Passion and Retirement

This chapter reviews theories and perspectives, such as role theory, the life course perspective, and the resource perspective, pertaining to retirement and how passion for work relates to the main theoretical background used to study retirement. An extensive review of the research that has examined the role of passion for work in retirees’ psychological adjustment is presented. Results show that harmonious passion for work is positively associated with retirees’ psychological adjustment, whereas the opposite if found for obsessive passion. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research in this important area as well as with practical implications aimed at organizations, workers and retirees to facilitate a smoother life transition and to experience a more fulfilling retirement.

When and Why Does Passion for Work Predict Well- and Ill-Being?

The present chapter provides an integrative review of the work stress literature while referring to the empirical evidence on passion for work in relation to psychological health, that is, well- and ill-being manifestations. Drawing on recent scientific literature, the chapter presents an extended dualist model of passion in adaptation to the work environment, which aims to identify work environment factors that are associated with well- and ill-being, and to examine the moderating role of passion for work in the psychological processes associated with psychological health. Results confirming the proposed model are presented, as well as future research directions.

Passion and Entrepreneurship

This chapter discusses the role of passion in entrepreneurship. The nature of emotions, and how they relate to passion, is explained with research in support. By focusing on new venture creation and growth, this chapter presents a short review of how entrepreneurship has been defined in the literature, as well as its value and challenges. Studies examining the relationships between passion and entrepreneurial success and performance are reviewed, and a discussion on the various scales to measure passion is provided.

Lay Theories of How Passion for Work Is Achieved

In this chapter, we introduce a lay theory approach to study how work passion is attained, as a complement to the scientific theory–driven approach. We provide insight into the lay person’s everyday experience of passion for work, and their beliefs about how passion is achieved, to enhance understanding about what gives rise to passionate workers.

Fire in the Office

This chapter delves into the identity–passion interface and examines how nuances in this relationship manifest in different outcomes. The construct of identity and how it relates to an individual’s self-concept is discussed to more fully understand how identity plays a central role in passion. We argue that identities serve as a foundation of an individual’s passion, and that as such, the relative space that certain identities occupy within one’s self-concept has implications for how different types of passion manifest. The chapter reviews the primary theories of passion developed by scholars, and examines the research that has investigated the relationship between identities and passion. This chapter also offers a summary of the progress made in this area and the work that remains to be done.

Passion for Work

This chapter focuses on the prevalent model of passion, namely the dualistic model of passion. This model defines passion as a strong inclination toward an activity that people love, value, engage in on a regular basis and is part of identity. Further, the dualistic model of passion posits the existence of two distinct types of passion leading to opposite outcomes. One is harmonious passion, resulting from an autonomous internalization and where people feel in control of their passion. The second is obsessive passion which results from a controlled internalization and is associated with the experience of a loss of control with regards to the beloved activity. Although being passionate about work at face value should have important and positive outcomes, the dualistic model of passion posits that this should mainly take place for harmonious passion. Research reviewed in this chapter provides support for this assumption. In addition, research is also reviewed on the determinants of passion. The research methods and measures used in the area are also presented. Finally, implications for future research and some applications are also formulated.

On Passion for Work

Passion has long been mentioned in the field of work. This chapter introduces the book by discussing the relevance of studying passion at work. A short history of the passion construct at large is followed by how the passion construct has been understood and studied in organizational research. Following a presentation of the definition of the passion construct, this introductory chapter ends by briefly summarizing the perspective of each chapter, thereby outlining the contribution of each one.

What We Know and Don’t Know About Passion at Work

This chapter addresses the question: What do we know, and what don’t we know about passion at work? One key objective of this final chapter is to provide a brief synopsis of the key findings reported by the various authors in this volume. The chapter summarizes the consensual definitions that have emerged regarding passion and its two major forms—obsessive passion and harmonious passion. It highlights factors that produce passion as well as those that result from passion. Especially, the differences associated with obsessive passion and harmonious passion are highlighted. Different predictors and different outcomes are associated with each form of passion. In addition, findings associated with individual, organizational, and macro levels of analysis are summarized. Different relationships with these two forms of passion are manifest across different levels of analysis. A second objective is to articulate some of what we do not yet know about passion. The chapter highlights some of the important research questions that can help guide research on passion in the future. This discussion includes issues regarding the development of passion, causal relationships between passion and certain outcomes, forms and manifestations of passion, and individual and contextual differences associated with passion.

The Outcomes of Passion in Entrepreneurship

This chapter surveys the literature on the outcomes of passion in entrepreneurship. The findings reveal that passion is consequential not only with respect to intrapersonal outcomes (affect, cognition, behavior of the entrepreneur, and performance of their venture) but also for interpersonal results (for stakeholders such as investors or employees). These outcomes, however, are not always beneficial: although passion has been proven to have a host of positive outcomes in entrepreneurship, more and more recent studies have started to uncover its dualistic nature and detrimental effects. The review offers specific suggestions that will be instrumental in carrying out future research regarding the role of passion in entrepreneurship and specifies implications for entrepreneurship practitioners.

A Passion for Leadership

This chapter focuses on the nature and consequences of a passion for leadership. The construct of passion for leadership is presented, as is a model of its potential behavioral and psychological consequences. More specifically, drawing from the dualistic model of passion, the chapter explains how harmonious and obsessive passion for leadership may affect high-quality and poor-quality leadership behaviors, respectively. Furthermore, the chapter examines how the two types of passion may influence leaders’ well-being differently. To advance the conceptualization of a passion for leadership, an agenda for future research is provided and the applicability of this new construct for practitioners in the field is explained.