They thus experience positive emotions and few negative emo-
tions during task engagement. Conversely, because it entails a rigid and
conflicted form of activity engagement, obsessive passion is strongly associ-
ated with negative emotions during task engagement, although a positive
association with specific positive emotions, such as pride and high levels of
positive excitement, has been obtained (e.g., Bureau et al., 2013; Lafrenière
et al., 2009; Vallerand, Ntoumanis, et al., 2008, Study 2). Furthermore, the
Broaden-and-Build Theory proposed by Fredrickson (2001) posits that posi-
tive emotions experienced in a given context facilitate the broadening of
thought-action repertoires and self, which, in turn, may lead to the use of
more adaptive behaviors (see Cohn & Fredrickson, 2006) and better quality
of interpersonal relationship (Philippe et al., 2010). Finally, other research
reveals that negative emotions lead to a narrowing of the thought-action
repertoires and self (e.g., Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) by calling to mind
an urge to act in a particular way, which may lead to less adaptive behaviors
and negative interpersonal relationships (Philippe et al., 2010).
In line with research that shows that emotions mediate the impact of
the two types of passion on interpersonal relationships (e.g., Philippe et al.,
2010), Gousse-Lessard and colleagues (2013, Study 3) reasoned that har-
monious passion would strongly and positively predict positive emotions,
while obsessive passion would positively predict negative emotions, as well
as positive emotions to a lesser degree. In turn, positive emotions should
positively predict mainstream activist behaviors, whereas negative emotions
were expected to predict extreme forms of activist behavior. Participants
were employees or members of Canadian environmental organizations. They
completed the Passion Scale for the environmental cause, the PANAS regard-
ing the positive and negative emotions experienced while engaging in some
environmental activist behavior, and the two activist scales used in Studies
1 and 2. Overall, the results of Study 3 supported the hypotheses. First, the
results of correlational analyses showed that harmonious passion was again
positively associated with mainstream behaviors only, whereas obsessive
passion was again a predictor of both mainstream and radical behaviors,
even when controlling for the sex and age of the participants. Second, results
of a path analysis revealed that the association between the two types of
passion and mainstream behaviors was totally mediated by the experience of
positive emotions experienced when engaged in activist behaviors. Third, it
should be noted that the link from harmonious passion to positive emotions
was statistically stronger than that involving obsessive passion. Finally, the
results showed that the association between obsessive passion and radical
behaviors was only partially mediated by the experience of negative emo-
tions. Thus, it would appear that other psychological processes are at play as
mediators of the obsessive passion–radical behaviors relationship.
Overall, the findings in this section underscore two major points. First,
passion is necessary to underlie sustained engagement in the pursuit of a
cause. Such engagement is so demanding, that passion is necessary to con-
tinue engaging in its pursuit. Second, the two types of passion lead to the
adoption of different strategies to make the cause a reality. Specifically,
harmonious passion leads only to the adoption of mainstream (and thus
more acceptable) activism, while obsessive passion promotes the use of both
mainstream and radical activism (Gousse-Lessard et al., 2013), with a clear
preference for radical activism (Rip et al., 2012). Future research is needed
in order to determine when obsessive passion leads to both types of activ-
ism and when it simply leads to the adoption of extreme forms of activism.
Further, future research is needed in order to determine under which condi-

tions, if any, reverse effects would be observed, with harmonious passion
mainly leading to radical behaviors and obsessive passion promoting mainly
mainstream behaviors.
PASSION AND CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIETY
The research reviewed in the preceding section focused on describing

whether people who engage in the pursuit of a cause or an ideology are
passionate, and the type of behavior they are likely to engage in as a func-
tion of the type of passion that they hold. It is important to underscore
that such behavior does not guarantee that actual gains for society will
take place. For example, a leader may be highly passionate for a cause that
is ill-advised. Indeed, leading followers to engage in a holy war or a jihad
has rarely been found to lead to positive effects in the long run for any
side. Thus, being passionate for a given cause does not ensure that society
will benefit from such actions. In this section, I focus on the role of pas-
sion in contributions that actually benefit society. In so doing, I address
three issues. First, is passion involved in actual contributions to society?
Second, which type of passion (harmonious or obsessive) contributes most
to society? And finally, can someone actually contribute to society while
being personally thriving, or does one need to personally suffer in order
for societal improvement to take place? These three issues are discussed
in turn.
Passion Underlies Action That Benefits Society
One way to address the first question above is to select groups that would
appear to serve society well and to determine if they are passionate or not.
Should high levels of passion be found, one could tentatively conclude that
passion is indeed involved in leading one to contribute to society. Teachers
represent such a group. Most people would agree that elementary and sec-
ondary school teachers play a fundamental role in educating the future of
society, that is, our children. During his 2011 address to the nation, US
President Barak Obama said the following:
To every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career

choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want
to make a difference in the life of a child—become a teacher. Your country
needs you.
Thus, it would appear that teaching, at least in President Obama’s mind,

represents a clear contribution to society. Let’s see what the data say. At
least three studies have assessed the passion of teachers. In a first study,
Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, and Guay (2008) asked a large number of
elementary and secondary school teachers to complete the Passion Scale for
their work as well as the passion criteria. Using a cutoff score of 4 on the
mean of the criteria, it was found that 93% of the teachers were found to be
at least moderately passionate for teaching. Using similar procedures, Fernet
and colleagues (2014) replicated these findings in two studies (Study 1 =
94%; Study 2 = 93%). These findings reveal that most teachers are passion-
ate about their teaching. Unsurprisingly, the role of passion in teaching has
generated much interest in recent years (e.g., Day, 2004; Greenberger, 2012;
Phelps & Benson, 2012; Santoro, Pietsch, & Borg, 2012).
A second group that would appear to contribute highly to society are
nurses. Indeed, nurses work long and hard hours with the goal of serving
society and providing high-level health services to those in need. At least two
studies have looked at the level of passion of nurses for their work (Vallerand,
Paquet, Philippe, & Charest, 2010, Studies 1 and 2). Results revealed that
nurses display reasonably high levels of passion in two cultures. Thus, using
similar procedures as those used in the Fernet et al. studies, and a sample of
nurses from France, it was found that 88% were at least moderately passion-
ate (Study 1). With nurses from the Province of Québec, Canada, it was found
that 69% of them were at least moderately passionate (Study 2). These results
suggest that another group that contributes to society, namely nurses, are
relatively passionate for their work.
The above findings suggest that a large proportion of people involved in
careers that profit society, such as teaching and nursing, display moderate
to high levels of passion. However, there were two important limitations to
these studies. First, the participants in these studies were not selected for
their actual personal contribution to society. So, there is no way of telling if
each and every one of them contributes to society as such. Second, there was
no comparison group. It is thus impossible to tell if other careers (e.g., law-
yers, journalists, etc.) that also contribute to society, albeit to lower degrees,
are also passionate.
A recent study by Vallerand (2014) has addressed the two issues above.
First, contributors to society were objectively selected and compared to a con-
trol group. Specifically, individuals selected by a committee from the Province
of Québec’s most influential newspaper (La Presse) as personality of the week
for their significant contribution to society served as “objective” contributors
to society. We contacted those who had been selected as “Personality of the
Week” over the past 10 years in one of many areas (science, arts, business,
sports, etc.) and asked them to participate. Second, a control group was used.
In order to obtain a comparison group, regular workers were used. It should
be noted that members of this second group also contribute to society. It

is just that each of the “Personalities of the Week” are recognized for con-
tributing to society to a greater extent. All participants were asked to com-
plete a questionnaire that contained the Passion Scale for their main activity,
including the passion criteria and other variables. A comparison between the
two groups could help determine if passion for their main activity is higher
for those who make an objective societal contribution.
The results from analyses of variance revealed two points of importance.
First, the Quebec society contributors (the “Personality of the Week” group)
reported significantly higher levels of passion (the passion criteria) than
the regular workers. In fact, using a stringent criterion denoting a high
level of passion (a mean of 5 on the passion criteria, as used in the Philippe,
Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009, Study 1), 96% of the society contributors were
found to be highly passionate, whereas this was the case for only 33% of the
regular workers. These percentages were highly significant. The second find-
ing of interest was that the Québec society contributors worked longer hours
each week than the regular workers (nine hours more per week, on average).
However, it should be noted that the group differences on the passion vari-
ables held up, even controlling for the number of work hours. Thus, it is not
the number of hours worked that is the crucial difference between these two
groups, but rather whether individuals are passionate or not.
In sum, the findings reported in this section strongly suggest that pas-
sion is important in leading one to contribute to society. Indeed, a number
of activities and types of work, as well as people widely recognized to con-
tribute to society, display higher levels of passion for their work than people
who contribute less to society. Thus, passion seems to be involved in leading
people to contribute to society.
Which Type of Passion Most Benefits Society?
The above results on the Québec society contributors reveal that people
recognized for their significant contribution to society are more pas-
sionate than those whose contribution is less important. However, these
findings do not provide information as to which type of passion is more
likely to actually lead to the most positive societal outcomes. The research
reported previously on the type of means preferred by people who mar-
shal a cause would appear to suggest that harmonious passion leads to
more positive contributions than obsessive passion. This has to do with
the type of means used to try to make their cause a reality. When people
work for a cause, they typically try to produce changes in other people
(and thus in society) by convincing them to support their position. In
order to do so, they may engage in a variety of behaviors, including some
more “mainstream” and some more extreme (or radical). For instance, if
someone is working for an environmental agency that promotes the pres-
ervation of the environment, the person may try to change society in a
number of ways. He or she may engage in mainstream behaviors such as
encouraging people to attend public lectures, handing out useful infor-
mation, and so on. However, he or she may also engage in more extreme
behaviors such as using violence against people and industries that pol-
lute the environment. To provide information in order to educate people
seems to represent a more positive means of producing changes impor-
tant for society than using extreme behaviors. Intuitively, it would even
appear that extreme and violent behaviors may actually hurt the cause
more than anything else by leading people to rebel against it, or at least
not to support it. Thus, in light of the findings that show that harmonious
passion facilitates the use of more mainstream, acceptable, behavior and
obsessive passion the adoption of mainly radical, less acceptable, activism
(Gousse-Lessard et al., 2013; Rip et al., 2012), it can be hypothesized that
a cause championed by people adopting harmonious passion should lead
to more beneficial effects for society than a cause marshaled by those with
an obsessive passion.
There is another finding from the study on the Québec society contrib-
utors (Vallerand, 2014) that needs to be noted. In this study, it was found
that those selected as high contributors displayed higher levels of both
harmonious and obsessive passion than the regular workers. These find-
ings suggest that both types of passion might be involved in leading to
actual contributions to society. In another study, Vallerand and Lalande
(2014) assessed nurses’ perceptions of their contribution to society and
related these perceptions to the two types of passion for their work, as
measured by the Passion Scale. The results revealed that both types of
passion positively predicted the nurses’ perceptions of contributing to
society.
Taken as a whole, research reviewed in this section tends to suggest that
harmonious passion leads to more positive effects for society than obses-
sive passion, although obsessive passion seems also to provide some posi-
tive contributions to society. However, future research is needed in order
to determine the level of contribution of each type of passion relative to a
non-passionate control group. This is important because, although obses-
sive passion may lead to lower levels of positive contributions to society than
harmonious passion, it is nevertheless possible that obsessive passion still
leads to higher levels of contributions than non-passionate individuals. This
is highly plausible, as results suggest that passion is necessary to muster the
energy necessary for engaging in the long-term pursuit of a cause deemed
important for society.
Contributing to Society While Being Personally

Optimally Functioning
Research on the people actively engaged in a cause that seeks to make society
better reveals that such work can be quite demanding. For instance, peo-
ple who go on missions abroad, such as for the Red Cross or Médecins sans
Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) leave their job and family behind and
live in other countries, sometimes under harsh conditions. Food and shel-
ter are sometimes not up to par, and the pressure and stress are often quite
high. The net result is that some people come back from missions abroad
with serious health problems. In particular, those who go help in war zones
often return with some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PTSD refers to a mental health problem that is typically triggered by some
anxiety-provoking event. It generally includes flashbacks, nightmares, and
recurring thoughts about the events (see Foa, Cashman, Jaycox, & Perry,
1997). It should be noted, however, that not all people in such situations
come back from missions with health problems. In fact, some people come
back with an increased sense of energy and health. One hypothesis would
be that the predominant passion one has for his or her humanitarian work
may determine the changes in one’s health that take place during the mis-
sion. As seen in Chapter 9, harmonious passion should facilitate one’s health
and even protect against ill-being, while obsessive passion should have some
negative effects on one’s health.
In a recent study of humanitarian helpers, St-Louis, Carbonneau, and
Vallerand (in press, Study 3) tested these hypotheses. They asked 80 Red
Cross volunteers to complete a questionnaire twice, before and after return-
ing from a three-month mission abroad. The questionnaire at both Time 1
and Time 2 included the Passion Scale as well as scales assessing a positive
measure of one’s global health (Idler & Benyamini, 1997) and a measure of
negative physical symptoms (adapted from Emmons, 1991). The authors
conducted structural equation modeling using a cross-lagged panel design to
determine whether the type of passion for one’s humanitarian work would
determine the effects on one’ health. In addition, such a design provides
some important information regarding the direction of effects between pas-
sion and health. Results provided support for the hypotheses. Obsessive pas-
sion predicted significant decreases in global health and increases in negative
physical symptoms. Conversely, harmonious passion predicted significant
increases in global health and decreases in negative physical symptoms. Also,
of interest, the two health measures did not significantly predict changes in
passion over the three-month period. These findings therefore suggest that it
is passion that affects health, and not the other way around, and further, that
harmonious passion leads to more positive effects than obsessive passion.
There was another finding of interest in the above study. St-Louis and col-
leagues had also asked the humanitarian workers to complete a scale assess-
ing rumination about the cause in the questionnaire at Time 1 and a scale
assessing PTSD upon their return at Time 2. The authors had hypothesized
that people with an obsessive passion would ruminate about negative events
during the mission. Rumination, in turn, should predict experiencing PTSD
upon the return from mission three months later. Results from a path analy-
sis provided support for the hypothesis. Harmonious passion did not relate
to rumination or PTSD.
The above results are important because they show that going on a
demanding mission abroad for a few months does not invariably lead to
health problems at the end of the mission. It depends on one’s passion for
the cause. As was seen in Chapter 9 on health, harmonious passion promotes
one’s health and protects against negative symptoms, while obsessive pas-
sion leads to the opposite, negative, effects. However, it should be noted
that the St-Louis et al. (in press) study discussed above mainly focused on
negative health measures and did not address the broader issue of being opti-
mally functioning. Thus, it is difficult to determine if one can actually be
thriving (and thus experiencing positive well-being) while contributing to
society. Two studies have addressed this issue. The first one was the study
with the Province of Québec contributors to society (Vallerand, 2014). It will
be recalled that in this study, the high contributors to society were found
to have significantly higher levels of both types of passion than the regular
workers. Furthermore, the authors had also asked the participants to com-
plete scales assessing psychological well-being. The results revealed that only
harmonious passion predicted well-being. These findings suggest that both
the harmonious and obsessive passions can lead to contributing to society
but that only harmonious passion leads to well-being while pursuing such
contributions.
The second study proceeded to more fully test the above hypothesis.
Specifically, in this study, Vallerand and Lalande (2014) sought to determine
which type of passion would be more likely to positively contribute to one’s
optimal functioning in society (Vallerand, 2013; Vallerand & Carbonneau,
2013). Optimal functioning in society is a multidimensional construct of
global well-being that includes five elements: psychological, physical, and
relational well-being, high performance in one’s main field of endeavor, and
contributing to one’s immediate community or society at large (for a simi-
lar construct called “engaged living,” see Froh et al., 2010). It is posited that
to be optimally functioning, people should score high on all five elements
(Vallerand, 2013). Further, it is proposed that harmonious passion should
promote optimal functioning, while obsessive passion should only partially
contribute to optimal functioning by facilitating some elements (most nota-
bly, performance and contributions to society) but not others. Vallerand and
Lalande (2014) asked nurses to complete the Passion Scale for nursing and
the Optimal Functioning in Society Scale (OFIS). This scale assesses the five
elements of functioning mentioned above. Results of a canonical correla-
tion analysis revealed the presence of two significant dimensions. The first
one was predicted by harmonious passion and was positively related to all
five elements of optimal functioning. The second dimension was predicted
by obsessive passion. As expected, obsessive passion was positively related
to both performance and contributions to society but negatively to quality
of relationships and health and unrelated to psychological well-being (see
Table 12.1 for the results). It thus appears that when one’s involvement in a
cause or a career that actually contributes to society is fueled by harmonious
passion, then one can both contribute to society and be personally optimally
functioning at the same time. However, if obsessive passion underlies one’s
involvement in the cause, career, or activity that contributes to society, one
may actually suffer while serving society.
In Chapter 10, it was seen that there were two roads to excellence: the
harmonious and the obsessive roads. While both roads lead to high levels
of performance, only the harmonious road allows the person to experi-
ence a happy, fulfilling life while pursuing one’s quest for excellence and
self-growth in a field of endeavor (e.g., Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2011;
Vallerand et al., 2007; Vallerand, Mageau et al., 2008). The parallel with
the present findings is striking. Just as in high-performance fields, there
would appear to be two roads to contributing to society: the obsessive road,
where one suffers when serving society, and the harmonious road, where
Table 12.1. R ESULTS FROM T HE C A NONIC A L COR R EL AT IONS ON

PA SSION A ND OP T IM A L FU NC T IONING IN SOCIET Y
Correlations
1 2
Canonical Variables
Harmonious Passion 1.000 .03
Obsessive Passion .02 1.000
Covariates
Psychological Well-Being .56 –.06
Health (Physical Symptoms) .84 –.49
Interpersonal Relationships .37 –.40
Performance .65 .32
Contribution .48 .61
Adapted from Vallerand & Lalande (2014).

one can personally thrive when doing so. Although the contributions from
the harmonious road may lead to more societal and personal gains than
the obsessive road (especially during away missions), more research is
needed as the societal contributions from obsessively passionate individu-
als may still be substantially more important than those of non-passionate
individuals. Future research on these two roads to societal contributions
would appear important for both theoretical and applied reasons. In par-
ticular, future research on these issues could delineate the nature of addi-
tional mediators of the differential impact of harmonious and obsessive
passion on mainstream and extreme forms of behaviors. Further, it should
be acknowledged that in certain situations, mainstream behaviors may not
be effective in leading to positive societal changes. It has been said, for
instance, that Ghandi once mentioned that peaceful disobedience, which
worked against the English, could not have worked against Hitler. Future
research is needed in order to determine the conditions under which obses-
sive passion may lead to positive societal changes and when harmonious
passion may not.
SUMMARY
This chapter focused on the role of passion in intergroup relations and soci-
etal outcomes. It was shown that while harmonious passion positively con-
tributes to people’s positive affect and relations to members of other groups,
obsessive passion leads to hatred and negative behavior toward other groups,
especially when identity is threatened. Passion also leads to high involve-
ment in a given cause such as preserving the environment and promoting a
political cause. However, the type of means selected to reach the cause varies
as a function of the type of passion. Harmonious passion leads to engaging
in means allowing one to reach the cause while engaging in other life activi-
ties (multifinal means) and to use democratic actions to do so. Conversely,
obsessive passion leads to using extreme and radical actions to reach the
envisioned cause as well as counterfinal means that may actually prevent
one from “having a life” while pursuing the cause. Finally, passion was shown
to be essential to contributing to society. While harmonious passion seems
to contribute more to society than obsessive passion, both forms of passion
may actually contribute more than the absence of passion. Once more, peo-
ple with a harmonious passion may personally thrive and experience optimal
functioning while contributing to society more than those with a predomi-
nant obsessive passion.
PA RT V
xwx
Conclusion
w
C H A P T ER 13
Summing Up
N ow, that we have come to the end of our journey, one task remains: that
of coming up with some conclusions. In Chapter 1, I indicated that one
of the goals of this book was to identify what we have learned so far about the
concept of passion, as well as to identify what remains to be learned. In this
last chapter, we address these two issues.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
As was seen in the 12 chapters of this book, we have started to accumulate a

sizable amount of knowledge on passion. In a nutshell, here are some of the
main things that we have learned about passion.
On the Nature of Passion
We have learned much on the nature of passion. The DMP posits that pas-
sion is a strong inclination toward a specific object, activity, concept, or per-
son that one loves (or at least strongly likes) and highly values, that is part
of identity, and that leads one to invest time and energy in the activity (or
person) on a regular basis. Several studies have provided support for this
hypothesis.
Furthermore, the DMP makes a strong theoretical assumption on the
duality of passion, proposing two forms of passion, namely, the harmoni-
ous and obsessive passions. The first type of passion can be seen as being
autonomous in nature and in harmony with other aspects of the self and
of the person’s life, and should lead to adaptive outcomes. The second is a
more controlled type of passion that conflicts with aspects of the self and the
( 331 )
person’s life, and should mainly lead to less adaptive, and sometimes even
maladaptive, outcomes. Once more, overwhelming support was obtained for
the duality of passion.
Passion Is Highly Prevalent
Another thing that was learned is that passion is highly prevalent in people’s
lives. Indeed, most people report having a passion for a given activity in their
lives. In fact, such prevalence is rather high, as around 85% of people display
at least a moderate level of passion and 75% report a high level of passion for
a given activity. So, passion is not simply for the happy few, or the privileged,
but something that characterizes the lives of most people.
Furthermore, we now know that people’s passion is targeted at one of over
a hundred and fifty activities that are engaged in on a regular basis, several
hours each week, and typically for years. Although we do not know the level
or type of passion that each type of activity can trigger, we do know that
most activities can lead to some passionate involvement in some people.
We Have the Method to Reliably and Validly Study Passion
Well over a hundred studies provide strong support for the psychomet-
ric properties of the Passion Scale, as shown in Chapter 4 on the Method
of Passion. Thus, we can conduct a variety of studies with the Passion Scale
using a correlational design. Furthermore, we also have the tools to study
passion from an experimental perspective. Indeed, we can now experimen-
tally induce passion, either harmonious or obsessive, and observe the effects
it may produce on outcomes. However, at the same time, only a handful of
studies have conducted interviews with passionate people. Although pre-
liminary research using interviews supports the harmonious/obsessive pas-
sion perspective (for an example, see Swimberghe, Astakhova, & Wooldridge,
2014, Study 1), additional research is clearly needed. Such qualitative
research is also needed to complement the experimental and longitudinal
research conducted to date.
The Social Environment Plays an Important

Role in the Development of Passion
In a nutshell, we can say that the social environment, that is, the people who
surround us, have an important say in the development of passion that takes
place in most of us. Such an effect takes place through the “what” and the
S u mm i n g U p ( 333 )
“how” that the social environment fosters. The “what” refers to the activities
that those close to us value, engage in, and in lots of ways, encourage us to
engage in. The “how” deals with people’s behavior toward us as we engage in
these activities. People can provide us with the freedom to select and value
the activity that we engage in, or they can control us and coerce us to pursue
engagement in the activity that they have selected for us. The what and the
how of our social environment looms large, not only in the selection of the
activity that we will develop a passion for, but also for the type of passion
that will develop. Autonomy support from the social environment typically
promotes harmonious passion, while a controlling behavior leads to obses-
sive passion.
The social environment also plays a major role in the ongoing develop-
ment of passion. Once a passion has been developed for a given activity, then
either type of passion can be made salient and operative depending on the
behavior of other people. Important other people who behave toward us so
as to promote our autonomy will serve to nurture the harmonious side of
our passion. Conversely, a controlling behavior from others will facilitate the
obsessive side of our passion.
Our Personality Also Affects the Development of Passion
Our personality also plays a role in the development of passion. Thus, people
with an autonomous personality orientation are likely to develop a passion
for an activity that they highly value. On the other hand, people with a con-
trolled personality orientation will tend to develop an obsessive passion for
a given activity they care for. In addition, other types of orientations, such as
perfectionism, values, and, to a lesser extent, broad personality styles such
as those of the Big Five will also affect the development of passion to some
degree.
Passion Matters With Respect to Outcomes
Another broad conclusion is that passion matters for people with respect to a
number of outcomes. Through a series of studies mostly conducted in people’s
lives, it was found that passion has profound influences on people’s cogni-
tions, affect, psychological well-being, physical health, performance and cre-
ativity, interpersonal relationships, intergroup relations, and even societal
outcomes. These outcomes are far-reaching and can be experienced within
the purview of the passionate activity as well as outside of it. For instance,
people with a harmonious passion for a given activity report higher levels
of psychological well-being than those with no passion or with an obsessive
passion. Passion thus positively contributes to people’s lives! Furthermore,

passion for a given activity can have ripple effects outside of it in other areas
of people’s lives. For instance, we have seen how fans’ passion for soccer can
affect the quality of their romantic life with their partner.
Harmonious Passion Leads to High Levels of Self-Growth
Of great importance is the fact that the duality of passion operates with
respect to the outcomes that people experience while pursuing their passion-
ate activity. So, it’s not sufficient to know whether or not someone is passion-
ate in order to predict the type of outcomes that he or she will experience.
We also need to know if the passion is harmonious or obsessive in nature.
Research reviewed in this book clearly reveals that harmonious passion leads
to more adaptive outcomes than obsessive passion. Considering the breadth
of outcomes that passion affects, it can be concluded that harmonious pas-
sion leads to a pervasive level of self-growth in people’s lives. Because pas-
sion permeates people’s lives, its effects can be far-reaching, as mentioned
previously. With harmonious passion, such effects are highly adaptive. Such
is not the case with obsessive passion. While some of its effects may be quite
positive, such as achieving high performance and expertise as pertains to
the passionate activity, most of the effects of obsessive passion are less adap-
tive than those induced by harmonious passion and can even be harmful.
Such corrosive effects are reflected in psychological dependence, burnout,
friendships of lower quality, failed love relationships, cheating, and aggres-
sion toward other people and other groups. So, while there is self-growth
with harmonious passion, with obsessive passion, such growth is largely lim-
ited to performance on the passionate activity and some involvement in the
community.
Affect and Flow Serve as Mediators of Some

of the Effects of Passion on Outcomes
The DMP posits that because it has been internalized in identity, the
representation of the beloved activity triggers some special inroads to
self-processes. Often, it is these self-processes that will have proximal
effects on outcomes. As such, passion can be seen as having distal effects
on outcomes, as it triggers the self-processes that have the proximal,
direct effects on outcomes. Further, the types of outcomes experienced by
people will largely depend on the type of passion at play. With harmonious
passion, adaptive self-processes originating from the integrated self are
triggered, thereby leading to adaptive outcomes. Conversely, with obsessive
S u mm i n g U p ( 335 )
passion, less adaptive self-processes residing in the ego-invested self are

triggered, leading to less than optimal outcomes, and at times clearly mal-
adaptive ones. Research reviewed in this book has provided strong support
for this assumption from the DMP. One of the major types of processes
that have been found to mediate the effects of passion is affect. We have
seen that affect mediated the effects of passion on a number of outcomes,
including psychological well-being, creativity, moral behavior, aggression,
and others. Another type of mediator is flow. Its effects were mostly found
in relation to psychological well-being.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
I mentioned in Chapter 1 that in addition to finding out about what we

know about passion, an important goal of this book was to orient future
research. Indeed, by identifying what we know, at the same time we put
our finger on what it is that we need to know more about. Throughout
this book, a number of suggestions for future research have been made.
I will not repeat them here. Rather, below, I make some broad suggestions
as to where passion research could go. Two broad directions deal with the
study of the development of passion and that of the outcomes that they
produce.
On the Development of Passion
Much of the research on passion has focused on outcomes. Clearly, much

research is needed in order to better understand the processes at play both in
the initial and ongoing development of passion.
The Initial Development of Passion from Time 0
In particular, we need to pay special attention to processes involved in the

initial development of passion from the onset (or from Time 0), as only one
study (Mageau et al., 2009, Study 3) has addressed this issue. Thus, future
research is needed in order to replicate and extend the findings of the Mageau
et al. study on novel activities that have never been engaged in before.
Further, such research should focus on other activities besides music, as well
as the role of other individuals in a supervisory position besides teachers and
parents (e.g., coaches, managers, etc.). The transition from school to the work
domain would appear an interesting area to study the initial development of
a passion for a new activity, namely work.
The Transmission of Passion
Another important issue with respect to the development of passion from

Time 0 is the transmission of passion. Can passion be transmitted from one
person to another? Most people seem to remember a teacher who inspired
them to select a field of studies and their future career. A large proportion of
people have indicated that one person was influential in planting the seed of
passion in them (Lecoq & Rimé, 2009). But does such a phenomenon really
exist, or is people’s recollection biased? And if so, what are the processes
involved in passion transmission, and do they differ for the two types of pas-
sion? Some authors (e.g., Cardon, 2008) have proposed that the contagion
of passion from an entrepreneur to his or her employees can take place and
further posits that it takes place largely through emotional mimicry and goal
alignment with that of the entrepreneur. While this may be so, in light of the
findings of the Mageau et al. (2009, Study 3) study on the initial development
of a passion for a new activity, it would appear that the role of autonomy sup-
port needs to be taken into account in such a transmission process. Future
research is clearly needed on this issue.
The Role of Need Satisfaction in the Development of Passion
The DMP posits that need satisfaction should play an important role in
the development of passion. However, it is also hypothesized that there
should be some important differences between the two types of pas-
sion. Specifically, the DMP posits that harmonious passion results from
need satisfaction experienced while engaged in the passionate activity.
Obsessive passion should also result from need satisfaction while engaged
in the passionate activity. However, in addition, obsessive passion should
also result from a lack of need satisfaction outside the activity, either in
a key life context such as education for students and work for workers,
or as experienced in one’s life in general. Further, because in the case of
obsessive passion need satisfaction serves some compensatory functions,
it is hypothesized that the need satisfaction experienced during activity
engagement is not as positive as that experienced by those with a har-
monious passion. As we have seen in Chapter 5, research (Lalande et al.,
2014) supports these various hypotheses. Because these are the first stud-
ies to test these hypotheses, future research is needed in order to replicate
and extend these findings. Among other things, research should assess
need satisfaction at different points in time, both in vivo at the situational
level while people are involved in the passionate activity, and in their
main life activity (work or education) when not involved in their passion-
ate activity. This would rule out hypotheses regarding memory biases that
may affect the results of the Lalande et al. (2014) series of studies.
S u mm i n g U p ( 337 )
On the Stages of Passion
When people think about passion and how it develops, they often believe
that there might be some stages that people go through. For instance, peo-
ple may believe that they initially experience an obsessive passion that, at
some point in time, changes and becomes more harmonious in nature. Is this
the case? Do the two types of passion follow some stages? Unfortunately, at
this point in time, we don’t have any conclusive empirical evidence on this
issue. Preliminary evidence, however, seems to indicate that this is not the
case. Thus, in the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) study, we didn’t find any
relationship between length of involvement and the two types of passion.
Furthermore, it will be recalled that in the Mageau et al. (2009, Study 1)
study on the development of passion, the experienced music students (with
10 years of experience) reported higher levels of both harmonious and obses-
sive passion than the beginning students (of Study 3, who had only a few
months of experience). In addition, for both groups, participants’ score on
harmonious passion was higher than that of obsessive passion. These results
are contrary to a sequence where novices should have one type of predomi-
nant passion (e.g., obsessive passion) and experienced musicians another
(e.g., harmonious passion). However, the findings from this study are limited
in scope because the design used was cross-sectional and not longitudinal in
nature. Future research using long-term longitudinal designs is needed in
order to more clearly determine whether stages in passion take place or not.
On the Role of Perceptions of Progression in

the On-going Development of Passion
One of my first loves was tennis. Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was so
passionate that I would play three times a day during the summer. At some
point, I became quite good. Later, I also got into basketball in high school and
became equally good. Back in the day in the Province of Québec., there were
few indoor tennis facilities and few outside basketball facilities. Therefore,
I would play tennis all summer (outdoors) and basketball (indoors) the other
10 months of the year or so. Then, around the age of 16, I felt that I had to
make a choice between the two activities that I was passionate about in order
to move to the next performance level. Because of the lack of indoor tennis
facilities and the fact that the coaching that was available in basketball was
better than in tennis, I chose to focus exclusively on basketball year-round.
My self-assessment led me to decide that I had more opportunities to prog-
ress in basketball than in tennis. So, it would appear that my decision to keep
my passion alive for basketball was based on the fact that my perceptions of
progression in basketball were higher than those in tennis.
Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on the role of percep-

tions of progression in activity selection, and of course no research exists on
its role in the development of passion. So, for our present concerns, future
research is needed to focus on the role that perceptions of progression play
in the ongoing development of the passion for a given activity. In this case,
it is important to distinguish between perceptions of competence and per-
ceptions of progression. While perceptions of competence deal with current
perceptions of having high ability, perceptions of progression refer to esti-
mates of substantial future increases in competence. To go back to my own
situation presented above, although I was equally competent in both sports,
I realized that my improvement in tennis would stall at some point. Such
perceptions of an eventual lack of progression (even in light of relatively high
levels of competence relative to novice players) may have undermined my
passion for tennis. However, perceiving that perceptions of progression were
quite high in basketball may have promoted the development or at least the
maintenance of my passion for basketball.
Furthermore, it might prove important to determine if progression has
the same impact on the two types of passion. Because of the rigid persistence
that it creates, obsessive passion may lead one to persist in the activity no
matter what the progression is likely to be. However, perceptions of progres-
sion should influence harmonious passion because the latter entails engag-
ing in the passionate activity with choice and flexibility and the possibility
of self-growth. Persistence in the activity in this case represents a continued
reflective choice to pursue task engagement, and perceptions of progression
may represent one of the determinants of such choice. Thus, perceptions of
progression may be more important for the maintenance and growth of har-
monious than for obsessive passion. Future research on these issues would
appear important to predict the ongoing development of passion.
PASSION AND OUTCOMES
Although much of the research conducted so far on passion has focused on

outcomes, much research remains to be done in this area as well. Several of
these were mentioned in the various chapters of this book. Other directions
include the following.
On the Causal Effects of Passion on Outcomes
Although a lot of research has shown that the two types of passion predict
different outcomes and processes, we should keep in mind that most of the
evidence is correlational in nature. There have been notable exceptions. For
S u mm i n g U p ( 339 )
instance, Lafrenière and colleagues (2013, Study 2) used experimental induc-

tions of passion and found that harmonious passion caused an increase of
psychological well-being (life satisfaction) relative to obsessive passion and
no passion. Other studies (see Bélanger et al., 2013b, Studies 3 and 4) also
showed that experimentally inducing passion (either harmonious or obses-
sive) leads to the same effects as using the Passion Scale. Future research
using similar experimental conditions is needed in order to more firmly
establish the causal role of passion in a variety of outcomes and under a num-
ber of situations. To this end, see Schellenberg and Bailis (2014, Study 2).
The Role of Passion in Societal Outcomes
We have seen in Chapter 12 that passion also matters with respect to societal
outcomes. Passion was found to be at the very heart of society, being involved
in both intergroup relations and societal changes. Indeed, almost all par-
ticipants surveyed reported being passionate for the cause they espoused.
Further, the cause—be it political, environmental, or of some other type—
was promoted by harmonious passion. Thus, passion can help lead to a better
world to the extent that it is harmonious in nature. Obsessive passion, on
the other hand, may lead to the opposite effects, such as violence and aggres-
sion, in order to achieve the goals of one’s cause. However, one is reminded
that the studies conducted so far on societal outcomes have been conducted
in democratic countries. Thus, future research is needed to determine which
type of passion is likely to bring about positive societal changes in non-dem-
ocratic countries where totalitarian political regimes rule. It is possible that
under such political climates, obsessive passion is necessary to bring about
societal changes, perhaps through the use of more extreme means and often
at the expense of one’s health and even life! Future research on this issue
would appear to be important, especially in light of the expansion of the ter-
rorist attacks that the world is witnessing.
Is Harmonious Passion All That Good and

Obsessive Passion All That Bad?
The research reviewed in this book overwhelmingly revealed that, overall,

harmonious passion leads to adaptive outcomes, whereas obsessive passion
leads to less adaptive and at times clearly maladaptive outcomes. Yet, I has-
ten to add that this does not mean that harmonious passion is always “good”
and obsessive passion always “bad.” Let us first take a look at harmonious
passion. We have seen that under certain conditions (especially identity
threat), harmonious passion is conducive to lower levels of performance than
obsessive passion (Bélanger et al., 2013a). Furthermore, it should be recalled

that harmoniously passionate hockey players playing in obsessively oriented
leagues experienced a decrease in subjective well-being over time (Amiot
et al., 2006). These results highlight the fact that we have uncovered certain
situations where harmonious passion does not lead to optimal functioning.
Future research is needed in order to determine under what conditions and
why harmoniously passionate individuals may come to lose their edge with
respect to optimal functioning.
At the same time, obsessive passion has been found to lead to some
positive outcomes in certain situations. For instance, it has been found
that obsessive passion can positively influence some types of affect,
such as positive self-related affect and high-intensity positive affect (see
Chapter 7). Further, obsessive passion has been found to positively pre-
dict deliberate practice, which, in turn, predicts objective levels of perfor-
mance. Finally, obsessively passionate individuals seem to perform at very
high levels in situations that involve self-threats and highly demanding
conditions. Future research is needed to identify other conditions where
obsessive passion may lead one to do well and perhaps better than harmo-
nious passion.
On a Multidimensional Perspective of Outcomes
Most studies on the role of passion have looked at one outcome at a time.
While this is fine in early research, future research is needed in order to
determine if the two types of passion lead to different patterns of findings
when more than one outcome is considered simultaneously. One construct
that would appear useful to that end is that of optimal functioning in society
(OFIS; see Vallerand, 2013). As seen in Chapter 12, OFIS is a multidimen-
sional construct of global well-being that includes five elements: psychologi-
cal, physical, and relational well-being, high performance in one’s main field
of endeavor (e.g., work or education), and contributing to one’s immediate
community or society at large. It is posited that to be optimally functioning,
people should score high on all five elements (Vallerand, 2013). Further, it
is proposed that harmonious passion should promote optimal functioning,
while obsessive passion should only partially contribute to optimal func-
tioning by facilitating some elements (most notably performance and con-
tributions to society) but not others. Only one study conducted with nurses
(Vallerand & Lalande, 2014) and discussed in Chapter 12 has tested and
found support for this hypothesis. Future research is needed to replicate and
extend these findings with other groups, using both longitudinal and experi-
mental designs.
S u mm i n g U p ( 341 )
Who Are These Non-Passionate Individuals?
Much of the discussion in this book has focused on passionate individuals.

This is justified because most people are passionate toward a given activity.
It nevertheless remains that roughly 15%–25% of the population do not
experience a passion for any activity. We do not know much about these
people. We do know that they have lower levels of psychological well-being
(both hedonic and eudaemonic) than harmoniously passionate individuals.
Further, they systematically experience slight but significant decreases of
well-being over time. In other words, they have relatively low levels of psy-
chological well-being that get progressively worse. So why are non-passionate
individuals less happy than harmoniously passionate individuals? Is it
because there is some zest missing from their life due to the absence of a
passion for a meaningful activity (as is the case for harmoniously passionate
individuals)? And why are they just as happy as obsessively passionate indi-
viduals, who also experience decreases in well-being over time and relative
to harmoniously passionate individuals? And why don’t they have passionate
pursuits? Are they afraid to commit to something? Is it because they do not
want to experience the highs, fearing to experience the lows that often come
with them? How do they handle success and failure in meaningful activi-
ties such as school or work? Finally, who are they (what is their personality
like)? What is their life like? How are they perceived by their friends and
relatives? Are they perceived as bland and lifeless or, to the contrary, as well
balanced? These and other questions would appear to be important relevant
future research questions.
A PARTING WORD
The movie The Big Year (director David Frankel, 2011) is a great film to watch
in order to observe passion in the real world. It deals with people’s passion for
birdwatching. The movie focuses on the competition between three experts
who attempt to win the annual race that entails observing as many different
types of birds as possible during 365 days in North America. These three
experts are played by Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black. All three
are highly passionate, and their passion increases as it becomes clear that
all three have the opportunity to win the race and even break the world
record. Owen Wilson’s character is obsessively passionate for his craft. He
has achieved a high level of performance over the years and is clearly rec-
ognized as one of the top world experts. Because of his obsessive passion
for birdwatching, he ruminates about birdwatching all the time at work, at
home, and just about everywhere. During birdwatching, he does not smile
and does not seem to experience much positive affect. In addition, after
having successfully sighted a new bird species, he often experiences guilt,

mostly because he was supposed to do other things in his life at that time.
In addition, he cheats and lies to other birdwatchers to prevent them from
performing as well as he does. His relationships with those involved with
him in birdwatching are quite negative, and most other birdwatchers hate
him. His passion for birdwatching also has negative effects on his work and
his romantic life. In fact, over the course of the year, the relationship with his
wife gets progressively worse. He consistently neglects her, and at the end,
his wife divorces him even though she is pregnant.
While Jack Black and Steve Martin’s characters are more harmoniously
passionate, their overall level of passion is just as high as that of Wilson.
So, they do spend a lot of time on the activity and they also travel widely
across the United States in order to find new bird species and win the race.
However, the harmonious passion that they have leads them to appreciate
each of the different species that they discover. They thus experience posi-
tive affect during birdwatching, and they smile and engage in “high fives” to
celebrate each new sighting. They also get along well with other birdwatch-
ers and even develop an authentic friendship between the two of them in
the middle of the race! They also find time to engage in other life activities
during the year. The character played by Steve Martin is the CEO of a major
company and still manages to run the business (sometimes from a distance)
and to find time for his family and to see his first grandson, while Jack Black
takes the time to develop a new romance and to take care of his sick father. In
fact, at some point, Black manages to transmit his passion to his father, and
their relationship grows in light of the new passion that they now share. So,
while the competition is fierce, both Martin and Black nevertheless remain
relatively harmoniously passionate and therefore experience more positive
outcomes than Owen Wilson both within the activity of birdwatching and
outside of it, in the rest of their lives.
At the end of the year, Wilson finishes first, Black second, and Martin
fourth in the overall competition. Upon learning about the results, Martin is
a bit disappointed. However, Black is quick to tell him the following, “Don’t
you see it? You have won!” The incredulous Martin asks him what he means,
as both of them have lost to Wilson. Black responds, “He got more birds, but
we have more of everything,” referring to the richer life that they both have.
Martin nodded his head and smiled.
And so it is with harmonious passion. One can achieve at the very high-
est levels of performance (finishing second or fourth in the world is still
way up there in terms of performance) and still obtain other important
things in life, such as meaningful work, family life, friendships, and so
on. This is not the case with obsessive passion, where high levels of per-
formance are often obtained at a very high price (e.g., loneliness, unhap-
piness, and failed marriages, as in Wilson’s case). In a way, the movie
S u mm i n g U p ( 343 )
summarizes nicely the fact that from a multidimensional perspective of

outcomes, harmonious passion contributes to a richer life and self-growth
than obsessive passion. Thus, Jack Black was right on. Both he and Martin
managed to get more of everything during the year, just like the harmoni-
ously passionate nurses in the Vallerand and Lalande (2014) study and the
thousands of coaches, athletes, referees, fans, musicians, painters, teach-
ers, environmentalists, and other real-life participants we have studied
and who had a predominant harmonious passion for at least one activity
in their life. Wilson, on the other hand, got a slightly better performance,
but he failed in other areas. With harmonious passion, one can have “more
of everything” as Black was saying; one can have his (or her) cake and eat
it too! That is clearly one of the most important take home messages from
this book!
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A BOU T T HE AU T HOR
“Professor Robert J. Vallerand is a Full Professor of Social Psychology at the

Université du Québec à Montréal and Professorial Fellow at the Australian
Catholic University. He is recognized as one of the leading experts on moti-
vational processes. He has published 7 books and over 300 scientific publica-
tions. Prof Vallerand has served as President of the Canadian Psychological
Association and the International Positive Psychology Association. He
is a Fellow of over a dozen learned societies including the American
Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the
Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and several others. He has also
received the Donald O. Hebb Career Award from the Canadian Psychological
Association and the Sport Science Award from the International Olympic
Committee.”
( 385 )
I N DE X
f denotes figure; t denotes table

Abraham, Harold, 3–4 passion as facilitating sustained high
absorption, 125, 127, 207, 257, 258, engagement in physical activity,
271–272, 276 223–226
achievement goals, 141–143, 250, passion as love for, 7, 27
253–257, 255f, 276 passion for as affecting relationships
Achievement Goals Scale, 143, 256 in other areas of one’s life,
action tendencies, 157, 161 294–296
activation, 156, 157, 203, 238, 273. See passion for as promoting
also high activation psychological well-being, 192–195
Activation-Deactivation Adjective positive activity experiences as
Checklist, 233 mediating effects of passion on
active arts, as type of passionate psychological well-being, 190
activity, 94t problematic activities, 214–218
active music, as type of passionate recovery activities, 210–211, 212, 231
activity, 94t role of need satisfaction inside and
activist behaviors, relationship outside of, 116f
between passion and endorsement role of psychological needs in
of, 318f preference for, 45–47
activity/activities selection of, as influencing initial
adaptive activities, 212–218 development of passion, 88–89
as differing by country and talent-related activities, 36
culture, 45 time and energy investment in, 117
as differing by family values, 45 types of activities that are
do adaptive activities matter in passionately pursued, 93–95, 94t
well-being? 212–218 valuation of, as influencing initial
how it becomes part of development of passion, 89–90
identity, 54–61 activity engagement, 164–172, 222–236
is a passion, as passion criteria, 80t activity goals, 144–145
love of, 117 activity involvement, Bloom’s three
meaningful activity. See stages of, 101
meaningful activity activity selection, 88–89, 94, 97,
as part of identity, 117 98, 338
passion, affect, and relationships activity valuation, 77, 80t, 88, 89–90,
within activities, 284f 95, 97, 98, 99, 117, 174, 249
passion and persistence in acute injuries, 226–227, 229f
problematic activities, 214–218 adaptive activities, 212–218
( 387 )
( 388 ) Index
adaptive coping, 177, 178 Aron, A., 79, 300

adaptive processes, 111, 112, 199 artistic painting, 268–269. See also
adaptive self-processes, 59, 60, 61, 62, painters
63, 64, 66, 90, 91, 111, 113, 119, arts, active, as type of passionate
123, 128, 132, 133, 136, 155, 177, activity, 94t
231, 232, 272, 276, 286, 334, 335 Aspiration Index, 111
affect Assessment of Cancer Concerns, 239
Barrett and Russell’s model of, 274 Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, 233
mediating role of positive and athletes, 4, 11, 31, 73, 77, 79, 102, 118,
negative affect, 201–203, 203f 125, 126, 137, 139, 178, 180, 181,
as mediator of passion-activist 197, 198, 199, 208, 224, 225, 227,
behavior relationship, 319–321 233–234, 241, 245–246, 248, 252,
as mediator of some of the effects of 254–255, 280–281, 285, 288,
passion on outcomes, 334–335 289–291, 343
negative affect. See negative affect attention, 124–127, 128, 131, 153, 204,
on passion, affect, and health, 205, 207, 257–258, 276
235–242 Augustine, Saint, 16–17
passion, affect, and relationships Austin, S., 106
within the activities, 284f authentic pride, 287, 288f
passion and, during activity autonomous internalization processes,
engagement, 164–169 59, 61, 63, 90, 91, 95, 98, 99, 102,
passion and, following activity 128, 145, 298
engagement, 169–170 autonomous personality orientation,
passion and, when prevented from 98, 99, 100
engaging in activity, 170–172 autonomy, need for, 46, 47
passion and different types of, autonomy support, 48, 59, 60, 91, 95,
174–182 96, 97, 98, 100, 102–103, 104, 105,
positive affect. See positive affect 107, 270, 271, 333, 336
role of passion and success/failure in, Averill, J. R., 25
172–174 avoidance coping, 178, 179
role of passion in, 155 awareness, 128, 144, 166
affective forecasting, 183–185 Aznavour, Charles, 31
age, role of in development of
passion, 97–98 Bagøien, T. E., 137, 224
aggression, 280, 287, 289–294, 314, Bailis, D. S., 178, 193
315, 334, 335 Balon, S., 95, 108
aggressive driving behavior, 292–293 Bandura, A., 44, 46
agreeableness, 109t Barling, J., 104
Alfeld, C., 117 Barnsley, R. H., 246
Al-Qaeda, 313 Barrett, Feldman, 156, 157, 184
Amabile, T. M., 268, 274 basketball, 7, 31, 50–51, 75, 87, 89,
Amiot, C., 197, 198, 199 94, 99, 115, 148, 149, 164, 189,
Anderson, E. J., 215 225, 232, 233, 241, 244, 245, 248,
Andrianarisoa, J., 125, 130, 132 252–253, 267, 280–281, 282,
anger, 5, 25, 157, 158, 159, 161, 163, 166, 289–291
205, 206, 289, 291–292, 293, 315 Baum, J. R., 253
anxiety, 176–182, 179f Baumeister, Roy, 26, 265
Aquinas, Saint Thomas, 16–17, 18 behaviorists, 23
Aristotle, 16, 17 Bélanger, J. J., 82, 84, 145, 146, 148,
Arnold, M. B., 14 149, 260, 262, 263, 264, 266
Index ( 389 )
Bem, D. J., 57 canonical correlation analysis, 217,

Bentham, Jeremy, 155 327, 327t
Bergeron, J., 112, 211 Cantona, Eric, 8t
Bernieri, F., 60 Carbonneau, N., 77, 166, 168, 208,
Big Five personality factors, 213, 224, 236, 305, 306, 316, 318,
108, 109t 322, 325
The Big Year (movie), 341–342 Cardon, Melissa, 118, 150, 151, 153
biomedical model, 220–221 Carpentier, J., 135, 138, 150, 207, 285
biopsychosocial model, 221 Carron, A. V., 281
Black, Jack, 341, 342, 343 Carver, C. S., 133
Black Swan (movie), 54 case examples
Blanchard, C. M., 197 Jean-Claude, self-growth, 50–51, 189
Bloom, B. S., 89, 101 Linda and Peter, need
body-soul dualism, 17 satisfaction, 114
Bogues, Tyrone (“Muggsy”), 245 Castelda, B. A., 215
Bon Jovi, Jon, 8t Catholic Church, 17
Bonneville-Roussy, A., 103 Caudroit, J., 137
Bouffard, T., 103 causes, 315–321
Bradley, Bill, 87 centrality, 118
Branigan, C., 160 Chandler, C. L., 60
Bratslavsky, E., 26 Chanel, Coco, 8t, 9
breast cancer, 238–241 Charest, J., 96, 100, 101, 102
Bredemeier Athletic Aggression Chariots of Fire (movie), 3
Inventory, 289 Charness, N., 251, 252
Brewer, M. B., 137 Chase, W. G., 250, 251
Brickman, P., 191 Chen, X.-P., 102, 151, 152, 270
British philosophers, 19–20 chess, 50, 89, 250–251
Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Childs, J. H., 125, 232
Emotions, 159, 282, 319 Christianity, on passion, 16–17
broad personality factors, 107–109 chronic injuries, 227–229, 229f
Brown, J., 155 Chu, Y. S., 217
Brown, K. W., 238, 239 cluster analyses, 129
Bruce, R. A., 270 Coach-Athlete Relationship
Brunel, P., 125, 130, 132 Questionnaire, 285
Buddha, 15 coaches, 11, 48, 50, 60, 73, 95, 98, 102,
Bureau, J. S., 172, 288 118, 225, 248, 250, 252, 254, 255,
Burke, Sarah, 229, 239 280, 285, 335, 343
burnout, 208–212 cognition
about self, 136–141
calm-energy, 234 attention and
Cameron, K. S., 105 concentration: facilitative role of
Campbell, D. T., 191 harmonious passion, 124–127
Campbell, J. D., 110 cognitive experiential states,
Canadian Cancer Society, 238 127–131
Canadian University Faculty of cognitive goals, 141–143
Music, 249 decision-making, 131–132
cancer functioning mind of passionate
breast cancer, 238–241 individuals, 143–150
role of passion in post cancer rumination, 132–136
treatment outcomes, 240f social perception of passion, 150–153
( 390 ) Index
cognitive engagement, 257 Coping Function Questionnaire, 178

cognitive experiential states, 127–131 Coping Inventory for Competitive
cognitive goals, 141–143 Sport, 177
cognitive processes core affect, 156, 157
automatic ones, 123, 148 correlational analyses, 152, 270, 281,
compared to computer, 144 285, 292, 293, 320
effect of obsessive passion on, 124, counterfinal means, 84, 85, 86, 144,
148, 149, 271 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 316,
in passion and short-term 317, 328
performance, 257–259 creative process, 272–276
passions effect on, 131 creativity, 267–276
Cohen, S., 237, 238 Crevier-Braud, L., 112, 211
Coleman, L. J., 97 criticism, 304–305
Collins, W. A., 305 Crocker, J., 177, 178
commitment, 34, 36, 258, 260, 297, cross-lagged panel design analyses, 131
299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 305 crystallization effect, 21, 89
competence, need for, 46, 47 Csikszentmihalyi, M., 10, 129, 207
competitive situations, passion and culture
instrumental aggression in, as factor that influences activity
289–291 selection, 45, 88–89
Competitive State Anxiety organizational culture, 102, 104–105
Inventory -2, 178 Curran, T., 281
complete health model, 221 current concerns, 35t, 37, 132
concentration, 13, 49, 63, 65, 123, cycling, 94t, 230
124–127, 131, 257, 301
conflict Dalskau, L. H., 136, 139
mediating role of conflict and work dancing, 227, 228, 230, 231
satisfaction in passion-burnout Danner, D. D., 237
relationship, 210f Darwin, Charles, 22
as passion outcome, 80t de Bruin, A. B. H., 250
role of in passion-couple relationship Deci, E. L., 60, 87, 188
satisfaction, 295f decision-making, 131–132, 153,
conflict behaviors (“Four Horsemen of 221, 222
the Apocalypse”), 304–305, 306 defensiveness, 137, 184, 264, 304–305
conflicted situations, romantic passion deliberate practice, 49, 250–253,
in, 304–307 254, 255f
Confucius, 15 Deliberate Practice Scale, 254
Connell, J. P., 60 Descartes, René, 17–19, 20, 23, 24, 30,
conscientiousness, 108, 109t 32, 123
contempt, 158, 304–305 Dewey, John, 25
contributing to society, 321–328 The Diagnosis and Cure of the Soul’s
control condition, 83 Passions (Galen), 16
controlled internalization processes, 59, diary study, 181, 184, 196, 201,
61, 62, 69, 90, 91, 96, 98, 99, 101, 238, 306
128, 143, 145 Diderot, D., 21
controlled personality orientation, 98, DiPaula, A., 110
99, 100 discriminant function analysis, 97, 103,
controlling environment, 67, 91, 95, 98 215, 230
Conway, M. A., 135 disengagement, 125, 177, 178, 205
coping, 176–179, 179f disgust, 158, 166, 169, 305
Index ( 391 )
disorganizing emotion, passion as, Eccles, J., 117

22, 25–26 Edgar, L., 239
Disraeli, Benjamin, 32 EFI (Exercise-Induced Feeling
Divaharan, S., 129 Inventory), 232
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Eghrari, H., 60
sans Frontières), 325 ego depletion, 265–267
Donahue, E. G., 165, 205, 206, 211, 217, ego fragility, 137
268, 280, 289, 290, 291 ego-invested mode, 287
Donovick, P. J., 215 ego-invested processes, 124
Dosteovsky, Fyodor, 4, 6 ego-invested self, 59, 64, 65, 109, 110,
dramatic arts, 252 111, 177, 184, 305, 312, 316, 335
Driving Anger Expression Inventory, 292 ego-invested state of mind, 113
dualism, of body-soul, 17 Einstein, Albert, 8t, 9
Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) Elliot, Andrew, 115, 142, 253
as applied to romantic involvement, Emmons, R. A., 238
297–298 emotional exhaustion, 198, 232,
assumptions/hypotheses/issues/ 233, 234
posits/predictions/tenets of, 11, emotion-focused coping, 178, 179
12, 43, 59, 62, 67, 69, 81, 88, 90, emotion(s)
93, 95, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 111, components of, 157–158
113, 128, 136, 138, 142, 147, 155, definition of, 156
163, 167, 170, 172–173, 180, 188, dimensions of, 156–157
189, 190, 201, 208, 211, 214, 223, discrete emotions, 158–159
224, 232, 258, 260, 261, 270, 283, functions of, 159–161
290, 294, 299, 301, 303, 306, 310, negative emotions. See
314, 317, 331, 334, 336 negative emotions
as challenging position that has passion and affect in context,
pervaded psychological well-being 163–174
literature, 191 passion as different from,
distinctions between DMP and other 161–163, 162t
theories of romantic passion, positive emotions. See
298–301 positive emotions
on the harmonious and obsessive role of passion and, in creative
passions, 62–67 process, 272–276
on how activity becomes part of emotion theorists, 204, 206, 275, 284
identity, 54–61 enduring suffering, passion as, 5
internalization process, 54–61 energetic engagement, passion as
majority of contemporary research on leading to, 30
passion as having been conducted energy, passion as provider of,
under umbrella of, 11 231–235
organismic approach to entrepreneurial investing, as area where
self-growth, 44–52 people may be especially attuned to
overview, 43–68 passion of others, 150–153
research on validity of as applied to environmental cause, 316, 318,
romantic relationships, 300–301 319, 320
self-structures, 52–53 Epictetus, 16
duality, of passion, 11, 32–33, 34, 35, Epicureans, 16
36, 37, 331–332, 334 Epicurus, 16
Dubreuil, P., 112 equilibrium, 24, 25, 160
Dylan, Bob, 244, 245, 247, 248, 268 Equiterre, 318
( 392 ) Index
Ericsson, K. A., 250, 251, 252 Feast, A. R., 125, 232

Erving, Julius (Dr. J.), 267, 268 Fernet, C., 106, 322
escape motives, 115 first loves, 119
ESEM (exploratory structural equation Fisher, C. M., 268
modeling), 72, 73 flames, 119
Essai sur les passions (Essay on Passions) flow, 35t, 36, 80t, 127, 129–131, 130f,
(Ribot), 23 135, 207, 207–208, 334–335
eudaemonic well-being, 188, 189, Flow–Challenge subscale, 130
193, 194f Flow–Control subscale, 130
eudaemonism, 10 Flow Scale, 129, 130
exercise, 73, 137, 164–165, 168, 181, Folkman, S., 176, 177
202, 217–218, 221, 222–224, 225, Forest, J., 106, 112, 211, 281
226–229, 232, 233, 234–235, 236, Fortin, S., 227
239, 260–261 “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”
Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (conflict behaviors),
(EFI), 232 304–305, 306
experimental manipulations, 12, 69, Fredricks, J. A., 117, 119
84–86, 140, 149 Fredrickson, Barbara, 159, 160, 202,
expert performance, 245, 250 204, 272, 273, 319
exploratory structural equation free will, 17, 18
modeling (ESEM), 72, 73 Freud, Sigmund, 23, 45
external regulation, 119 friends, 9, 26, 65, 89, 94, 94t, 143, 210,
extraversion, 108, 109t 279, 294
extrinsic motivation, 35t, 37–38, 95, friendships, development and
149, 182, 232–233, 262 maintenance of, 280–286
extrinsic values, 111 Friesen, W. V., 237
extroversion, 108 Frijda, Nico, 26–27, 29
Eysenckian “normal” personality
dispositions, 108 Gable, P. A., 205
Eysenck Personality Galen, 16, 17
Questionnaire-Revised, 108 The Gambler (Dostoevsky), 4, 6
gambling, 5, 6, 23, 32, 73, 75, 76, 126,
factor analysis, 70, 71, 72–73, 74, 75, 127, 130, 134, 164, 166, 169, 171,
161, 162t 214–216, 216f, 218
failure, 195–198, 259–265, 261f Gambling Craving Scale, 171
family. See also parents; siblings Gambling Passion Scale, 171
conflict between passionate activity gaming, 73, 115, 129, 130, 164, 166,
and, 209 168, 170, 171, 172, 217–218,
as factor that influences activity 233, 235–236, 281, 294. See also
selection, 45, 89, 316 video games/video gaming
goals regarding, 143 Gao, G., 303
impact of passion on relationships Gates, Bill, 244, 246, 247
with, 279–280 Gaudreau, P., 177
as important, 94t, 342 Generalized Expectancy for Success
famous people, on passion, 8t Scale, 146
fear German philosophers, 19–20
as discrete emotion, 158 Ghandi, Mahatma, 328
of failure, as leading to high Gilbert, D. T., 184
performance, when obsessive Gladwell, Malcolm, 246
passion is operative, 263–265 Global Motivation Scale, 99, 100
Index ( 393 )
global motivation style, 61 as facilitating mindfulness,

goal attainment, 195, 287 127–129
goal prime, 149 factor loadings of the confirmatory
goals factor analysis with four factors
achievement goals, 141–143, 250, solutions, 162t
253–257, 255f, 276 is it all that good? 339–340
activity goals, 144–145 as leading to high levels of
cognitive goals, 141–143 self-growth, 334
mastery goals, 49, 142, 143, 253, 254, as leading to sustainable gains in
255, 256, 265, 276 well-being, 190–192
performance-approach goals, 142, life satisfaction as function of the
253, 254, 256 passion and self-enhancement
performance-avoidance goals, 142, conditions, 141f
253, 254, 256 and obsessive passion as function of
goal shielding, 148, 149, 150, 266 gambling severity, 216f
goal-system theory, 84, 144 overview, 62–64
Godin Leisure Time Exercise on Passion Scale, 72
Questionnaire, 224 as positively contributing to flow,
good life, definition of, 187–188 129–131
Goodwin, William, 8t, 9 as providing energy following activity
Gottman, J. M., 304, 305 engagement, 233–235
Gousse-Lessard, A.-S., 316, 318, as providing high energy during
319, 320 activity engagement, 232–233
Greek Passion Scale, 224 relationship quality as function
Greeks, 15, 19 of harmonious and obsessive
Greenpeace, 318 passion, 302t
Grenier, S., 111, 175 results from canonical correlations on
grit, 5, 34–35, 35t passion and optimal functioning in
growth-oriented model, 220–222 society, 327t
Guay, F., 322 SEM involving determinants of, 99f
Guilbeault, Steven, 318 harmonious passion condition, 83, 85f
guilt, 65, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, Harmonious Passion Factor, 71
169–170, 171, 174, 201, 215, Harmonious Passion subscale, 71, 78,
301, 342 79, 83, 85f, 97, 193, 270
Guo, A., 97 Harmon-Jones, E., 205
Gustaffson, H., 233 Hart, D., 54
hate, 311, 312, 314f
Hall, C., 26 Hatfield, Elaine, 26, 296, 297, 298, 299,
Halvari, H., 137, 224 300, 301
happiness, 3, 10, 19, 135, 158, 160, 161, Hayward, J. A., 125, 232
166, 186, 187, 188, 190, 204, 205, health, passion as involved in,
206, 257, 304 219–243
harmonious passion hedonia, 187
correlations between Big Five hedonic well-being, 187, 188, 189, 193,
dimensions and, 109t 194f, 207
definition of, 12, 298 hedonism, 10
differential effects of on rumination, Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 21,
133–136 29, 30, 32
differential role of in achievement Helvetius, Claude Adrien, 21
goals, 142–143 Hendrix, Jimmy, 267, 268
( 394 ) Index
hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), interior emotions, according to

139, 173, 181, 184, 197 Descartes, 18–19, 23, 24
high activation, 273, 274, 275, 276 internalization processes, 43, 54–61,
higher status supervisors, 280 62, 66–67, 69, 88, 91, 97, 98,
high-level performance, determinants 101, 113. See also autonomous
of, 245–249 internalization processes;
Ho, V. T., 125, 258, 267 controlled internalization
Homer, 15 processes
hooligans, 311 International Olympic Committee, 8t
Houlfort, N., 104, 105, 165, 193, 280, international sports, 311–313
281, 283, 285, 291 interpersonal relationships
hubristic pride, 287, 288f development and maintenance of
Hull, C. L., 46 friendships, 280–286
humanitarian helpers, 325–326 passion and friendships with
Human Nature and Conduct: An same-status collaborators, 280–284
Introduction to Social Psychology passion and moral behavior, 286–288
(Dewey), 25 passion and relationships with people
Hume, David, 19–20, 24, 29 of different status, 284–286
passion as affecting interpersonal
identified regulation, 119 behavior within purview of the
identity passionate activity, 280–294
how activity becomes part of, passion for an activity as affecting
54–61, 94 relationships in other areas of one’s
internalization of activity in, 90–91 life, 294–296
passion as part of, 30–31 passion in romantic relationships,
sense of as playing role in 296–307
determinant of activity romantic passion and relational
valuation, 89–90 outcomes, 301–304
identity formation, 56–58 romantic passion in conflicted
identity threat, 290, 291, 294, 313, situations, 304–307
314, 339 as type of passionate activity, 94t
Iliad (Homer), 15 intrinsic motivation, 35t, 37–38, 149,
illness, 190, 219, 220–222, 235, 182, 232–233, 249, 262
238–241 intrinsic values, 111
Implicit Associations Test, 137 introjected regulation, 119
inclusion in self (identity), as passion IOS (Inclusion of the Other in the Self)
criteria, 80t scale, 79, 300
Inclusion of the Other in the Self (IOS) the “I,” 52–53
scale, 79, 300 Izard, C. E., 158, 165
individual differences, role of in initial
development of passion, 98–100 Jackson, S. A., 129, 130
injury, 226–227, 299f James, William, 22, 52, 53, 123, 156
innate ability, 246 Jean-Claude (case example), 50–51, 189
instrumental aggression, passion and, jihad (holy war), 313
in competitive situations, 289–291 Job Content Questionnaire (JCW), 106
intellectualized emotion, passion Jobs, Steve, 8t, 9
as, 23–25 Jonas, K. J., 281
intense emotion, passion as, 5–6, 25 Jordan, Michael, 31, 244, 245, 247, 248,
interest, as discrete emotion, 158 250, 251, 252, 268
intergroup relations, 309–315 Joussain, A., 19, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 161
Index ( 395 )
Kant, Emmanuel, 20–21, 23, 24, 29, 30, Lightfoot, Gordon, 19

31, 161 liking/loving, as passion criteria, 80t
Kasser, T., 115 Linda (case example), 114
Keyes, C. L., 188 Liu, D., 102, 104, 129, 270
Khoo, A., 129 Locke, E. A., 253
Kierkegaard, Søren, 21 Locke, John, 19
Kim, J., 115 long-term performance, 250–257
Knapp, P. H., 238 Lu, C.-C., 269, 270
Koestner, R., 60, 104, 105 Luh, D.-B., 269, 270
Kraft, P., 169
Krampe, R. T., 250 MAAS (Mindful Attention Awareness
Kruglanski, Arie, 82, 84, 144, 145, Scale), 128
148, 260 Mace, M.-A., 274
Kuo, S. I.-C., 305 MacKillop, J., 215
Mageau, G., 75, 78, 93, 96, 100, 101,
Lafrenière, M.-A. K., 82, 84, 128, 137, 102, 103, 107, 112, 126, 130, 135,
138, 140, 148, 161, 167, 171, 172, 138, 139, 169, 171, 181, 201, 207,
184, 205, 206, 217, 236, 260, 268, 248, 285
269, 285, 316, 317, 318 Magic card games, 138–139
Lajunen, T., 108 Magic Johnson effect, 282
Lalande, D. R., 115, 116, 203, 326, 327 makeup calls, 131–132
Larkin, G. R., 160 maladaptive coping, 177, 178
La Rochefoucauld, François de, 32 maladaptive processes, 91
Lavigne, G. L., 93, 106, 111, 112, 130, Mancuso, R. A., 160
131, 145, 165, 211, 217, 280 MANOVA (multivariate analysis of
lay conceptions, 4–7 variance), 86, 167
Lazarus, R. S., 176, 177 Marcus Aurelius, 16
leadership, 102, 104, 105 Markus, H., 52
Lecoq, J., 95, 108, 166 Marsh, Herb, 57, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 79,
Lee, C. H., 258 80t, 82, 129, 130, 343
Leeper, R. W., 159 Martin, L., 281
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 19, 29 Martin, Steve, 341, 342
leisure, passive, as type of passionate Massicotte, S., 213, 224
activity, 94t Massively Multiplayer Online game/
Lemyre, P.-N., 211 gaming players, 217, 235, 281
Leonardo da Vinci, 23 mastery goals, 49, 142, 143, 253, 254,
Leone, D. R., 60 255, 256, 265, 276
Le Scanff, C., 137 Matsuba, M. K., 54
Les passion de l’âme (The Passions of Mattson, R. E., 215
the Soul) (Descartes), 17 meaningful activity, 10, 186, 189–190,
Les passions humaines (The Human 201, 231, 239, 341
Passions) (Joussain), 24 means. See also counterfinal means;
Levy, A. R., 239 multifinal means; unifinal means
Lewin, k., 117 automatic cognitive functioning
Liddell, Eric (fictional character), 3–4 underlying the use of, 147–150
life satisfaction, 79, 80t, 81, 110, 112, types of, 144–147
140–141, 141f, 186, 192, 193, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors
196–197, 202, 205, 206, 339 Without Borders), 325
Life Satisfaction Scale, 196 the “Me,” 52–53
life tasks, 35t, 37 mind-body interaction, 18
( 396 ) Index
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale 217, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 272,
(MAAS), 128 276, 282, 283
mindfulness, 127–129, 131, 132, 153, negative emotions, 162t, 242f, 273,
163, 183, 212, 269, 319 275–276, 282, 283, 286, 307, 311,
models 319, 320
Barrett and Russell’s model of negative information, presenting of
affect, 274 as increasing performance, when
biomedical model, 220–221 obsessive passion is operative,
biopsychosocial model, 221 259–261
complete health model, 221 negative outcomes (of activity), 126
Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP). See NEO Personality Revised
Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) Instrument, 108
growth-oriented model, 220–222 neuroticism, 108, 109t
two-dimension model (for 9/11, 313
emotion), 157 non-passionate individuals, 129, 167,
modern-jazz dancing, 227, 228, 231 194, 324, 328, 341
moral behavior, 20, 286–288, Ntoumanis, N., 127, 133, 136, 175, 295,
293, 335 312, 313
Mosakowski, E., 118 Nun Study, 237
Moskowitz, D. S., 238 nurses, 11, 106, 209, 210, 322, 324, 327,
motivational construct 340, 343
commitment seen as, 36
passion as, 29–30, 34, 35t Obama, Barak, 321–322
motivational force, passion as, 26–27, obsessive passion
49, 251 correlations between Big Five
motivational intensity, 203–207 dimensions and, 109t
Multidimensional Perfectionism definition of, 12, 298
Scale, 110 differential effects of on
multifinal means, 84, 85, 86, 144, 145, rumination, 133
146, 147, 150, 316–317, 328 differential role of in achievement
multiple regression analysis, 85, 140, goals, 142–143
146, 180, 182, 304, 306, 317 factor loadings of the confirmatory
multivariate analysis of variance factor analysis with four factors
(MANOVA), 86, 167 solutions, 162t
Murnieks, C. Y., 118 harmonious and obsessive passion as
music, active, as type of passionate function of gambling severity, 216f
activity, 94t is it all that bad? 339–340
musicians, 11, 79, 90, 97, 102, 248–249, as leading to risky health behavior,
256, 337, 343 229–231
life satisfaction as function of the
natural ability, 245–246 passion and self-enhancement
near-death experiences, 117 conditions, 141t
need satisfaction, role of in development overview, 62, 64–66
of passion, 113–116, 116f, 336 on Passion Scale, 72
needs satisfaction scale, 115 performance increments as function
negative affect, 13, 38, 63, 65, 108, of obsessive passion and success
158, 159, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, and failure information, 261f
168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, relationship quality as function of
177, 179–182, 184, 185, 187, 190, harmonious and obsessive passion
201–203, 203f, 205, 206, 207, 213, and controlling for gender, 302t
Index ( 397 )
SEM involving determinants of, 99f parental involvement, role of, 89

when operative, fear of failure as parents, 26, 37, 44, 48, 57, 58, 59, 60,
leading to high performance, 89, 91, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 102,
263–265 103, 107, 279, 296, 335
when operative, presenting negative Partington, E., 36
information as increasing Partington, S., 36
performance, 259–261 passion
when operative, self-threat as leading acting on perceptions of other
to high performance, 261–263 people’s, 152–153
obsessive passion condition, 83, 84, 85f, as compared to other
86, 141 constructs, 34–38
Obsessive Passion Factor, 71 definition of, 33–34
Obsessive Passion subscale, 71, 74, development of, 87–101, 335
78, 79, 83, 84, 85f, 97, 193, 224, on experimental manipulation
269, 270 of, 82–86
O’Connor, B. P., 189 as highly prevalent, 332
Old Testament, 15 importance of scientific study
Olivier, S., 36 of, 7–11
one-up relationships, 286 lay conceptions of, 4–7
openness, 63, 64, 108, 109t, 123, 129, nature of, 331–332
136, 163, 183, 201, 205, 269, perceiving that of other people,
282, 319 151–152
Optimal Functioning in Society Scale philosophy of, 15–21
(OFIS), 327 prevalence of in general
optimally functioning, contributing population, 92–93
to society while being personally psychological perspective of, 22–27
optimally functioning, social perception of, 150–153
325–328, 327t stages of, 337
organizational culture, 102, 104–105 toward a definition of, 27–33
organizational support, 102, 104–105 transformation of, 116–119
Ortigue, S., 26 transmission of, 336
outcomes use of term, 4
affect and flow as mediators of passion-activist behavior relationship,
some of the effects of passion on, 319–321
334–335 passion-anxiety relationship, 179
passion and, 338–341 passionate activity, 280–294
passion as mattering with respect to, passionate love, 6–7, 25–26, 296, 297,
333–334 298, 299, 300, 301, 303
passion outcomes, 80t passion-burnout relationship, 210f
research on passion as frequently passion-cognition relationship, 150
focused on, 335 passion conditions, 85f
Outliers (Gladwell), 246 passion-couple relationship satisfaction,
role of conflict in, 295f
painters, 11, 196, 245, 268–269, 343 passion criteria items, 77–78, 80t, 93,
PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect 96, 167, 193
Schedule Scale), 158, 161, 164, 165, Passion Criteria subscale, 92
166, 168, 170, 173, 180, 181, 239, passion-deliberate
241, 320 practice-performance model, 252
Paradis, K., 281 passion-moral behavior relationship,
Parastatidou, I. S., 224 mediating role of pride in, 288f
( 398 ) Index
Passion of Christ (movie), 4 performance

passion outcomes, 80t determinants of high-level
passion-performance studies, 256 performance, 245–249
passion-physical symptoms expert performance, 245, 250
relationship, 242f passion and achievement goals,
passion-rumination relationship, 133 253–257
Passion Scale passion and ego depletion, 265–267
construct validity of, 78–82 passion and high level of, 248–249
development of, 70–73 passion and long-term performance,
experimental induction 250–257
procedures, 82–84 passion and short-term performance,
on experimental manipulation of 257–267
passion, 82–86 role of passion, achievement goals,
internal consistency of, 77 and deliberate practice in, 255f
invariance of factor structure, 74–75 success and failure information,
items of, 72t 259–265
overview, 69–70 performance-approach goals, 142, 253,
reliability and temporal 254, 256
stability, 76–77 performance-avoidance goals, 142, 253,
use of, 73, 83, 85, 93, 99, 103, 106, 254, 256
111, 112, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, persistence, 5, 9, 11, 29, 30, 31, 34,
130, 132, 134, 135, 136, 140, 143, 35, 61, 64, 81, 103, 133, 170, 198,
146, 149, 161, 164, 165, 166, 169, 214–216, 218, 223, 226, 228, 230,
170, 171, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 235, 268, 302, 338
180, 181, 192, 193, 194, 196, 197, personal factors
202, 205, 206, 207, 209, 211, 213, in development of passion, 91, 333
215, 217, 224, 227, 228, 230, 232, role of in initial development of
233, 236, 239, 241, 252, 255, 258, passion, 98–100
260, 262, 266, 269, 270, 274, 280, role of in ongoing development of
281, 283, 285, 288, 289, 290, 292, passion, 107–113
293, 295, 300, 313, 316, 317, 320, personal interests, 35t, 36
322, 325, 327, 332 personality orientation, 98, 99f
use of term, 115 personal projects, 35t, 37
passions of the soul, according to personal strivings, 35t, 36
Descartes, 18 personal values, 111–112
passive leisure, as type of passionate person-environment (P-E) fit, 198–200
activity, 94t person-environment
path analysis, 100, 104, 105, 110, 111, interaction, 44–45
112, 153, 165, 202, 207, 232, 239, Peter (case example), 114
241, 242, 252, 254, 256, 258, 264, Phelps, P. H., 210
272, 285, 293, 318, 320, 326 Philippe, F. L., 93, 125, 130, 132, 134,
Patrick, B. C., 60 165, 167, 193, 194, 280, 281, 283,
P-E (person-environment) fit, 285, 292
198–200 physical activity
people of different status, passion and passion as facilitating sustained high
relationships with, 284–286 engagement in, 223–226
Perceived Relationship Quality as tricky, 229
Components Inventory, 295, 301, as type of passionate activity, 94t
303, 304 physical environment, as factor that
perfectionism, 107, 109–111, 333 influences activity selection, 88
Index ( 399 )
physical health post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),

from absence of illness to 325, 326
wellness, 220 Pradines, M., 25, 31
from biomedical to growth-oriented Pressman, S. D., 237
model, 220–222 pride, 5, 158, 159, 160, 174, 182, 185,
obsessive passion as leading to risky 287, 288f, 311, 312–313, 319
health behavior, 229–231 The Principles of Psychology (James), 123
passion, affect, and health, 235–242 problematic activities, 214–218
passion as energy provider, 231–235 problem-focusing coping, 178
passion as facilitating sustained high progression, role of perceptions of in
engagement in physical activity, on-going development of passion,
223–226 337–338
passion as protecting against acute Provencher, P. J., 126, 171
injuries during exercise, 226–227 Przyblyski, A. K., 233, 234
passion as underlying physical psychological disengagement, 125
activity engagement, 222–231 psychological ill-being
Physical Self Inventory, 137 passion and psychological ill-being
physiological changes (during emotion), relationship: case of burnout,
as component of emotion, 157 208–212
Picasso, Pablo, 267, 268 vs well-being, continuum of, 187f
Plato, 15, 16, 17, 32 psychological needs
pleasure/displeasure, 156 role of in preferences for
Poe, Edgar Allan, 8t activities, 45–47
Pollack, J. M., 267 role of social environment in
Pope Benedict, 313 satisfaction of, 47–48
Portman, Natalie, 54 psychological perspective (of
positive activity experiences passion), 22–27
as mediating effects of passion on psychological well-being
psychological well-being, 190 assessment of in
as mediating passion-psychological passion-performance studies, 256
well-being relationship, 200–208 do adaptive activities
positive affect, 13, 38, 63, 65, 158, 164, matter? 212–218
169, 170, 173, 174, 179–182, 184, mediating role of flow in well-being,
185, 187, 201–203, 203–207, 203f, 207–208
213, 217, 239, 283 moderating effects of P-E fit,
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule 198–200
Scale (PANAS), 158, 161, 164, 165, nature of, 187–192
166, 168, 170, 173, 180, 181, 239, passion and psychological ill-being
241, 320 relationship: case of burnout,
positive emotions, 5, 10, 34, 49, 50, 53, 208–212
58, 61, 63, 155, 159–160, 162t, passionate (harmonious and
163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, obsessive) and non-passionate
170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 182, groups and, 194f
190–191, 201, 202, 203, 206, 213, passion for an activity as promoting,
237, 272–273, 274–276, 282, 285, 192–195
301, 307, 319, 320 positive activity experiences as
Positive Engagement subscale, 232 mediating passion-psychological
positive psychology, 10, 112, 159, well-being relationship, 200–208
187, 189 positive affect of different intensity,
Post-traumatic Growth Inventory, 239 203–207
( 400 ) Index
psychological well-being (Cont.) Richer, I., 292

role of passion in, 188–192 rigid persistence, 11, 133, 170, 214, 215,
situation as moderating effects of 218, 226, 228, 230, 235, 302, 338
passion on, 195–200 Rikers, R. M. J. P., 250
psychoticism, 108 Rimé, B., 95, 108, 166
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Rip, B., 227, 228, 289, 313, 317
325, 326 Rise, J., 169
Pyrrho, 16 road rage, 292
Robbins, Tony, 8t, 9
Quality of Interpersonal Relationship Robertson, J. L., 104
Scale (QIRS), 281, 285 Romans, 16
Québec society contributors, romantic passion, theoretical
322–324, 326 perspectives on, 296–298
Quinn, R. E., 105 Romantic Passion Scale, 300, 303,
304, 306
Rapson, R. L., 26, 296, 298, 300 romantic relationships, passion in,
Ratelle, Catherine, 126, 127, 170, 171, 296–307
300, 301, 302, 303, 304 Romantics, 21, 24, 32
reactive aggression, 291–294 Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), 4, 6
reading, as type of passionate Rosberger, Z., 239
activity, 94t Rosenberg self-esteem scale, 136, 137
rebound effect, 237 Rousseau, F. L., 126, 171, 192, 202, 203,
reciprocal determinism, 44 206, 232
reciprocated love, 297, 300 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 21, 24, 25, 32
recovery activities, 210–211, 212, 231 rumination, 65, 80t, 81, 124, 131,
Recovery Experience 132–136, 153, 177, 204, 211, 212,
Questionnaire, 211 215, 326
Red Cross, 315, 316, 325 Rumination on Sadness Scale, 134
referees, 73, 78, 125, 130, 131, 132, running, 3–4, 45, 95, 118, 224, 225, 228
134, 164, 225, 343 Russell, J. A., 165, 184
reflected appraisals, 56 Ryan, R. M., 188
regression analyses, 85, 140, 146, 173, Ryff, C. D., 188
180, 182, 196, 228, 232, 271, 281,
301, 304, 306, 317 sadness, as discrete emotion, 158
relatedness, need for, 46, 47 Salvatore, J. E., 305
relational outcomes, romantic passion same-status collaborators, passion and
and, 296, 298, 300, 301–304, 307 friendships with, 280–284
Relationship Passion Scale, 301 Satisfaction with Life Scale, 110, 140,
relationship quality, as function of 196, 197
harmonious and obsessive passion Schellenberg, B. J., 177, 178, 193
and controlling for gender, 302t Schmidt, H. G., 250
religious activism, role of passion and scientific study (of passion)
hatred in, 314f history of, 14–21
religious ideology, passion for religious importance of, 7–11
ideology and intergroup behavior, Scott, S. G., 270
313–315 Scottish philosophers, 20
research (on passion), history of, 11 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, 318
Revised Achievement Motives Sedikides, C., 140
Scale, 264 Séguin-Lévesque, C., 294
Ribot, T., 19, 23–24, 29, 30, 32, 161 self, cognitions about, 136–141
Index ( 401 )
self-assessment, 55, 56, 152 Simon, H. A., 250, 251

self-content, 52 Simpson, J. A., 305
self-contingencies, 114, 136, 138–139 Skeptics, 16
self-determination theory, 46, 59 Skinner, B. F., 22, 46
self-determined competence, 87 Skjesol, K., 137, 224
self-elements, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 91 Smith, Adam, 20
self-enhancement, 55, 56, 63, 64, 133, Smith, C. A., 238
136, 140–141, 141f Smits, N., 250
self-enhancement scales, 140 Snowdon, D. A., 237
self-esteem, 51, 60, 64, 91, 113, 129, soccer, 78, 88, 94, 234, 246, 250, 255,
132, 136–138, 139, 140, 163, 282, 313
164, 172, 195, 264, 271–272, 286, soccer fans, 31, 79, 127, 128, 134, 136,
287, 305 172, 173, 175, 184, 232, 295–296,
self-evaluation, 54, 55–56 311, 312, 334
self-expansion theory, 58 soccer referees, 78, 125, 130, 132,
self-growth, 43, 44–52, 87, 92, 134, 225
142, 334 social cognition theorists, 56
self-improvement, 55, 142 social desirability, 76, 77, 82, 93
self-oriented perfectionism, 109, 110 social determinants, 102–107, 271
self-perceptions, 43, 54, 55, 56, 57, social environment
124, 140 role of in development of passion,
self-perception theory, 57 332–333
self-processes, 50, 52, 53, 54, 59, role of in internalization process of
60, 61, 64, 65, 67, 90, 119, activity in identity, 97
129, 177, 205, 334. See also role of in promoting autonomy versus
adaptive self-processes attempts to control, 91
self-regulation, 53, 59, 60, 119, role of in quality of internalization
128, 161 processes, 59
self-related affects, 158–159, 160, role of in satisfaction of psychological
174–176, 287 needs, 47–48
self-structures, 52–53, 54, 312 social factors, role of in development of
self theorists, 56 passion, 91, 95–98, 100
self-threats, 64, 66, 132, 133, 136, 140, social identity theory, 58
141, 259, 261–263, 264, 291, 340 socially prescribed perfectionism,
self-verification, 55 109, 110
self-views, 287, 290 social self-esteem, 271–272
Seligman, Martin, 10 societal changes, seeking to produce,
SEM (structural equation modeling). 315–321
See structural equation societal outcomes, passion and
modeling (SEM) contributing to society, 321–328
Seneca, 16 society
September 11, 2001, 313 passion as underlying action that
sexual passion, 6–7, 23, 297, 299, 300, benefits, 321–323
301, 302t type of passion as most benefitting,
Shah, J. Y., 148 323–324
Sheldon, K. M., 115 Solon, 15
Shi, J., 125, 269 Sonnentag, S., 210
short-term performance, 257–267 South Oakes Gambling Screen
siblings, 57, 89, 296 Revised, 215
signature strengths, 112–113 sovereignty activists, 317
( 402 ) Index
special circumstances, as determinant task demands, 105–107, 129

of high-level performance, task engagement, 63, 65, 163, 164,
246–247 179, 180, 182, 201, 209, 257, 272,
Spinoza, 19, 32 319, 338
sports, 94t, 119, 126, 130, 137, 143, task resources, 105–107
161, 164, 165, 167, 172, 177, 192, teachers, 11, 48, 60, 76, 77–78, 91, 95,
197, 205, 223, 225, 226, 233, 96, 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, 106, 107,
240, 241, 244, 245, 246, 251, 252, 117, 208, 250, 252, 279, 280, 321,
254, 255, 280, 281, 285, 310, 322, 335, 343
311–313, 322 team sports, 94t, 225, 254, 255. See also
Sprecher, S., 300 sports
Steele, C. M., 305 tense-energy, 234
Stendhal, 21, 29, 89 Tesh-Römer, 250
Stenseng, F., 95, 136, 139, 169, 210, 281 Thales, 15
Stephan, Y., 137, 228 Thayer, R. E., 234
Sternberg, Robert, 26, 296, 297, 298, Thompson, A. H., 246
299, 300 time/energy invested, as passion
St-Louis, A. C., 161, 167, 268, 274, 275, criteria, 80t
325, 326 Tolman, E. C., 141
Stoeber, J., 125, 170, 171, 232 Tonkens, E., 281
Stoics, 16 Tosun, L. P., 108
stonewalling, 304–305 trait mindfulness, 128
structural equation modeling (SEM), transactional leadership, 104
72, 99, 99f, 100, 106, 107, 110, transformational leadership, 104
115, 125, 135, 138, 143, 146, 166, A Treatise of Human Nature (Hume), 20
178–179, 202, 205, 206, 209, 211, Trépanier, S.-G., 106
236, 283, 288, 295, 312, 314, 325 Triangular Theory of Love, 297, 299
students, 9, 11, 57, 70, 71, 78, 85–86, Trump, Donald, 8t, 9, 231
92–93, 94t, 95, 96–98, 100, 103, Tugade, M. M., 160
108, 109–110, 112, 115, 117, 124, Twilight trilogy, 6
125, 135, 137, 152–153, 173, 181, Tyrrell, D. A., 238
203, 207, 224, 225, 227, 232, 233,
238, 247, 248, 252, 255, 262, 269, Ulstad, S. O., 137, 224
270–271, 279, 281, 283, 301, undo effect, 160, 190
336, 337 unifinal means, 144
subjective component (of emotion), 157 unrequited love, 297, 300
Subjective Vitality Scale, 115 Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, 125
subjective well-being, 187, 197, 198, Utz, S., 281, 294
200, 340
success, 195–198, 259–265, 261f valence (of emotion), 156–157
supervisor-supervisee types of Vallerand, Robert J., 9, 27, 30, 70, 71,
relationship, 285 75, 76, 78, 79, 80t, 81, 82, 84,
surprise, as discrete emotion, 158 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100, 101,
sustained engagement, 45, 49, 219, 222, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 109, 110,
226, 227, 243, 250–253 111, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130,
Suzuki, David, 8t 132, 133, 135, 136, 138, 140, 145,
swing dancers, 230 148, 161, 165, 167, 169, 170, 171,
172, 173, 175, 178, 181, 184, 189,
talent-related activities, 36 192, 193, 197, 201, 202, 203, 205,
task autonomy, 105–107 206, 207, 211, 213, 215, 217, 224,
Index ( 403 )
227, 230, 232, 252, 253, 260, 268, well-being, psychological, 186–218
274, 275, 280, 281, 283, 285, 289, Wellstone, Paul, 8t
291, 292, 294, 295, 297, 300, 301, West, Jerry, 7
305, 312, 313, 316, 317, 318, 322, “Who am I” open-ended approach, 53
325, 326 Wilson, Owen, 341–342, 343
valuation, 7, 27, 29, 38, 59, 60, 77, 90, Wilson, Paul, 318
94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 105, 155, 299, Wilson, T. D., 184
311. See also activity valuation Wong, S.-S., 258
Values in Action Survey, 112 Woods, Tiger, 8t, 9
Vass, J. S., 31, 173 work/education, as type of passionate
venture capitalists, 150 activity, 94t
Verner-Filion, J., 109, 110, 128, 172, working self, 52, 56
178, 184 work satisfaction, 198, 209, 210f, 212
video games/video gaming, 77, 95, 206, World Health Organization, 220
216–217, 233, 236. See also gaming World of Warcraft, 281
vigor, 220, 222, 232, 233, 289 Wurf, E., 52
Vitality Scale, 232
Yang, H. W., 217
Wang, C. C., 217 Yao, X., 102, 270
Wang, C. K. J., 129 yoga, 166–167, 168, 213, 224, 225, 236
Ward, P., 274 zest, 34–35, 35t, 231, 281, 341
Waterman, A. S., 54, 188
Watson, J. B., 22 Zimbardo, Phil, 30
Waugh, C. E., 160 Zimmerman, Robert (Bob Dylan), 245
Weiner, B., 155, 158 Zuckerman, M., 60

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The Psychology of Passion

The Psychology of Passion

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Published in the United States of America by

© Oxford University Press 2015

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You must not circulate this work in any other form

Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress

PART II: Theory and Method

PART III: Intrapersonal Consequences

PART IV: Interpersonal Relationships, Intergroup Relations, and

Comportement Social at the Université du Québec à Montréal whose work

On the Concept of Passion

T he well-known movie Chariots of Fire (directed by Hugh Hudson,

At the Olympics, both athletes focused on their performance. Liddell had

DIFFERENT LAY CONCEPTIONS

Throughout history, passion has taken on different popular meanings. It

Passion as Enduring Suffering

Passion as Intense Emotion

Another popular meaning of passion is that of a state of intense emotions,

For instance, in Chapter 14 of his book The Gambler, Dostoevsky described

Thus, this meaning of passion refers to intense positive and nega-

Passionate Love and Sexual Passion

Another popular meaning of passion that has attracted a reasonable

Passion as Love for an Activity

WHY IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY

As discussed above, passion has come to be seen in a variety of ways. Do

Passion Permeates People’s Lives

Passion is present everywhere—in the press, TV, radio, advertisements, peo-

Table 1.1. PA SSION A S R EPORT ED BY FA MOUS PEOPLE

Life Domain Person Quote

have made a difference in their respective fields of endeavor. These include

Research on Passion Can Tell Us

Research on Passion Can Tell Us What People

WHY A BOOK ON PASSION NOW?

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK

social and personal factors in sustaining or modifying an already developed

A History and Definition of Passion

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SCIENTIFIC

No history of any psychological concept can be definitive, and this is clearly

The Philosophical Perspective

The philosophy of passion goes back several millennia (Rony, 1990). As we

From Ancient Greece to Plato and Aristotle

The Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics

Then followed a period during which the philosophical study of passion

Augustine and Aquinas

Subsequent work on passion focused on integrating Platonic ideas with those

authority within the Catholic Church on doctrinal matters and remained

Spinoza (1632–1677) proposed that we should tame our passions because

German and British Philosophers

German and British philosophers portrayed passions in a more positive light

Spearheaded by Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the

This short historical section on the philosophy of passion helps us to under-

The Psychological Perspective

The Early Neglect of Passion as a Psychological Construct

Passion as an Intellectualized Emotion

It is in Europe, and specifically in France, that the little work conducted on

passions (e.g., hatred). He further distinguished between two types of pas-

Passion as a Disorganizing Emotion

Some psychologists have suggested that as a form of emotion, passion

short duration, sometimes only a few weeks; it may be dysfunctional and

Other psychologists have adopted a motivational perspective to passion.

complex function including appraisals, goal-directed motivation, reward,