On the Psychology of Passion: In Search of What Makes People's Lives Most Worth Living

Canadian Psychology, Feb 2008 by Vallerand, Robert J

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to present a new conceptualisation on passion for activities, the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) and an overview of related research. Passion is defined as a strong inclination toward an activity that people like, find important, and in which they invest time and energy. This model further posits the existence of two types of passion each associated with different outcomes and experiences. Harmonious passion originates from an autonomous internalisation of the activity in identity and leads people to choose to engage in the activity that they love. It is expected to mainly lead to more adaptive outcomes. Conversely, obsessive passion originates from a controlled internalisation in identity and leads people to experience an uncontrollable urge to engage in the activity. It is hypothesised to predict less adaptive outcomes. Results of several studies conducted with a variety of participants, activities, and outcomes provide support for the model. The development of passion was also addressed. These studies clearly support the significant role of passion in people's lives.

One of the high points of my year as President of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) has been the opportunity to interact with a great group of fun, competent, and highly committed people toward the cause of Canadian psychology. On numerous occasions, I have seen CPA board members serving on a variety of committees and for long hours. In light of such important involvement in an activity like Canadian psychology, one is left wondering about the psychological factors that enable people to display such a high level of commitment and to remain dedicated and passionate for a specific activity or cause for years, and sometimes a lifetime. We propose that the concept of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) represents such a psychological factor. Furthermore, as we will see, the type of passion one has for the activity may have different consequences on cognition, affect, behaviour, relationships, and even performance.

On the Psychology of Passion

A Dualistic Model of Passion

When we started our initial research in the late 1990s, very little existed on passion from a psychological standpoint. While passion had generated a lot of attention from philosophers (see Rony, 1990, for a review), it received little empirical attention in psychology. In fact, until recently, the only empirical work in psychology had focused on romantic passion (Hatfield & Walster, 1986). No research had been conducted on passion for an activity. Vallerand and his colleagues (Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2007) have recently developed a model of passion that addresses this issue.

In line with Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000), we propose that people engage in various activities throughout life in the hope of satisfying the basic psychological needs of autonomy (a desire to feel a sense of personal initiative), competence (a desire to interact effectively with the environment), and relatedness (a desire to feel connected to significant others). While we don't have much choice over engaging or not in some activities such as school and work (we all have to study and work at some point in life), we do over other activities that we engage in especially during leisure time (e.g., sports, chess, music etc.). Eventually, after a period of trial and error, most people will eventually start to show preference for some activities, especially those that are enjoyable and allow the satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Of these activities, a limited few will be perceived as particularly enjoyable and important, and to have some resonance with how we see ourselves. These activities become passionate activities. In line with the above, Vallerand et al. (2003) define passion as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that one likes (or even loves), finds important, and in which one invests time and energy. These activities come to be so self-defining that they represent central features of one's identity. For instance, those who have a passion for playing basketball, playing the guitar, or writing poetry do not merely engage in these activities. They are "basketball players," "guitar players," and "poets." This will be the case to the extent that the activity is interesting and highly valued by the person (Aron, Aron, & Smolan, 1992; Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993).

Past research has shown that values and regulations concerning noninteresting activities can be internalised in either a controlled or an autonomous fashion (see Deci et al., 1994; Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, Portier, & Quay, 1997). Similarly, it is posited that activities that people like will also be internalised in the person's identity to the extent that these are highly valued and meaningful for the person. Furthermore, it is proposed that there are two types of passion, obsessive and harmonious, that can be distinguished in terms of how the passionate activity has been internalised into one's identity. Obsessive passion, results from a controlled internalisation of the activity into one's identity. Such an internalisation process leads not only the activity representation to be part of the person's identity, but also to values and regulations associated with the activity, to be at best partially internalised in the self, and at worse to be internalised in the person's identity but completely outside the integrating self (Deci & Ryan, 2000). A controlled internalisation originates from intra and/or interpersonal pressure typically because certain contingencies are attached to the activity such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem (e.g., Crocker & Park, 2004), or because the sense of excitement derived from activity engagement is uncontrollable. People with an obsessive passion can thus find themselves in the position of experiencing an uncontrollable urge to partake in the activity they view as important and enjoyable. They cannot help but to engage in the passionate activity. The passion must run its course as it controls the person. Consequently, they risk experiencing conflicts and other negative affective, cognitive, and behavioural consequences during and after activity engagement. For instance, a university professor with an obsessive passion for playing the guitar might not be able to resist an invitation to jam with his friends the night before presenting an important talk that still needs work. During the jam session, he might feel upset with himself for playing music instead of preparing the talk. He might therefore have difficulties focusing on the task at hand (playing the music) and may not experience as much positive affect and flow as he should while playing.