ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present research is to present a model pertaining to the mediating roles of rumination and recovery experiences in the relationship between a harmonious and an obsessive passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) for work and workers' emotional exhaustion. Two populations were measured in the present research: namely elite coaches and nurses. Study 1's model posits that obsessive passion positively predicts rumination about one's work when being physically away from work, while harmonious passion negatively predicts ruminative thoughts. In turn, rumination is expected to positively contribute to emotional exhaustion. The results of Study 1 were replicated in Study 2. In addition, in the model of Study 2, obsessive passion was expected to undermine recovery experiences, while harmonious passion was expected to predict recovery experiences. In turn, recovery experiences were expected to protect workers from emotional exhaustion. Results of both studies provided support for the proposed model. The present findings demonstrate that passion for work may lead to some adaptive and maladaptive psychological processes depending on the type of passion that is prevalent.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Anxiety/psychology , Burnout, Professional/psychology , Job Satisfaction , Mental Fatigue/psychology , Nurses/psychology , Obsessive Behavior/psychology , Sports/psychology , Workload/psychology , Adult , Affect , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Health Surveys , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Norway , Prospective Studies , Risk Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , Work Schedule ToleranceABSTRACT
Our purpose in this research was to investigate the role of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) for a given activity in the quality of interpersonal relationships experienced within the context of that activity in 4 studies. Study 1 demonstrated that a harmonious passion was positively associated with the quality of interpersonal relationships within the context of the passionate activity, whereas an obsessive passion was unrelated to it. Furthermore, in line with the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001), results also showed that positive emotions experienced at work fully mediated the relation between harmonious passion and quality of interpersonal relationships. Obsessive passion was not associated with positive emotions. Study 2 replicated the results from Study 1 while controlling for trait extraversion. Also, in Study 2, we examined the negative mediating role of negative emotions between obsessive passion and quality of interpersonal relationships. Finally, Studies 3 and 4 replicated the results of Study 2 with prospective designs and with objective ratings of interpersonal relationships quality. Implications for the dualistic model of passion and the broaden-and-build theory are discussed.
Subject(s)
Emotions , Group Processes , Interpersonal Relations , Motivation , Obsessive Behavior/psychology , Social Identification , Adolescent , Adult , Basketball/psychology , Extraversion, Psychological , Female , Humans , Leadership , Male , Models, Psychological , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Prospective Studies , Psychometrics , Young AdultABSTRACT
The dualistic model of passion defines passion as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that a person likes and values and in which he or she invests time and energy. The model proposes two distinct types of passion: harmonious and obsessive passion that predict adaptive and less adaptive outcomes respectively. In the present research, we were interested in assessing both the negative and positive consequences that can result from gaming. Participants (n = 222) were all players involved in massively multiplayer online games. They completed an online survey. Results from a canonical correlation revealed that both harmonious and obsessive passion were positively associated with the experience of positive affect while playing. However, only obsessive passion was also positively related to the experience of negative affect while playing. In addition, only obsessive passion was positively related to problematic behaviors generally associated with excessive gaming, the amount of time spent playing, and negative physical symptoms. Moreover, obsessive passion was negatively related to self-realization and unrelated to life satisfaction. Conversely, harmonious passion was positively associated with both types of psychological well-being. This general pattern of results suggests that obsessive passion for gaming is an important predictor of the negative outcomes of gaming, while harmonious passion seems to account for positive consequences. Future research directions are discussed in light of the dualistic model of passion.
