“Passion” is a word that comes up in everyday discussion, and yet, until recently, psychology had little to say about this intriguing concept. That changed in 2003, when Robert J. Vallerand and his colleagues published an article in which they presented a definition and theory of passion as well as empirical support for the theory. Since this initial article was published, thousands of studies have been conducted that provide support for the theory. In a new article published in Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, Vallerand again presents a definition of passion as well as theory and then reviews some important research themes that have been studied in recent years. Because this is an invited article associated with the Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Psychological Association, Vallerand focuses on his own work.
The dualistic model of passion (DMP; Vallerand, 2015) is built on the premise that individuals have a natural tendency toward personal growth. Such self-growth can be achieved through engagement in activities and situations that provide challenges and allow mastery (Vallerand, 2015). Throughout life, people engage in a variety of activities that serve as opportunities for growth. Yet only a few of these activities develop into a passion. According to the DMP, passion refers to a strong inclination toward an activity (or an object, an ideology, or a person) that a person loves and values and that holds a personal significance that comes to define the person. As the activity becomes internalized in the self and identity expands, this passion for an activity can propel self-growth, thereby contributing to optimal functioning both within the activity the person is passionate about and also in the person’s life in general (Vallerand, 2015).
However, not all passions are equal. An important contribution of the DMP is that it posits that there are two types of passion: harmonious and obsessive. With obsessive passion (OP), a person feels controlled, at least in part, by the very activity that they love. Such internal control by the activity they love undermines personal autonomy and should lead to less adaptive consequences. Conversely, with harmonious passion (HP), a person freely engages in the beloved activity with a sense of personal autonomy that allows them to fully engage in the activity while experiencing equilibrium with other realms of their life and provides access to adaptive self-processes. As such, HP should lead to higher levels of optimal functioning than OP does. Over 20 years of research supports this major hypothesis. In his article, Vallerand reviews research showing that when people engage in activities out of HP, they are happier and healthier, have better friendships and romantic relationships, contribute more to society, display stronger resilience, and demonstrate more flexible persistence than do those who engage in activities out of OP. Thus, although both HP and OP lead people to similarly high levels of performance, with OP there are some perils along the way, such as developing addiction, engaging in self-neglect, and making ill-advised risky decisions that may undermine health.
These findings are important not only theoretically but also from an applied perspective. Because most people are passionate about at least one activity in their life, the fact that passion affects well-being and other dimensions of optimal functioning matters greatly. In this regard, people should pay attention to the type of passion they may hold for an activity, because it may have important and unsuspected effects on their quality of life. Research on how to cultivate HP rather than OP deserves attention from both the people with the passion as well as gatekeepers and those in position of control in various realms of society.