On the role of harmonious and obsessive passion in work and family outcomes: A test of the quadripartite approach

Past research has shown that harmonious passion (HP) for work facilitates, and obsessive passion (OP) undermines, work and family outcomes. The current investigation is the first to test the quadripartite approach of passion (Schellenberg et al., Journal of Personality 87:163–180, 2019) with respect to work outcomes. In line with the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand, 2015), the quadripartite approach posits that HP and OP lie on different continua thereby leading to the possibilities that they may have interactive effects. Two studies with large samples of workers (n = 5463 in Study 1; and n = 3642 in Study 2) were conducted to test this perspective. Results provided support for the quadripartite approach leading to a more nuanced analysis of the effects of HP and OP. More specifically, pure HP was related to lower work-family conflict (Studies 1 and 2) and counterproductive work behaviors (Study 2) than pure OP, mixed passion, and non-passion. Pure OP was also related to greater work-family conflict (Studies 1 and 2) and lower family life satisfaction (Study 2) than mixed passion and non-passion. These findings suggest that HP protects against the contributive role of OP in counterproductive work behaviors and work-family conflict, as well as against the negative effects of OP on family life satisfaction. Results are discussed in light of the passion literature and especially the quadripartite approach.