Friend or foe? The effects of harmonious and obsessive passion on entrepreneurs’ well-being, strain and social loneliness

Purpose Passion is considered a critical aspect of entrepreneurship. According to the dualistic model of passion (DMP), entrepreneurs’ passion for their work can be harmonious or obsessive, leading to different personal and work outcomes. Drawing on DMP and the self-determination theory, this paper investigates these two types of passion for work and their effects on entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being (SWB), psychological strain and social loneliness.Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a self-administered online survey with 312 entrepreneurs in Turkey. The authors selected the sample using purposive sampling and referrals through snowballing via associations, university start-up organizations, entrepreneur lists and personal networks. The data are analyzed using multiple regression analysis.Findings The results show that harmonious passion is negatively related to strain, while obsessive passion is positively related to both strain and social loneliness. Furthermore, both types of passion are associated with higher SWB. Finally, age moderates the relationship between obsessive passion and SWB.Practical implications The findings draw attention to another dark side to entrepreneurship and a useful perspective to raise awareness that entrepreneurs may think positively of obsessive passion and ignore the negative consequences.Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by showing that both positive and negative consequences of passion may co-exist based on the entrepreneurs’ self-perceptions. It also contributes to the very scarce research in non-western, emerging contexts in entrepreneurial passion research and constitutes the first study conducted on this topic in Turkey.

Entrepreneurial Passion in Entrepreneurship Education

By interviewing alumni about their experiences of entrepreneurship education and post-graduation careers, this study explored how students can harness entrepreneurial passion in a venture creation programme. The findings emphasise the importance of learning ‘soft skills' in entrepreneurship education, as well as experiencing the ‘necessary evil' of failure and learning from failure in a safe environment. Most importantly, the chapter illustrates the connection between safety, action, emotion, and passion in a VCP. Lastly, this study highlights that harnessing obsessive passion into a sustainable form is an important yet difficult task. Passion changes over time, and VCP students harness this passion to achieve ‘sustainable obsessive and harmonious passion'. This study contributes to the literature on the development of entrepreneurial universities by focusing on the students and their entrepreneurial passion.

The two roads of passionate goal pursuit: links with appraisal, coping, and academic achievement

Background and Objectives: In this research, we testing the role of cognitive appraisals in explaining why harmonious and obsessive passion dimensions are related to distinct forms of coping, and explored if performance was impacted by these appraisal and coping processes.Design: Undergraduate students (N = 489) participated in a longitudinal study and completed three surveys throughout the course of an academic year.Methods: Participants completed assessments of both passion dimensions (Time 1), reported how they were appraising and coping with the mid-year exam period (Time 2), and provided consent to obtain their final grade in Introductory Psychology (Time 3). The hypothesised model was tested using structural equation modeling.Results: Harmonious and obsessive passion dimensions were linked with approach and avoidant coping responses, respectively. Cognitive appraisals, particularly appraisals of challenge and uncontrollability, played an indirect role in these relationships. In addition, both appraisals and coping responses had an indirect effect in the relationship between passion dimensions and final grade. Conclusions: These results identify cognitive appraisal as a reason why passion dimensions are linked with distinct coping tendencies, and demonstrate the role appraisal and coping processes in the journey toward passionate goal attainment.

Passion in the pit: the effects of harmonious and obsessive passion on nurse burnout

PurposeAnecdotal and survey reports indicate that nurses are suffering increased stress and burnout due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, this study investigated two forms of passion, harmonious and obsessive passion, as resources that may indirectly predict two forms of burnout, disengagement and exhaustion, through the mediator of job stress.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested their hypotheses in a mediation model using a sample of nurses surveyed at three timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsAs hypothesized, harmonious passion indirectly decreased disengagement and exhaustion by decreasing job stress. Contrary to authors’ hypotheses, obsessive passion also indirectly decreased (rather than increased, as hypothesized) both disengagement and exhaustion by decreasing job stress. Harmonious, but not obsessive, passion, was significantly negatively directly related to disengagement and exhaustion.Research limitations/implicationsData were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have impacted nurses’ work environments and their willingness to respond.Originality/valueThis study extends conservation of resources theory to conceptualize harmonious and obsessive passion as resources with differing outcomes based on their contrasting identity internalization, per the Dualistic Model of Passion. This study also operationalizes burnout more comprehensively by including cognitive and physical exhaustion along with emotional exhaustion, as well as disengagement. By collecting responses at three timepoints, this study provides a more robust test of causality than previous work examining passion and burnout.

Avaliação da autoestima e da paixão por musculação em universitários frequentadores de academia

INTRODUÇÃO: A autoestima é um aspecto psicológico que reflete em diversas áreas da vida dos indivíduos, inclusive na prática de exercício físico. Na mesma perspectiva, a paixão é uma variável motivacional importante e que corresponde à forma como o indivíduo trata uma atividade, para a qual demanda tempo e energia. OBJETIVO: Analisar a autoestima e paixão em universitários praticantes de musculação. MÉTODOS: Participaram da pesquisa com caráter descritivo transversal, 96 universitários (48 homens e 48 mulheres), com média de idade de 21,90±3,10 anos, praticantes de musculação na academia escola da Universidade Estadual de Maringá - PR. Os instrumentos utilizados foram uma ficha de identificação, Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg e Escala da Paixão. Para análise dos dados foram utilizados os testes Kolmogorov-Smirnov, U de Mann Whitney e coeficiente de correlação de Spearman, adotando-se p<0,05. RESULTADOS: No geral, os resultados demonstraram que os universitários apresentaram elevada autoestima (Md=32,00), valores superiores para paixão harmoniosa (Md=5,20) e inferiores para a paixão obsessiva (Md=2,20). As comparações em função do sexo revelaram diferenças para paixão obsessiva (p=0,003), com valores superiores para os universitários do sexo masculino (Md=2,70) quando comparados ao sexo feminino (Md=2,00). Quando considerado o tempo de experiência da musculação, observou-se que os universitários que praticam a mais de um ano (Md=5,30) apresentaram valores superiores de paixão harmoniosa (p=0,04) quando comparados aos que praticam a menos de um ano (Md=4,90). Ao correlacionar a autoestima e a paixão em função do sexo dos praticantes, identificou-se correlação positiva e fraca entre a paixão harmoniosa e a autoestima nos praticantes do sexo masculino (r=0,396; p<0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Os universitários praticantes de musculação apresentam elevada autoestima e mostram-se apaixonados pela sua atividade. Além disso, para os homens, verificou-se que quanto maior a autoestima maior a paixão harmoniosa pela sua atividade.ABSTRACT. Evaluation of self-esteem and passion for bodybuilding in college students who frequent a gymBACKGROUND: Self-esteem is a psychological aspect that reflects in several areas of individuals’ lives, including the practice of physical exercise. In the same perspective, passion is an important motivational variable that corresponds to the way the individual treats an activity, for which demands time and energy. OBJECTIVE: To analyze self-esteem and passion in college students who practice weight training. METHODS: Participated in this research with a cross-sectional descriptive character, 96 college students (48 men and 48 women), with mean age of 21.90±3.10 years, practicing bodybuilding in the school gym of the State University of Maringá - PR, Brazil. The instruments used were an identification form, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Passion Scale. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann Whitney’s U test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data, using p<0.05. RESULTS: Overall, the results showed that college students had high self-esteem (Md=32.00), higher values for harmonious passion (Md=5.20) and lower values for obsessive passion (Md=2.20). Comparisons according to gender revealed differences for obsessive passion (p=0.003), with higher values for male college students (Md=2.70) when compared to female students (Md=2.00). When considered the time of experience in bodybuilding, it was observed that college students who have been practicing for more than a year (Md=5.30) presented higher values of harmonious passion (p=0.04) when compared to those who have been practicing for less than a year (Md=4.90). When correlating the self-esteem and passion in function of the practitioner’s sex, it was identified a positive and weak correlation between harmonious passion and self-esteem in male practitioners (r=0.396; p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The college students who practice weight training present high self-esteem and show passion for their activity. Moreover, for males, it was verified that the higher the self-esteem the higher the harmonious passion for their activity.

Life satisfaction of Paralympians: The role of needs satisfaction and passion

The current study examined the possible role of basic psychological needs and passion in Paralympians’ life satisfaction. A mediational model was tested where autonomy, competence and relatedness were hypothesized to be linked to athlete life satisfaction via harmonious and obsessive passion. The sample comprised 91 Portuguese Paralympians aged between 18 and 59 years ( M = 31.01; SD = 3.78). Athletes completed self-reports of needs satisfaction in their sport, passion towards their sport, and general life satisfaction. Perceptions of competence and relatedness were associated with harmonious passion (β = .37, p > .01; β = .21, p > .05, respectively), while perceptions of autonomy were associated with obsessive passion (β = .39, p > .05). Additionally, harmonious passion, but not obsessive passion, was associated with life satisfaction (β = .40, p > .01), and only the indirect effect from competence to life satisfaction, via harmonious passion, was significant. These results suggest that feeling autonomous may not necessarily translate into more harmonious passionate engagement but is associated with higher levels of obsessive passion. In contrast, competence and relatedness appear to play an important role in the life of athletes who experience a more harmonious passion towards their sport practice. Perceptions of mastery and competence, as well as sport-related social connections could be important to consider improving the lives of athletes with Paralympic experience.

The Two Dimensions of Passion for Sport: A New Look Using a Quadripartite Approach

Research relying on the dualistic model of passion has consistently found that harmonious passion for sport is positively associated with adaptive outcomes and that obsessive passion for sport is positively associated with maladaptive outcomes (e.g., Vallerand &amp; Verner-Filion, 2020). In this research, we tested if various sport outcomes were related to within-person combinations of both harmonious and obsessive passion. Three samples of athletes (total N = 1,290) completed online surveys that assessed various sport outcomes (e.g., sport enjoyment, goal attainment), along with harmonious and obsessive passion for their sport. We found that athletes were best served by having either high harmonious passion or low obsessive passion or, in many cases, high harmonious passion that was combined with low obsessive passion. These results add to our understanding of passion by showing that combinations of harmonious and obsessive passion for sport are differentially associated with indicators of a positive sport experience.

Savoring Sport: Connections with Athlete Passion and Burnout

Athletes can respond to positive experiences in sport by engaging in savoring – that is, by attempting to prolong or amplify their positive feelings (Bryant &amp; Veroff, 2007). In this research, we tested if savoring was predicted by levels of harmonious or obsessive passion for sport, and if savoring was associated with symptoms of burnout. In Study 1 (n = 499) we found that savoring was positively associated with harmonious passion and negatively associated with obsessive passion. In addition, savoring predicted lower levels of burnout and played an indirect role in the relationship between both passion types and burnout. We replicated these findings in Study 2 (n = 298), with collegiate-level athletes prospectively over the course of a season. Overall, athletes with strong levels of harmonious passion appear to be most likely to engage in savoring, a response that may protect them from experiencing higher levels of burnout.

A Novel Approach to Looking at the Role of Autonomy Support in the Development of Passion in Education

The current research demonstrates a novel approach to investigating the role ofperceived teacher and parental autonomy support in college students’ ( N = 970 with376 males, 594 females) passion for science. Based on the Dualistic Model of Passionwhich posits the existence of a harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP) passion, weadopted a 2 x 2 model (Gaudreau &amp; Thompson, 2010) to test if low and high levels ofperceived parental and teacher autonomy support were differentially associated withstudents’ harmonious and obsessive passion. First, students' perceptions of high levels of both teacher and parental autonomy support rendered the highest means in HP and OP. Second, students who demonstrated high levels of only teacher autonomy support also displayed high levels of HP and OP. Third, OP levels were lowest when teacher autonomy support was low, while those from parents were high. Finally, perceived low support from both parents and teachers was not as ideal as having only support from parents to keep OP at the lowest levels. In sum, the results demonstrate the benefits of having both forms of autonomy support and highlight the outcomes associated with single-sided or low support. Practical implications highlight the importance of considering sources outside of students’ immediate learning environment when designing interventions based on autonomy support.