Passion and Personality

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Article de priodique (Journal article)
"Passion and Personality: Is Passionate
Behaviour a Function of Personality?"
Balon, Sverine ; Lecoq, Julie ; Rim, Bernard
Abstract
La passion, en tant que concept mais galement en tant que mode de vie,
semble susciter un intrt toujours croissant dans la population des chercheurs,
et mme celle des employeurs. Le Modle Dualiste des Passions (Vallerand,
Blanchard, Mageau, Koestner, Ratelle, Lonard et al., 2003) a suggr que celle-
ci pouvait prendre deux formes distinctes : harmonieuse vs. obsessive. Le dbat
restait nanmoins ouvert concernant les facteurs (contextuels vs. dispositionnels)
susceptibles dinfluencer la propension dvelopper une passion. Cette
recherche visait explorer les relations entre passion et dimensions de la
personnalit, et se prononcer sur limportance de ces liens. Pour ce faire, 241
participants ont rempli un questionnaire en ligne comprenant une mesure de
la passion ainsi quune mesure de personnalit, savoir une valuation des
diffrentes dimensions du Big Five. Les rsultats obtenus permettent dtablir
certains liens entre passion et personnalit. Toutefois, la faiblesse des relations
observes encourage les recherches futures se concentrer davantage sur les
facteurs [...]
Rfrence bibliographique
Balon, Sverine ; Lecoq, Julie ; Rim, Bernard. Passion and Personality: Is Passionate Behaviour
a Function of Personality?. In: Revue Europenne de Psychologie Applique, Vol. 63, no.1, p.
59-65 (janvier 2013)
DOI : 10.1016/j.erap.2012.06.001
Passion and Personality 1

Running head: PASSION AND PERSONALITY

Passion and Personality:
Is Passionate Behaviour a Function of Personality?
Passion et Personnalit :
Le Comportement Passionn Sexprimerait-il en Fonction de la Personnalit ?
Sverine Balon, Julie Lecoq, and Bernard Rim
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Universit catholique de Louvain, 10 Place du
Cardinal Mercier, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Abstract
Introduction. Passion as a concept but also as a way of life still seems to generate an ever-
growing interest among researchers and even employers. The Dualistic Model of Passion
(Vallerand, Blanchard, Mageau, Koestner, Ratelle, Lonard et al., 2003) has suggested that
passion could take two distinct forms: harmonious vs. obsessive passion. However the debate
has still remained open on the factors (contextual vs. dispositional) that are likely to influence
the tendency to develop a passion for an activity.
Objective. This research was designed to explore the relations between passion and
personality and to determine the strength of those links.
Method. To this end, 241 participants completed an online questionnaire comprising one
measure of passion along with one measure of personality, namely an assessment of the
different Big Five dimensions.
Results. The results show a pattern of relations between passion and personality that is
consistent with previous research which highlighted the more positive/adaptive nature and
consequences of harmonious passion, in comparison with obsessive passion.
Conclusion. These outcomes nevertheless remain weak. Future research is therefore needed to
focus more on the contextual factors that could play an important role in the development of
passion, mainly in its harmonious form.

Keywords: passion for an activity, personality, Big Five

Rsum
La passion, en tant que concept mais galement en tant que mode de vie, semble susciter un
intrt toujours croissant dans la population des chercheurs, et mme celle des employeurs. Le
Modle Dualiste des Passions (Vallerand, Blanchard, Mageau, Koestner, Ratelle, Lonard et
al., 2003) a suggr que celle-ci pouvait prendre deux formes distinctes : harmonieuse vs.
obsessive. Le dbat restait nanmoins ouvert concernant les facteurs (contextuels vs.
dispositionnels) susceptibles dinfluencer la propension dvelopper une passion. Cette
recherche visait explorer les relations entre passion et dimensions de la personnalit, et se
prononcer sur limportance de ces liens. Pour ce faire, 241 participants ont rempli un
questionnaire en ligne comprenant une mesure de la passion ainsi quune mesure de
personnalit, savoir une valuation des diffrentes dimensions du Big Five. Les rsultats
obtenus permettent dtablir certains liens entre passion et personnalit. Toutefois, la faiblesse
des relations observes encourage les recherches futures se concentrer davantage sur les
facteurs contextuels pouvant jouer un rle dans le dveloppement de la passion,
principalement sous sa forme harmonieuse.

Mots-cls : passion pour une activit, personnalit, Big Five

Passion and Personality: Is Passionate Behaviour a Function of Personality?
There is a famous French maxim that says: La sagesse fait durer, les passions font
vivre (Chamfort, 1928, p. 29): whereas wisdom lengthens life, passions make us live. Indeed,
mans heart has always beaten to the rhythm of his passions. They are a real strength enabling
individuals to go into action and to achieve great things. When someone is passionate, his
view of life is driven by positive affectivity; he tends to give his best and to surpass himself.
Many great facts, findings or achievements were only possible due to the enthusiasm and the
perseverance that characterise passionate behaviour.
Because of these many potentialities, passion appears to be an essential strength to
optimise the way in which human organizations work. In this sense, it has been shown that
passionate employees reported a higher level of psychological adjustment to work compared
to non-passionate ones (Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003). But passion also constitutes a strong
marketing tool. For instance, some sport stores have been found mostly to recruit passionate
sportsmen as their sales clerks because they have a greater ability to attract and retain
customers (Gasparini & Pichot, 2007). Every company should thus consider hiring passionate
employees. However, we should first be able to provide an answer to the following critical
question: does passion fit a personality profile that we ought to recruit or, on the contrary,
does it develop in a particular context that we should put in place?
Passion and personality: An ongoing debate
At the beginning of the past century, passion was primarily understood as a
temperament, a trait or in any case something resulting from the individuals internal
dispositions (Ribot, 1907). At the beginning of personality inventories, Heymans and
Wiersma (1912) developed a typology of eight characters including the passionate type
described as emotional, active and secondary. According to these authors, this character is the
most frequent as it applies to one third of the population. This classification has also been

taken up by Le Senne (1963) who has described the passionate as the most intense character
where history can find its most active heroes (p.259). The individuals concerned by this
categorization are characterised by their remarkable capacity for action, their perseverance,
their ability to release long-lasting and powerful energy and their open mind, but nevertheless
also appear vain and showy in some respects. However, it should be noted that this represents
the very few works giving comments on personality traits that could be associated with
individuals termed passionate. Thereafter, characterology gave way to the emergence of
personality models and the passionate type completely disappeared from typologies. Very
recently, the concept of passion has reappeared in psychological scientific literature, although
now it is no longer considered as a personality type but rather as a motivational strength
whose development inside a human being has never been justified other than by
environmental factors.
Nowadays, the model that has taken its place in empirical psychology clearly favours
an approach based on motivational aspects. This is known as the Dualistic Model of Passion
(Vallerand, Blanchard, Mageau, Koestner, Ratelle, Lonard et al., 2003) and it defines passion
as a strong inclination towards an activity that (1) people like (or even love), that (2) they
find important and (3) in which they invest time and energy. The theory behind this model
relies in part on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). Further, the
characteristic feature of this conception lies in the fact that it postulates the existence of two
types of passion for an activity, namely harmonious vs. obsessive passion. Those two forms
both relate to the above general definition of the passion concept but are distinguishable from
one another in their mode of development as well as the kind of consequences they lead to.
Concerning the development of passion, the Dualistic Model hypothesises that two
processes are in play: activity valuation and the internalization of the representation of the
activity in ones identity (Vallerand, Rousseau, Grouzet, Dumais, Grenier & Blanchard,

2006). Indeed, past research has demonstrated that when an object of interest is highly valued,
one is inclined to internalize the given object, to make it part of oneself (Aron, Aron &
Smollan, 1992; Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde & Whalen, 1993). According to Deci and Ryan
(2000, Ryan & Deci, 2003), this internalization process can be of two different kinds. An
autonomous internalization would occur when people have freely accepted that the activity
has become important for them. This configuration would lead to the emergence of a more
harmonious passion. In contrast, a controlled internalization would occur when the
individual is subject to some intra- and/or interpersonal pressure (e.g. a young boy who would
engage in a given activity in order to please his parents). Such an internalization would then
result in a more obsessive form of passion. In the former case, the individual is able to control
the activity he decided to engage in, whereas in the latter, the individual finds himself
controlled by his favourite activity because he cannot help but engage in it (Vallerand et al.,
2003).
Finally, regarding the consequences of passion, numerous differences can be reported
between the two forms. Harmonious passion seems to lead to positive affective, cognitive,
behavioural and relational outcomes, while obsessive passion appears to lead to more negative
ones (e.g. Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Stoeber, Harvey, Ward & Childs, 2011; Vallerand,
Salvy, Mageau, Elliot, Denis, Grouzet et al., 2007). Results from various research studies
conducted on these two forms have in a way brought significant nuances to the optimistic
view of passion mentioned at the beginning of this article. Not every passion leads to the
desired positive outcomes. Some kinds of passion appear to be linked to behaviours that can
be viewed as counterproductive, conflictual or even detrimental for passionate individuals
and/or for the circle they evolve in (e.g. Ratelle, Vallerand, Mageau, Rousseau & Provencher,
2004; Rip, Fortin & Vallerand, 2006; Sguin-Lvesque, Lalibert, Pelletier, Blanchard &
Vallerand, 2003; Vallerand, 2008).

The personality issue in the Dualistic Model
According to the Dualistic Model, passion constitutes a kind of dynamic process that
develops in the interface between an individual and a given activity. Such a definition makes
it less likely to fit with the idea that passion relies on a specific personality type (Carbonneau,
Vallerand & Massicotte, 2010) and suggests that passion can in fact develop in everyone.
Very recently, Mageau, Vallerand, Charest, Salvy, Lacaille, Bouffard et al. (2009) examined
some contextual factors that could intervene and influence the development of a passion for
an activity. The results showed that the individuals social environment - and especially
parents seems to have an impact on the internalization process that will occur as well as on
the type of passion that will develop further. Concretely, the occurrence of a harmonious
passion would be favoured by having parents supporting autonomy. In contrast, parents with a
controlling style that force their child to think, feel and behave in a very precise way pave the
way to the emergence of a more obsessive form of passion in the very heart of their child.
Nonetheless, Vallerand and his colleagues (2006) emphasised the fact that personality
could also constitute an important determinant of the internalization process. In line with this
statement, an autonomous personality orientation (tendency to do things out of pleasure
and/or choice) would entail an autonomous internalization style and would further lead to
the emergence of a harmonious passion whereas a more controlled personality orientation
(tendency to do things out of outside or inner pressure) would facilitate a controlled
internalization style and would this time give rise to some obsessive passion. However, this
hypothesis has never been tested. Two studies did investigate the links between passion and
personality (Tosun & Lajunen, 2009; Wang & Yang, 2008) but it should be noted that the
authors chose to assess personality with inventories that are not widely used (Gomezs 25-
item personality scale, 2006) and/or chose to focus on a very specific type of passion (passion
for the Internet / for online shopping).

Present research
Doubts were thus not allayed concerning the role of personality in passion as well as
in the development of one type of passion over the other. The main purpose of the present
research was therefore to empirically examine the relationships between passion and
personality and to assess the predominance of those possible links. In order to achieve this, it
was highly appropriate to work with the most consensual model from personality theories,
namely the Big Five model (e.g. Costa & McCrae, 1992; Costa & Widiger, 1994). This
widely accepted model defines personality with the help of five bipolar dimensions:
Extraversion (vs. Introversion), Agreeableness (vs. Antagonism), Conscientiousness (vs.
Impulsiveness), Neuroticism (vs. Emotional stability) and Openness (vs. Closedness) to
Experience. According to John and Srivastava (1999), each of these five dimensions can be
succinctly defined as follows:
Extraversion implies an energetic approach to the social and material world and
includes traits such as sociability, activity, assertiveness, and positive emotionality.
Agreeableness contrasts a prosocial and communal orientation towards others with
antagonism []. Conscientiousness describes socially prescribed impulse control that
facilitates task- and goal-directed behavior []. Neuroticism contrasts emotional
stability and even-temperedness with negative emotionality []. Finally, Openness to
Experience (vs. closed-mindedness) describes the breadth, depth, originality, and
complexity of an individuals mental and experiential life. (p. 121)
Given the fact that the concept of passion is associated with a kind of persistent
involvement (Vallerand et al., 2003; Mageau et al., 2009) and that it predicts a deliberate
practice motivated by the explicit aim of improving performance (Vallerand et al., 2007), it is
hypothesised that it would be positively associated with the Conscientiousness dimension of

the Five Factor Model as this dimension notably refers to competence, search for success
(Bouvard, 2002) and engagement into specific tasks and goals (John & Srivastava, 1999).
In addition, a positive link could be hypothesised between harmonious passion and
Extraversion as this dimension especially refers to the feeling and the expression of positive
affects (John & Srivastava, 1999). Conversely, because of its propensity to negative affects
and maladaptive outcomes, obsessive passion could be found to be positively associated to
Neuroticism (Bouvard, 2002).
Concerning the Agreeableness dimension, systematically involved in emotional
processing (Hansenne, 2003), a positive relationship could be postulated with the harmonious
dimension of passion when considering the lack of conflict occurring in that particular case.
In contrast, Agreeableness would be negatively associated with the more obsessive side of
passion whose dynamics appear to be highly conflictual (Vallerand et al., 2003).
Eventually, the Openness dimension could be thought to be positively associated with
passion as it means a tendency to some curiosity and imagination as well as some aesthetic
sensitivity (Bouvard, 2002), all aspects that can be frequently observed in the two types of
passion. Moreover, it has already been assumed by Heymans and Wiersma (1912) that
passionate individuals would be particularly open-minded.
Method
Participants
The sample for the present research was composed of 241 participants, aged from 18
to 65 years old (M = 27.69; SD = 12.73), and all approached via the Internet. The two
assessment tools described in the next section were integrated into an online questionnaire
that was then posted on various forums dedicated to some kind of passion. In order to
diversify our sample, the study link was also sent to a set of First year Psychology students.
Gender composition was equivalent on the whole with 137 females (57%) and 104 male

participants (43%). The total number of completed questionnaires amounted to 271 but 30
participants had to be removed for subsequent analyses. The participants in question were
moved aside (1) because they were under the age of 18 and/ or (2) because striking
inconsistencies emerged from their response pattern. Looking at participants nationality, this
sample mainly comprised Belgians (n = 147; 61%) and French (n = 84; 35%). Only a few
participants indicated another nationality (n = 10; 4%).
Material
Passion scale. Participants were invited to complete the Passion Scale developed by
Vallerand and his colleagues (2003). This 16-item instrument can be divided in two parts.
First, it is composed of two 6-item subscales assessing harmonious and obsessive passion. A
sample item for harmonious passion is This activity is in harmony with the other activities in
my life and for obsessive passion: I have difficulties controlling my urge to do my activity.
The second component of this scale is a set of 4 items assessing the extent to which
participants have a passion for the activity; it simply consists in criterion items dealing with
the definition of passion. Participants are asked to think about an activity that is dear to their
heart and then to rate the different statements on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Do
not agree at all to 7 = Completely agree. In the present research, internal reliability
coefficients were .74 and .83 for harmonious and obsessive passion, respectively. These
values are satisfactory even though they appear to be slightly lower than those obtained in the
original research (.79 and .89; Vallerand et al., 2003). As in most studies, Cronbachs alpha
for the obsessive passion subscale was higher than for the other one (e.g. Ratelle et al., 2004;
Vallerand et al., 2007). Concerning passion criteria, alphas values are generally acceptable
(>.70, e.g. Mageau et al., 2009; Rip et al., 2006); in this study, it was exactly of .70.
Personality inventory. In order to assess the Big Five dimensions, participants were
invited to complete the French version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-Fr; Plaisant, Srivastava,

Mendelsohn, Debray & John, 2005). This easy-to-use questionnaire was chosen because of its
robustness and also because the amount of time needed for completion is less than 10
minutes, which is of great importance when conducting online studies. Moreover, Plaisant,
Courtois, Rveillre, Mendelsohn and John (2010) have recently established its convergent
validity with the French version of the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R;
Rolland, 1998). The BFI-Fr consists of 45 brief statements comprising adjectives associated
with traits known to depict the prototypical markers of the different Big Five dimensions. This
instrument is composed of 5 subscales: the E-scale (Extraversion, Energy and Enthusiasm)
that comprises 8 items, the A-scale (Agreeableness, Altruism, Affection) that comprises 10
items, the C-scale (Conscientiousness, Control, Constraint) that comprises 9 items, the N-
scale (Neuroticism, Nervousness, Negative Emotions) that comprises 8 items and finally, the
O-scale (Openness, Originality, Open-mindedness) that comprises 10 items. A sample item
for the E-dimension is I see myself as someone who is full of energy, for the A-
dimension: is generally trusting, for the C-dimension: does a thorough job, for the
N-dimension: is depressed, blue, and for the O-dimension: is original, comes up
with new ideas. Participants are asked to rate the different statements (I see myself as
someone who) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly disapprove to 5 =
Strongly approve. Cronbachs alphas assessing the internal reliability of the different
dimensions were .85, .75, .82, .84 and .76 for the E-, A-, C-, N- and O-dimension,
respectively. These coefficients were satisfactory on the whole ( .75) and they also have
been found to be slightly higher than those obtained in Plaisant and colleagues study (2010).
Procedure
A piece of text introducing the study was posted on various websites. Potential
participants were thus invited to complete an online questionnaire on their favourite activity
(about 10 minutes to complete), whether they were amateur or had a fervent love for the

activity. This way of collecting data was selected as it allowed us to get in touch with a large
heterogeneous sample quickly and easily. In particular, the possibility of testing passionate
individuals was increased by the use of chat rooms. We nevertheless sent the link to a few
psychology students so that a certain dispersion of data could be guaranteed. Finally, it should
be noted that we deliberately referred to favourite activity rather than passion as
Vallerand and his colleagues (2003) did in order to avoid priming participants with some
stereotypes (e.g. passion is a kind of extreme behaviour) that could have influenced the way
they responded.
Results
Preliminary analyses
Passionate activities. A categorisation of the different kinds of activities mentioned by
our participants was first established. The same classification had already been conducted in
the initial study of Vallerand and his colleagues (2003) on the Dualistic Model of Passion.
Therefore, their approach served as a reference point for creating a detailed list of the various
activities reported by the present sample. However, some extra categories had to be added to
the original ones in order to clearly represent the diversity of our participants response
pattern.

Insert Table 1 here.

Table 1 presents this classification, carefully indicating the percentage of participants
engaged in each listed activity. The most popular categories were (1) individual sports such as
classical dance or martial arts, (2) activities involving animals such as horse riding or pigeon
racing and (3) passive leisure such as watching television or listening to music. The interest of

Table 1 is that it helps us to understand the spread of the different activities people can engage
in and develop a passion for.
Passionate vs. non-passionate. The differentiation between passionate and non-
passionate has been determined according to the score obtained at the 4 criterion items
assessing the degree of passion (Donahue, Rip & Vallerand, 2009; Lecoq & Rim, 2009;
Mageau et al., 2009). Each criterion is met if participants get a score equal to or greater than
4, given that the middle of the response scale (in 7 points) can be used as a cutoff point
(Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003). However, it should be mentioned that all these criteria must be
met in order to consider the reported activity as a passion. If only one of these items gets a
score lower than 4, the corresponding participant may not be included in the passionate group
(Vallerand et al., 2003). In the present research, it was found that 202 participants could be
considered passionate about their favourite activity (84% of the total sample).
Factor structure of the Passion Scale. In their 2003 study, Vallerand et al. obtained a
two-factor solution revealing a clear distinction between items of the harmonious passion
subscale and those of the obsessive passion subscale. In an attempt to replicate these results,
an exploratory factor analysis was conducted which highlighted a two-factor solution
explaining 52.51% of the variance (see Table 2). Interestingly, this result appeared
particularly close to the one observed by Vallerand and his colleagues (2003) whose two-
factor solution explained 54.7% of the variance.


The first factor explained 30% of the total variance and presented significant loadings
(.58) for all the six items corresponding to the obsessive passion subscale. The second factor
then explained 22.51% of the total variance. Significant loadings (.58) were also found for

the six items referring this time to the harmonious component of passion. However, it should
be stressed that the fifth item (This activity reflects the qualities I like about myself)
appeared somewhat less discriminant. Indeed, this item presented additionally a slight loading
on the other factor (.31).
Correlation between harmonious and obsessive passion. As mentioned above, both
types of passion fit the different components described in the concept definition, namely
liking of the activity and activity valuation, as well as time and energy invested by the
passionate individual. This kind of conceptual similarity may, as a result, lead to a strong
positive correlation between harmonious and obsessive passion subscales. In this study, the
correlation was found to be non-significant (r(202) = .10, ns). This result differed
significantly from the one obtained in the initial research of Vallerand and colleagues (r = .46,
2003) and seemed to indicate that the two dimensions of passion investigated in the present
research could be considered as independent.
Statistical analyses
To better address the previously made assumptions, we chose to conduct several
correlational analyses. All the correlation results are summarised in Table 3.


As indicated in Table 3, harmonious passion presented a positive and statistically
significant correlation with the Conscientiousness dimension, r(202) = .30, p < .001. But,
contrary to what had been suggested, no significant correlation was found between this
dimension and obsessive passion, r(202) = .04, ns. Therefore, these results only partially
support our first hypothesis given that it postulated a positive correlation for both dimensions
(harmonious and obsessive) of the passion concept and that only harmonious passion seems to

fulfill this function.
In agreement with the second hypothesis, the data obtained demonstrated the existence
of a positive and significant relationship between harmonious passion and the Extraversion
dimension, r(202) = .18, p < .05. On the other hand, obsessive passion did not present any
relationship with this tendency to experience positive affects, r(202) = .03, ns. Unfortunately,
the present data were found to be inconsistent with the third hypothesis. As such, the positive
correlation expected between obsessive passion and the Neuroticism dimension did not
emerge from our analyses, r(202) = .11, ns. Also, the correlation between harmonious passion
and this tendency to experience negative affects was found to be virtually zero, r(202) = -.01,
ns.
Concerning the Agreeableness dimension, our fourth hypothesis appeared doubly
supported by the data. Indeed, as indicated in Table 3, harmonious passion did present a
positive and significant correlation with the Agreeableness dimension, r(202) = .23, p < .01
while obsessive passion did so negatively with this tendency to altruism and compassion,
r(202) = -.19, p < .01.
Finally, our last hypothesis addressing the Openness dimension was found to be
partially supported. In line with what had been hypothesised, it emerged that harmonious
passion was positively associated with Openness, r(202) = .20, p < .01. But, contrary to our
assumptions, obsessive passion was unrelated to this dimension despite referring to originality
and open-mindedness, r(202) = .08, ns.
Discussion
The purpose of the present research was to examine the links between passion for an
activity and personality traits and to determine the significance of those links. In particular, it
aimed also to investigate whether these relationships could vary according to the type of
passion under examination (harmonious vs. obsessive). To deal with this, a questionnaire

assessing the degree and the type of passion as well as the different dimensions of the Five
Factor Model was posted on various websites and discussion forums. The results suggest that
personality plays a rather limited role. Some correlations nevertheless appear significant and
make it possible to consider some traits as more related than others to one or the other type of
passion. The different assumptions made concerning this issue have been found to be partially
supported.
Considering our first hypothesis, we thought the Conscientiousness dimension to be
linked with each dimension of the passion concept, as every passion can be characterised by a
persistent involvement towards tasks. This association was found only for harmonious
passion. The observed lack of connection with obsessive passion could be explained by some
other characteristics defining Conscientiousness, such as the sense of duty and/or the impulse
control (John & Srivastava, 1999). Those elements are indeed not very present in obsessive
passion where the individual is controlled by his own activity and faces numerous difficulties
in managing his engagement in a healthy way.
The second hypothesis suggested a positive correlation between harmonious passion
and the Extraversion dimension. The results obtained highlighted such a relation while
obsessive passion revealed another lack of connection with this dimension. The third
hypothesis addressed the Neuroticism issue and assumed a reversed pattern of results
compared to the one reported previously. However, neither harmonious passion, nor obsessive
passion presented statistically significant correlations with this tendency to experience
negative affects. These outcomes thus partially agree with previous data emphasizing both the
general positivity of affects experienced by individuals presenting harmonious passion and the
negative affectivity highly apparent in individuals presenting a more obsessive form of
passion (Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Vallerand et al., 2003).
Concerning the Agreeableness dimension, our fourth hypothesis expected a positive

relationship with harmonious passion but a negative one with obsessive passion. The data
observed appeared to support this double postulate. According to John and Srivastava (1999),
Agreeableness would mean some kind of positive attitude and altruism, oriented towards
others. However, as already mentioned, obsessive passion would be likely to throw the
passionate individual into conflictual dynamics involving not only other life activities but also
people not directly engaged in the favourite activity, such as the partner (Sguin-Lvesque et
al., 2003). Harmonious passion, in contrast, would not lead to such negative complications.
Consequently, the above-mentioned results are in agreement with the idea whereby obsessive
passion is characterised by conflicts (intra and/or interpersonal) and harmonious passion by an
appropriate degree of serenity.
Finally, our last hypothesis predicted a positive association between the Openness
dimension and both dimensions of the passion concept. The analyses highlighted a pattern of
results similar to the one obtained for our first hypothesis. In other words, it was found that
only harmonious passion was positively and significantly correlated with this dimension
referring to creativity and some kind of wanderings. Thinking back, we may understand that
such a deployment of originality would rather be a consequence of harmonious passion as it
enables passionate individuals to focus on tasks and feel immersed in (Vallerand et al.,
2003). In contrast, obsessive passion rather tends to trap individuals in negative cognitive
processes (e.g. distraction, rumination), which finally leaves little room for open-
mindedness.
In conclusion, the present research demonstrated that some links do exist between
passion and personality, and that the traits associated with harmonious vs. obsessive passion
differ considerably from one another. Despite the weakness of the correlations obtained, it
seems that harmoniously passionate individuals would be characterised by a certain degree of
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Openness, whereas obsessive passion

would display a low level of Agreeableness as well as a lack of connection with any of the
other personality dimensions that were under examination (see Figure 1).

Insert Figure 1 here.

In line with research examining the consequences of the two types of passion and
studies investigating contextual factors that could influence the internalization process
(Mageau et al., 2009), the present research helps us to improve our understanding of the
concept of passion for an activity. From now on, we can have a better view of the different
personality traits that can be respectively associated with one or the other type of passion.
Moreover, the results were found to support previous research that has systematically
emphasised the more positive/adaptive nature and consequences of harmonious passion, in
comparison with those of obsessive passion (Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Ratelle et al., 2004;
Rip et al., 2006; Vallerand et al., 2003).
If we address the two forms of passion through Carver and Scheiers perspective
(1998), obsessive passion would be synonymous with limited self-regulation skills
(difficulties in adjusting the different tasks/goals and in disengaging when it is convenient to).
In contrast, harmonious passion seems to gather all the required qualities to lead to an
adaptive self-regulation of behaviour (adjustment of goals/priorities and disengagement when
it is the appropriate thing to do). The adaptive as well as the maladaptive outcomes of
harmonious and obsessive passion, respectively, are proved to be well-established
characteristics, enabling a clear distinction between the two forms of passion for an activity.
The results obtained within this study are meaningful, given that personality traits associated
to harmonious passion appeared more positive/adaptive and that those associated to obsessive
passion indicated some tendency to far less adaptive behavioural responses.

At this stage, it is important to note that research in organisational areas (e.g. Cardon,
2008) has developed a strong interest in passion (towards work in this particular case).
According to Houlfort and Vallerand (2006), future research should thoroughly investigate
contextual determinants of both types of passion, so that organisations become able to place
their employees in the appropriate conditions to develop a harmonious passion for work. Such
actions could have great implications if one thinks, for instance, of the results obtained in
recent research examining the relationships between passion for work and burnout
(Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet & Guay, 2008; Vallerand, Paquet, Philippe & Charest, 2010).
These studies, conducted with teachers and nurses, highlighted not only the protective role of
harmonious passion but also the facilitative role of obsessive passion towards burnout
symptoms. In fact, having a harmonious passion for ones work would lead to more
satisfaction at work which, in turn, would prevent the emergence of burnout. In contrast,
obsessive passion would favour the emergence of conflicts between the individuals work and
his other life activities, which could finally lead to some negative outcomes like burnout. In
light of these considerations and the results of the present research, it would be relevant to
examine and compare the significance of roles played by contextual as well as personality
factors in the development of one type of passion over the other. If such investigations
conclude with a certain predominance of contextual factors, possible steps could then be
suggested to working people.
Limitations
In spite of its positive results, this research also presents some limitations. Firstly, our
methodology was based on the use of online questionnaires; but, collecting data via the
Internet can lead to some biases. Notably, it is important to take into account the lack of
control concerning completion of the questionnaires. It could then be relevant to attempt to
replicate the different results of the present research by means of paper/pencil questionnaires.

Secondly, the main analyses of this study were correlational, which constitutes a limitation
per se as it enables comments to be made on the causality issue. Indeed, one can wonder
whether personality traits could play a role in the development of passion and/or whether the
development of a passion for an activity could have some influence on personality
construction. The latter assumption can be accounted for by the fact that, for numerous
people, passion develops during adolescence a crucial time for identity construction
(Vallerand, 2008). It could therefore be interesting to set up some kind of longitudinal design
in order to provide some possible answers to this question. Finally, it should be noted that no
contextual variables (e.g. individuals social environment, see Mageau et al., 2009) were
taken into account during our analyses. Such an approach should be considered in future
studies.
Future research
As the present research constitutes one of the few works examining the relationships
between personality factors and passion for an activity, it seems necessary to conduct new
research in order to (1) replicate the results obtained and (2) possibly give comments on the
direction of causality. Nonetheless, as passion seems to appear as a process likely to develop
in everyone, researchers should be encouraged to thoroughly investigate the issue of
contextual factors that would tend to facilitate the emergence of a harmonious passion for an
individuals favourite activity or work. The study of proximal (e.g. direct working
environment) rather than distal (e.g. parents) contextual factors would then appear particularly
relevant.


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Table 1
Classification of the Different Passionate Activities

Activities

Types of activities

% of participants
1. Individual sports Diving, dancing, martial arts, skating,
swimming, athletics
28.5
2. Activities with animals Horse riding, pigeon racing, canine
sports/contests (agility, obedience)
19.4
3. Passive leisure Watching movies and/or series, cinema,
listening to music
9.5
4. Reading Reading novels 7.1
5. Relational activities Going out with friends, having a drink,
voluntary work
7.1
6. Divers Shopping, cooking, playing poker,
house cleaning
7.1
7. Art activities Photography, playing theatre, knitting,
writing, modeling, drawing
6.7
8. Animation Youth movements (boy scouts,
guides)
5.1
9. Active music Singing, playing violin, battery 3.2
10. Team sports Rugby, hockey, football, basketball 2.4
11. Multimedia Surfing on the Internet, computing,
playing video games
2.4
12. Work/education Studying psychology, doing research 1.6


Table 2
Factorial Structure of the Passion Scale: Matrix After Varimax Rotation
Factor 1 Factor 2
O.P.
subscale
H.P.
subscale
12. I have the impression that my activity controls me. .818
4. I have almost an obsessive feeling for this activity. .788
7. This activity is the only thing that really turns me on. .728
9. If I could, I would only do my activity. .708
11. This activity is so exciting that I sometimes lose
control over it.
.705
2. I have difficulties controlling my urge to do my
activity.
.582
1. This activity is in harmony with the other activities
in my life.
.759
8. My activity is well integrated in my life. .705
10. My activity is in harmony with other things that are
part of me.
.694
3. The new things that I discover with this activity
allow me to appreciate it even more.
.627
6. This activity allows me to live a variety of
experiences.
.615
5. This activity reflects the qualities I like about
myself.
.310 .584
Note. O.P. = obsessive passion; H.P. = harmonious passion. Values lower than .30 are not included in the Table.

Table 3
Correlations Between Big Five Dimensions and Both Types of Passion for an Activity
(Harmonious vs. Obsessive)

Big Five dimensions

Harmonious
passion

Obsessive
passion

Conscientiousness

.30***

.04

Extraversion

.18*

.03

Neuroticism

-.01

.11

Agreeableness

.23**

-.19**

Openness

.20**

.08
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.


Figure 1 Legend
Figure 1. Summary of the different personality traits associated with each type of passion for
an activity (harmonious vs. obsessive).

Harmonious Passion

Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Openness

Obsessive Passion

Antagonism
(negative pole of
Agreeableness)

Passion for an activity
VS.

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