On the Relation between Performance and Life Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Passion

The dualistic model of passion (Vallerand, 2010) regards passion as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that one loves, values, and in which one invests a substantial amount of time and energy. The model proposes two distinct types of passion, harmonious and obsessive, that predict adaptive and less adaptive outcomes, respectively. It was hypothesized that individuals with an obsessive passion would have their life satisfaction dependent on their performance. This is so because obsessive passion leads the activity to take a disproportionate place in one's life. On the other hand, this should not be the case for harmonious passion. Results of Study 1 (N = 63) revealed that the more professional painters had an obsessive passion toward their art, the more they experienced increases in life satisfaction following a success. On the other hand, accentuated decreases in life satisfaction were experienced following a failure. In contrast, harmonious passion was unrelated to this phenomenon. Study 2 was conducted with a sample of hockey fans (N = 77) who reported their life satisfaction the day after each game of a 2009 National Hockey League playoff series. Results using hierarchical linear modeling analyses replicated findings from Study 1.