Work and Motivation
    Passion and Psychological Well-Being 
    Recently, Vallerand (2012) proposed 
    that engaging in a passionate activity 
    on a regular basis has the potential to 
    not only provide a boost in 
    psychological well-being but also to 
    lead to sustainable gains in well-being. 
    In a nutshell, the rationale behind this 
    hypothesis rests on three elements. 
    First, passion for the activity is 
    important because it is the 
    motivational force that leads the 
    person to engage in the activity on a 
    regular basis. This is the sustainable 
    part.
      Continued ...
      Passion for a given activity leads the person to return to the 
      activity regularly. Second, the type of effects that will be 
      experienced during activity engagement depends on the type 
      of passion. Much research in a variety of life domains, 
      including work, reveals that harmonious passion leads the 
      person to experience a number of positive affective 
      experiences (e.g., positive emotions, task satisfaction) during 
      task engagement and may even serve to protect against 
      negative task experiences. Typically, obsessive passion 
      induces little positive experiences and may even facilitate 
      negative experiences (e.g., Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; 
      Vallerand et al., 2003, Studies 1 and 2; Vallerand et al., 2006, 
      Studies 2 and 3; see also Vallerand, 2008, 2010 for reviews).
     Continued...
    This is the quality part of the equation. Finally, in line with 
    the Broaden-and-Build theory (Fredrickson, 2001), much 
    research reveals that such positive affective experiences 
    facilitate psychological well-being because they expand 
    the self and broaden one’s repertoire of skills. This is the 
    function part of the equation. Thus, overall, it is proposed 
    that the high quality of affective experiences that one 
    derives from having a harmonious passion for an activity 
    serves a purpose because it facilitates one’s psychological 
    well-being at the short-term level. Furthermore, because 
    one’s passion for the activity leads us to re-engage in the 
    activity on a regular basis, these short-term gains in well-
    being do not disappear as they are experienced regularly 
    and thus are sustained over time at the long-term level.
     Word Study
             ■ Provide 
             ■ Sustainable 
             ■ Passion 
             ■ Experiences 
             ■ Reveals 
             ■ Equation 
             ■ Purpose 
             ■ Harmonious
             ■ Proposed 
             ■ Engagement
   Case Study