Passion Does Make a Difference in People's Lives:
A Look at Well-Being in Passionate and
Non-Passionate Individuals
Frederick L. Philippe
McGill University, Canada
Robert J. Vallerand* and Genevive L. Lavigne
Université du Québec  Montréal, Canada
The purpose of the present research was to examine the differences in well-being
between passionate and non-passionate individuals of various age groups. The
results of two studies (total n = 885) provided support for the hypothesis that
being harmoniously passionate for an activity contributes significantly to both
hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, while being obsessively passionate for an
activity or having no passion at all does not contribute to well-being. Furthermore,
results from Study 2 showed that only harmoniously passionate people
experienced an increase in subjective vitality over a 1-year period compared to
obsessively passionate and non-passionate people who did not differ from each
other. These results also held true after controlling for the effect of age and
gender. It would thus appear that passion does make a difference in people's
lives, as long as such passion is harmonious in nature.
Keywords: activity engagement, eudaimonic well-being, hedonic well-being,
passion, vitality, well-being
INTRODUCTION
The last decade has seen a mounting interest in positive psychology and in
the quest for what makes life fulfilling and worth living (e.g. Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). What factors help people become happy and grow
psychologically? We posit that one concept that can contribute to one's
happiness and self-growth is that of passion toward activities (Vallerand,
2008; Vallerand et al., 2003). Indeed, people who frequently engage in an
* Address for correspondence: Robert J. Vallerand, Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Comportement
Social, Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec  Montréal, P.O. Box.
8888, Station "Centre-ville", Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3P8. Email: vallerand.robert_j@
uqam.ca
APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, 2009, 1 (1), 3­22
doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2008.01003.x
 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation  2009 International Association of Applied
Psychology. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ,
UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
activity that they deeply love and value may feel good about this activity and
experience positive emotions during task engagement. In addition, they may
also come to feel more zest and meaning in their life than people who are not
passionate about anything in their life, because passionate people have something
to look forward to when they rise in the morning. In that sense, people
who are passionate about an activity should experience higher levels of
well-being than individuals who do not engage in such a type of activity in
their life. Using the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand
et al., 2003), the purpose of the present research was thus to examine the
differences in well-being between passionate and non-passionate people of
various age groups.
THE CONCEPT OF PASSION: A DUALISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Vallerand and his colleagues (Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand
& Houlfort, 2003; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2007) have recently proposed
a Dualistic Model of Passion in which passion is defined as a strong inclination
or desire toward a self-defining activity that one likes (or even loves),
finds important (high valuation), and in which one invests time and energy.
The Dualistic Model of Passion further proposes that there exist two types
of passion. The first type of passion is harmonious passion. A harmonious
passion produces a strong desire to engage in the activity which remains
under the person's control. This type of passion results from an autonomous
internalisation of the activity into the person's identity (Deci & Ryan, 2000;
Vallerand et al., 2003). An autonomous internalisation occurs when individuals
have freely accepted the activity as important for them without any
contingencies attached to it (Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997). In such a case,
the activity occupies a significant but not overpowering space in the person's
identity and is in harmony with other aspects of the person's life. An example
of such a type of passion would be that with harmonious passion the person
strongly loves and values basketball. However, this person also keeps control
over the activity and can freely decide when to engage or not in basketball
and when to stop engagement. Basketball would then be engaged in because
of the pleasure that is drawn from the activity and not from other extrinsic
sources (e.g. being popular because of basketball) and leads to a task-focus
involvement that is conducive to positive outcomes (e.g. positive affect, flow,
concentration).
The second type of passion identified by Vallerand and colleagues (2003)
is obsessive passion. This type of passion entails the same strong desire to
engage in the activity, as in harmonious passion. However, this desire of
engagement is not under the person's control. Rather, it is as if the activity
controlled the person. Obsessive passion results from a controlled internalisation
of the activity into one's identity (Vallerand et al., 2003). Such an
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internalisation originates from intra and/or interpersonal pressure because
certain contingencies are attached to the activity such as feelings of social
acceptance, self-esteem, or performance. Thus, although individuals like the
activity, they cannot help but engage in it due to a lack of control over these
internal contingencies that come to control the person. It is proposed that
individuals with an obsessive passion come to develop ego-invested structures
(Hodgins & Knee, 2002) and eventually display rigid and conflicted
forms of task engagement that preclude the experience of volition in activity
engagement. An example of such a type of passion could be a person who
strongly loves and values basketball, but because this activity fulfills a strong
need for approval or performance which boosts momentarily one's selfesteem,
this person cannot help but engage in basketball, including at times
when the activity should not be engaged in or should be stopped. This type
of passion should not be confused with the concept of addiction for an
activity. An addiction for a daily activity such as sports, gardening, or
playing of a musical instrument usually constitutes a very rare pathology. In
addition, addictions are often used to describe substance abuse, such as
smoking, alcohol drinking, or drug abuse, which can hardly be conceptualised
as an activity (gambling might be an exception). Finally, an important
distinction between obsessive passion and addiction is that the addict person
does not perceive his/her addictive activity as enjoyable anymore, while
loving and valuing the activity are core criteria of obsessive passion. Addictive
gamblers for instance do not like gambling anymore; they want to stop
gambling and often seek therapies by themselves or self-exclude themselves
from casinos.1
Research has provided empirical support for the concept of passion.
Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the
two-factor structure of the Passion Scale, an instrument developed to
measure harmonious and obsessive passion (Castelda, Mattson, Mackillop,
Anderson, & Donovick, 2007; Rousseau, Vallerand, Ratelle, Mageau, &
Provencher, 2002; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand, Rousseau,
Grouzet, Dumais, & Grenier, 2006, Study 1). The Passion Scale has shown
high levels of internal consistency as well as predictive, discriminant, construct,
and external evidence of validity. Results using this scale revealed
that both harmonious and obsessive passion were positively associated with
measures of activity valuation, perceptions of the activity as a passion, time
and energy investment in the activity, and inclusion of the activity in the
person's identity (Mageau et al., in press; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1).
1
See Vallerand (2008) for a comprehensive treatment of the differentiation between the
concept of passion and other related constructs.
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Both types of passion were also found to be positively associated with activity
perseverance (Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2007,
Study 1).
The two types of passion are also differently associated with a variety of
outcomes. Indeed, harmonious passion has been found to be positively correlated
with positive experiences such as flow and positive emotions (Mageau,
Vallerand, Rousseau, Ratelle, & Provencher, 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003,
Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2006, Studies 2 and 3), reduced negative emotions
(Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1), higher levels of concentration
during task engagement (Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al.,
2003, Study 1), and indices of psychological adjustment (Rousseau & Vallerand,
2003, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2; Vallerand et al., 2007,
Studies 1 and 2). Conversely, obsessive passion has been found to be positively
associated with negative emotions during task engagement (Vallerand
et al., 2003, Study 1) and rumination when the person is prevented
from engaging in his/her passionate activity (Ratelle, Vallerand, Mageau,
Rousseau, & Provencher, 2004; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). In addition,
obsessive passion was found to be positively correlated with ill-advised
persistent behavior in conditions where activity engagement should be
stopped (Rip, Fortin, & Vallerand, 2006; Vallerand et al., 2003, Studies 3 and
4). Finally, obsessive passion has been shown to either negatively predict
indices of psychological adjustment or to be unrelated to them (Rousseau &
Vallerand, 2003, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2; Vallerand et al., 2007,
Study 2).
THE PRESENT RESEARCH: PASSION AND WELL-BEING
Research conducted to date on passion revealed that, while harmonious
passion is generally conducive to positive outcomes (e.g. positive emotions,
flow, concentration), obsessive passion is usually associated with negative
outcomes (e.g. negative emotions, rumination, ill-advised behavior) and
negatively associated or unrelated to positive outcomes. However, past
research on passion involved only passionate people. Therefore, we do not
know if people who hold a passion for a given activity experience a psychological
gain relative to those who do not have a passion for any activity in
their life. The first purpose of the present research was thus to examine if
passionate people differ from non-passionate ones on measures of well-being.
Because people who engage in a passionate activity may come to feel more
zest and meaning in their life than people who do not hold a passion, passionate
people may display higher levels of well-being than non-passionate
people. A second purpose of the present research was to examine if having a
passion makes a difference for everyone and across all life stages. Thus,
differences in well-being as a function of passion were investigated in light of
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gender and age. Because passion has been shown to exist at all ages (e.g.
Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Mageau et al., in press; Philippe & Vallerand,
2007; Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2008) and has demonstrated
no or little differences with respect to gender (e.g. Mageau & Vallerand,
2007; Vallerand et al., 2003), this difference between passionate and
non-passionate people is likely to take place throughout adult life and equally
for men and women.
However, the past research presented above (e.g. Rousseau & Vallerand,
2003, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2; Vallerand et al., 2007, Studies 1
and 2) revealed that it is not all passionate activity engagement that guarantees
well-being. Thus, the second purpose of the present research was to
examine how harmoniously passionate people differ from obsessively passionate
ones in well-being. In line with past research, it was expected that
harmoniously passionate people should display higher levels of well-being
than both obsessively passionate and non-passionate people. In addition,
because with obsessive passion people do not benefit from the positive consequences
related to their engagement in a passionate activity, obsessively
passionate people should not differ from non-passionate individuals with
respect to well-being. Finally, it was expected that these differences should
remain the same at all stages of adult life for men and women.
STUDY 1
Study 1 examined the differences between harmoniously passionate, obsessively
passionate, and non-passionate people on two facets of well-being
across stages of adult life. The first facet of well-being can be defined in terms
of the person's general happiness with his/her life (hedonic well-being:
Diener, Sapyta, & Suh, 1998), while the second one is concerned with selfrealisation
or personal growth (eudaimonic well-being: Bauer, McAdams, &
Sakaeda, 2005; Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryan & Frederick, 1997; Ryff & Keyes,
1995). These different facets of well-being are posited to be related (e.g.
self-realisation overlaps with pleasure and happiness), but also to constitute
separate factors contributing to people's general well-being (e.g. Keyes,
Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002).
In Study 1, participants of various adult ages, that is early adulthood
(18­22 years), adulthood (23­30 years), middle-age (31­50 years), and later
adulthood (>51 years), were recruited. They completed the Passion Scale
along with measures of two facets of well-being--hedonic and eudaimonic
well-being. It was expected that passionate individuals would report higher
levels of well-being compared to non-passionate people. However, in line
with past research on passion (e.g. Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand & Houlfort,
2003; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2007; Vallerand et al., 2003), this difference
between passionate and non-passionate people was expected only for
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harmoniously passionate people. It was predicted that obsessively passionate
people should not differ from non-passionate people on the well-being measures.
Therefore, harmoniously passionate people were expected to display
higher levels of both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than both obsessively
passionate and non-passionate people who should not differ between
them. Finally, past research has shown that passion exists from childhood
to later adulthood (e.g. Mageau & Vallerand, 2007; Mageau et al., in press;
Philippe & Vallerand, 2007; Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al.,
2008) and that it was only slightly affected by gender differences (e.g. Mageau
& Vallerand, 2007; Vallerand et al., 2008, Studies 1 and 2; Vallerand et al.,
2007, Studies 1 and 2). Therefore, it was hypothesised that the differences
among the three groups presented above should be the same for men and
women of all adult ages.
METHOD
Participants
Four samples of participants were recruited in this study. Sample 1 was
composed of 153 (78 males, 75 females) college students2
(M = 18.80 years,
SD = 1.15 years), Sample 2 consisted of 260 (67 males, 193 females) undergraduate
students (M = 23.67 years, SD = 5.76 years), Sample 3 was composed
of 256 (91 males, 165 females) community-dwelling adults (M = 38.69
years, SD = 11.45 years) and Sample 4 included 113 (48 males, 65 females)
senior individuals (M = 64.78 years, SD = 10.37 years). Overall, the total
number of participants recruited for the present study was 782. They were
aged between 18 and 90 years (M = 33.43 years, SD = 17.08 years). Participants
engaged in their passionate activity on average for 9.16 hours per week
(SD = 9.54 hours).
Measures
Passion. The Passion Scale (Vallerand et al., 2003) was administered to
all participants in order to assess if they had a passion for a given activity in
their life and the type and level of this passion. The Passion Scale is composed
of two subscales of six items, each assessing a distinct type of passion--
harmonious and obsessive passion. Participants were first asked to write
down an activity in which they engage and that they like, value, and in which
2
In Quebec, Canada, college comes right after high school and is a two-year commitment
prior to university studies (that last three years). College students are usually between 17 and 22
years old.
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they invest time and energy. They were then asked to respond to each of the
12 items of the Passion Scale while referring to this activity. Each item was
responded to on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (do not agree at all) to
7 (completely agree). A sample item for obsessive passion is "I have difficulties
controlling my urge to engage in my activity", while a sample item for
harmonious passion is "My activity is in harmony with other things that are
part of me". The scale has systematically displayed adequate factorial structure
and internal consistency in several studies and with different types of
activities (e.g. Rousseau et al., 2002; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand
et al., 2006, Study 1). Cronbach's alphas in this study were .77 and .70
for the harmonious and obsessive subscales, respectively. Participants were
also asked to complete four items assessing Vallerand and colleagues' criteria
of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003). These four items were rated on a 7-point
Likert scale ranging from 1 (do not agree at all) to 7 (completely agree), with
each measuring one of these four aspects: the extent to which participants
invest time in their activity, find it important, like it, and consider their
activity as a passion. Cronbach's alpha for these four criteria was .74.
Hedonic Well-Being. The Hedonic approach views well-being in terms
of the person's general happiness with his/her life (Ryan & Deci, 2001). The
Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS: Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,
1985) was used to assess participants' hedonic well-being in life, as this scale
comes from the hedonic tradition (e.g. Bauer et al., 2005; Diener et al., 1998;
Ryff & Singer, 1998). This scale is composed of five items that are responded
to on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). A
sample item is "I am satisfied with my life". Cronbach's alpha in this study
was .85.
Eudaimonic Well-Being. The Eudaimonic approach views well-being in
terms of self-realisation and growth (Ryan & Deci, 2001). The Psychological
Well-Being short scale (PWB: Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995) was used to
assess eudaimonic well-being, as this scale comes from the eudaimonic tradition
(e.g. Bauer et al., 2005; Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Singer, 1998). This short scale
is composed of six subscales of three items, with each subscale assessing a
specific aspect of eudaimonic well-being. Keyes et al. (2002) demonstrated
that it was the existential aspects of the PWB scale that most cleanly separated
eudaimonic from hedonic well-being. Therefore, in the present study,
we used only the three subscales of the PWB that are related to existential
aspects--that is, self-acceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth
subscales--in order to cleanly disentangle it from the hedonic approach.
These three subscales thus accounted for a total of nine items. Participants
were asked to rate their agreement with each item on the basis of how they felt
about themselves and their lives using the same 7-point Likert scale presented
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above. Acceptable evidence of validity and reliability for this short PWB has
been reported (e.g. Miquelon & Vallerand, 2006; Ryff & Keyes, 1995), as well
as evidence for a second-order model with a single super-factor (Ryff &
Keyes, 1995). This latter evidence allows one to combine all items of the three
different subscales into a global score. Cronbach's alpha in this study for this
global eudaimonic well-being score was .66.
Procedure
College and undergraduate students were recruited in classrooms. They completed
the questionnaire package during class hours and handed it to the
research assistant in charge of the testing. Community-dwelling adults were
recruited on a metropolitan train. A male research assistant approached them
and briefly explained the purpose of the study. Participants who accepted to
take part in the study completed the questionnaire on the train and, once
finished, handed it to the research assistant. Senior adults were contacted
through a private agency in charge of organising activities for older adults.
The questionnaire, along with a cover letter explaining the purpose of the
study, and a prepaid return envelope was sent to 400 participants by the
agency. A total of 113 older adults returned their questionnaire completed for
a response rate of 28 per cent. All participants were told that their participation
was anonymous and that their responses would remain confidential. All
participants signed a consent form and completed demographic information
with respect to their gender and age. All participants from the present
research (including Study 2) were allowed to take part in a lottery of three
prizes of $150 (one lottery of three prizes for each sample) in exchange for
their participation.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Preliminary Analyses
The two types of passion were first screened for gender and age differences
with a MANOVA. Gender and age groups (18­22, 23­30, 31­50, 51+) were
entered as the fixed factors, along with the interaction term age  gender,
while the two continuous measures of passion (harmonious and obsessive
passion) were entered as dependent variables. Results revealed a significant
age  gender interaction, Wilks' l = .971, F(773, 1546) = 3.84, p = .001,
h2
= .02. Post-hoc tests using the Bonferroni's correction on the alpha value
(.05 / 4 = p < .013) revealed that the youngest males reported significantly
higher levels of obsessive passion than females of the same age group,
F(1, 460) = 21.15, p < .001, h2
= .04, while females between 23 and 30 years
reported higher levels of harmonious passion than males of the same age
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group, F(1, 460) = 7.24, p < .01, h2
= .02. Thus overall, there were few differences
on the passion variables and the large majority of the significant differences
were of a relatively small effect size. Of particular interest is that
neither harmonious nor obsessive passion differed according to age groups,
thus suggesting that passion is relatively stable across the life span.
Passion and Well-Being
In line with previous research (e.g. Mageau et al., in press; Vallerand &
Houlfort, 2003), a two-step procedure was used in order to create three
different groups of participants: non-passionate, harmoniously passionate,
and obsessively passionate people. First, participants were divided as being
passionate or non-passionate according to their average score on the four
items assessing the criteria of passion. Participants with a score of 5 and up on
the average of these four items were classified as passionate, while the remaining
participants were classified as non-passionate. Second, passionate participants
were divided according to their score on the harmonious and obsessive
subscales of passion. To perform this latter procedure, both subscales were
first standardised. Next, participants were classified in the passion group
corresponding to their highest standardised score on the two subscales (see
Mageau et al., in press; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003). The final classification
was as follows: harmoniously passionate (n = 323), obsessively passionate
(n = 264), and non-passionate (n = 195) groups. Figure 1 shows the mean
Harmonious Passion
Obsessive Passion
Passion Levels
Harmonious People Non-Passionate People
StandardisedValues
Obsessive People
1.00
0.50
0.50
­0.50
­1.00
­1.50
FIGURE 1. Mean scores of harmonious and obsessive passion and the
passion criteria as a function of passionate group membership.
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scores of harmonious and obsessive passion and the passion criteria as a
function of these groups.
A MANOVA was then conducted with Gender (2)  Age (4)  Passion
groups (3) as the fixed factors and the two well-being measures as the dependent
variables. Results revealed no significant interactions, but three main
effects; gender, Wilks' l = .991, F(758, 758) = 3.28, p < .05, h2
= .01, age,
Wilks' l = .971, F(758, 1516) = 5.29, p < .001, h2
= .02, and passion, Wilks'
l = .971, F(758, 1516) = 17.56, p < .001, h2
= .05.3
Follow-up contrasts
revealed that females reported significantly higher levels of both hedonic and
eudaimonic well-being than males, Fs(1, 759) > 4.40, p < .05, h2
= .01. In
addition, participants aged between 23 and 30 years reported significantly
higher levels of eudaimonic well-being than any other age groups, Fs(3,
759) > 6.50, p < .01, h2
= .02. Finally, participants over 50 years of age
reported the lowest level of eudaimonic well-being of any of the age groups,
Fs(3, 759) > 7.20, p < .01, h = .02. Finally, and more importantly, results
revealed significant differences among the passionate groups for the two
dependent variables, eudaimonic well-being, F(2, 759) = 32.94, p < .001,
h2
= .08, and hedonic well-being, F(2, 759) = 14.67, p < .001, h2
= .04.
Planned contrasts (see Table 1) corrected for non-orthogonality (p = .05 /
6 = .008) showed that harmoniously passionate participants scored higher on
both well-being scales than obsessively passionate and non-passionate participants
(all ts > 3.17, p < .001). These last two groups did not differ on the
two well-being indices (all ts < 1.00, ns).
3
The number of hours of weekly involvement was positively correlated to both harmonious
and obsessive passion (rs = .15 and .17, respectively, ps < .05), and positively associated with
hedonic well-being (r = .09, p < .05), but not eudaimonic well-being (r = .04, ns). However, the
number of hours of weekly involvement was not significant when entered as a covariate in a
MANCOVA. Therefore, no further analyses were conducted with respect to this variable.
TABLE 1
Means and Standard Deviations in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being as a
Function of Passion Groups: Study 1
Harmonious Obsessive Non-passionate d
Eudaimonic well-being 5.85 (0.59)a 5.45 (0.67)b 5.48 (0.67)b .63 and .59
Hedonic well-being 5.37 (0.97)a 4.98 (1.13)b 4.89 (0.99)b .37 and .49
Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses. The means that do not share a common subscript differ at
p < .001. The means that share a common subscript do not differ at p < .008.
All well-being facets were measured with a 7-point Likert scale.

Effects sizes are calculated only for significant differences.
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Thus, overall, passion accounted for important differences with respect to
hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. First, harmoniously passionate participants
scored significantly higher on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than
both obsessive and non-passionate participants. These latter two groups did
not differ on these well-being measures. Second, passion accounted for
important differences in both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, even after
controlling for age and gender effects. In addition, there were no interactions
between age or gender and passion. Thus, the effect of passion appears to
hold for men and women of all ages. It would therefore appear that being
passionate does make a difference in people's lives with respect to both
hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. However, passion needs to be harmonious
for it to be beneficial.
Overall, age and gender did not play an important role in people's hedonic
well-being, thus corroborating past research to this effect (e.g. Diener, Suh,
Lucas, & Smith, 1999). However, there were some significant differences
among the age groups with eudaimonic well-being, such that people in adulthood
reported the highest scores of eudaimonic well-being and people in late
adulthood reported lowest scores. These results corroborate recent findings
to the effect that older adults' eudaimonic well-being may decrease over time
(Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Ryff, Keyes, & Hughes, 2003; Ryff, Singer, & Love,
2004). However, this effect only accounted for a small portion of the variance
of well-being. In addition, it should be noted that this finding differs from
those of other studies that have obtained null results with respect to age using
different measures of well-being (see Diener et al., 1999). Therefore, the
present age effect must be interpreted with caution. Females also reported
higher scores of eudaimonic well-being than males. These results corroborate
past findings with respect to gender and eudaimonic well-being (e.g. Ryff &
Keyes, 1995).
STUDY 2
Study 1 showed that harmoniously passionate people reported significantly
higher well-being than obsessively passionate and non-passionate people.
However, because Study 1 was cross-sectional, it did not allow us to interpret
the direction of the relationship between passion and well-being. Study 2
aimed at addressing this limitation with the use of a prospective design. More
specifically, community-dwelling participants from all ages (18 to 72 years)
were recruited. They completed the Passion Scale along with a scale of
subjective vitality--a measure of eudaimonic well-being (Ryan & Frederick,
1997; Ryan & Deci, 2001). One year later, they were asked to complete a
second assessment of their subjective vitality. Subjective vitality was chosen as
a measure of eudaimonic well-being, as this scale assesses the positive feelings
of aliveness and energy emanating from the self (see Ryan & Frederick, 1997).
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In addition, because it is a measure of intrinsic energy, it is also subject to
change over time. Indeed, past research found an 8-week test­retest coefficient
of .64 for subjective vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997), while, for instance, the
test­retest coefficient for the PWB scale ranges from .81 to .88 (Ryff, 1989).
Thus, subjective vitality might be a measure of eudaimonic well-being that is
more likely to change (increase or decrease) over time. Therefore, in line with
Study 1, it was hypothesised that harmoniously passionate people should
benefit from a much larger increase in subjective vitality over the 1-year period
than obsessively passionate and non-passionate people. In line with Study 1,
it was also expected that both obsessively passionate and non-passionate
people should not increase in subjective vitality over the 1-year period and
should not differ from each other. In addition, these differences should be the
same for men and women of all ages.
METHOD
Participants and Procedure
Participants were contacted in a variety of public places (shopping malls,
theaters, casino, etc.) and were asked if they would be interested in completing
a short questionnaire about activity engagement. It was explained that
they would immediately complete a short questionnaire and that 1 year later,
they would be contacted again through mail to complete another short questionnaire.
A total of 343 participants agreed to complete the questionnaire at
Time 1. However, 240 participants either refused to be contacted a second
time, could not be reached, or refused to take part in the second phase of
the study 1 year later. The final sample was composed of 103 (39 males, 64
females) community-dwelling adults, for a completion rate of 30 per cent.
They were aged between 18 and 72 years (M = 38.42 years, SD = 14.18 years).
Participants who responded to only the first phase of the study did not differ
from those who completed both phases of the study on all study variables (all
Fs < 1.00, ns).
Measures
Passion. The Passion Scale (Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand et al.,
2006) used in Study 1 was used again in Study 2, along with the four passion
criteria items. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .80 and .84 for the harmonious
and obsessive subscales, respectively, and .80 for the four passion
criteria.
Subjective Vitality. The Subjective Vitality Scale (Ryan & Frederick,
1997) is a seven-item scale used to assess a phenomenological sense of
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Psychology.
aliveness and energy. Participants were asked to rate on a 7-point Likert
scale (1 = not at all true, 7 = very true) the extent to which each item applied
to them and their life at the present time. A sample item is "I feel alive
and vital". Participants completed this scale at Time 1 and 1 year later at
Time 2. Cronbach's alphas in this study were .87 and .89 at Times 1 and 2,
respectively.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Preliminary Analyses
All study variables were first screened for gender and age differences. A 2
(Gender)  4 (Age groups: 18­22, 23­30, 31­50, 51+ years) MANOVA was
conducted with harmonious and obsessive passion and vitality as dependent
variables. There was no interaction between age and gender, but a significant
main effect emerged for gender, Wilks' l = .868, F(4, 91) = 3.45, p < .05,
h2
= .13. Simple effects revealed that the only significant effect of gender was
on obsessive passion, F(1, 102) = 6.54, p < .05, h2
= .07, with men scoring
significantly higher on obsessive passion (M = 4.21, SD = 1.47) than women
(M = 3.55, SD = 1.43). There were no other significant differences for gender
and no significant differences among age groups.
Passion and Subjective Vitality
The procedure used in Study 1 to create three different groups of nonpassionate,
harmoniously passionate, and obsessively passionate participants
was again used in Study 2. The final classification was as follows: harmoniously
passionate (n = 38), obsessively passionate (n = 36), and non-passionate
(n = 29) groups. An ANCOVA was thus conducted on the passion groups
with subjective vitality measured at Time 1 as the covariate and subjective
vitality measured at Time 2 as the dependent variable. Results revealed a
significant effect for the covariate, F(1, 99) = 37.78, p < .01, h = .53, and a
significant main effect for passion groups, F(2, 99) = 4.74, p < .01, h = .30.
Examination of the simple effects (a mean of zero implies no change between
Times 1 and 2) revealed that harmoniously passionate people showed a
significant increase in vitality (M = 0.33) relative to obsessively passionate
(M = -0.07, t = 1.99, p < .05) and non-passionate people (M = -0.34, t = 3.01,
p < .01), who were both shown to significantly decrease over time. Finally,
obsessively passionate participants did not differ from non-passionate participants
(t = 1.20, ns). Controlling for gender and age did not alter the
present results and there were no significant interactions between gender, age,
and passion groups. Thus, overall, Study 2 revealed that harmoniously passionate
people showed the highest increase in subjective vitality over time
PASSION AND WELL-BEING 15
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Psychology.
compared to obsessively passionate and non-passionate people, who did not
differ significantly from each other over time. In addition, these differences
were the same for men and women of all ages.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The purpose of the present research was to examine the differences in wellbeing
between passionate and non-passionate individuals of various age
groups. The results of two studies provided support for the idea that being
harmoniously passionate for an activity contributes significantly to both
hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, while being obsessively passionate or not
being passionate for any activity does not contribute to well-being at all. In
addition, these differences were the same for men and women of all ages.
Finally, Study 2 showed that only harmoniously passionate people experienced
an increase in subjective vitality over a 1-year period relative to obsessively
passionate and non-passionate people. These results also held true after
controlling for age and gender. The present findings lead to a number of
implications.
Passion Does Make a Difference to People's Well-Being
A first implication from the present findings is that passion for an activity
does make a difference in people's lives. Indeed, merely engaging in a given
activity without passion (i.e. being non-passionate) led to the lowest scores on
both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in Study 1 and to the highest
decreases in vitality in Study 2 (although no significant differences were found
between non-passionate and obsessively passionate people in these studies).
Thus, a first conclusion to be drawn is that non-passionate activity engagement
does not contribute to people's well-being. These findings are particularly
relevant for the concept of passion because they draw a distinction
between passionate activities and other less important activities that people
engage in, but are not passionate about. Therefore, contrary to what past
research has proposed (e.g. Baker, Cahalin, Gerst, & Burr, 2005; Craft &
Landers, 1998; Jackson, Antonucci, & Gibson, 1993; Reich, Zautra, & Hill,
1987), it would appear that it is not only a single aspect of activity engagement
(e.g. time invested in the activity) that makes it beneficial for well-being,
but whether the activity is engaged in passionately or not.
A second implication of the present findings is that they highlight that the
type of passion one has for the activity also matters with respect to well-being.
Indeed, harmoniously passionate people scored significantly higher than
obsessively passionate and non-passionate people on hedonic and eudaimonic
well-being (Study 1). In addition, only harmoniously passionate
16 PHILIPPE ET AL.
 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation  2009 International Association of Applied
Psychology.
people showed a significant increase in vitality over a 1-year period, while
obsessively passionate participants showed a slight decrease and nonpassionate
participants an even larger decrease (Study 2). These results replicate
past findings that showed that only harmonious passion positively
predicts well-being over time, while obsessive passion is either negatively
associated or unrelated to it (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2003, 2008; Vallerand
et al., 2008, Study 2; Vallerand et al., 2007, Studies 1 and 2). Thus, a second
conclusion is that just being passionate about an activity does not guarantee
well-being. The passionate activity needs to be fueled by a harmonious
passion for activity engagement to be beneficial for one's well-being, as it
would appear that an obsessively passionate or non-passionate engagement
does not contribute to well-being, and may even have a cost, as shown by the
decreases in vitality found in Study 2 for obsessively passionate and nonpassionate
people. Future research is needed to further investigate the distinctions
between obsessively passionate vs. non-passionate people. Among
other things, we need to know whether some types of activities and conditions
may make an obsessively passionate engagement more adaptive as pertains to
well-being than a non-passionate engagement (e.g. within the context of a
challenging and competitive job).
Passion Contributes to Well-Being across the Life Span
A third implication from the present findings is that passion was shown to be
relatively stable and to contribute equally to well-being across all adult life
stages. Using samples of participants aged from 18 to 90 years, Studies 1 and
2 revealed no age main effect on either harmonious or obsessive passion. In
addition, in both Studies 1 and 2, there were no interactions between passion
and age. These results suggest that the effect of passion takes place for men
and women of all ages. Thus, because passion remains stable and beneficial
for well-being across all age groups, it appears particularly relevant with
respect to old age. Although past research suggested that age does not play an
important role in people's well-being (Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976;
Diener, Lucas, & Scollon, 2006), recent studies showed that well-being, and
particularly eudaimonic well-being, may decrease in older adults (e.g. Gerstorf,
Ram, Röcke, Lindenberger, & Smith, 2008; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). The
results of Study 1 corroborated those results as older adults were found to
report the lowest levels of eudaimonic well-being of all age groups. However,
the fact that harmonious passion appears to remain equally beneficial for
well-being of all age groups--including late adulthood--suggests that harmonious
passion might help to preserve or even increase older adults' wellbeing.
Future research is needed in order to further support this conclusion,
as it might lead to important applied benefits.
PASSION AND WELL-BEING 17
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Psychology.
Implications for the Field of Well-Being
Overall, the present research has a number of implications for the field of
well-being. First, as mentioned above, while mere activity engagement does
not necessarily guarantee an increase in well-being, having a harmonious
passion toward a self-chosen activity may represent the most effective way to
reach such a goal. Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2007) have posited that there
is much room for improvement in one's happiness. They suggest that while
the largest part of our level of happiness is preset by our genetic endowment
(around 50%), some 40 per cent is still modifiable (the last 10% is due to
uncontrollable circumstances) and the best way to do this is through what
they call "intentional activity engagement". They recommend engaging in
interesting, fun activities that fit one's personality and dispositions, that can
vary in content, and that are not merely engaged in as a routine but when
people feel like doing it. We agree with such a recommendation, especially as
Sheldon and Lyubomirsky's definition of intentional activity is rather close to
that of harmonious passion.
Second, it appears that we have uncovered a new mid-level construct that
contributes to well-being. Although authors in the field of well-being have
repeatedly argued for more investigations on the role of top-down internal
factors in well-being, such research has essentially focused on personality
traits (see Diener et al., 1999). The concept of passion in the Dualistic Model
of Passion is conceptualised as a moderate-level construct that is positioned
between the trait and state levels. It thus reflects a relatively stable personactivity
relationship or a measure of how a person typically behaves with
respect to a specific activity. Thus, the present research highlights the fact that
the person's interactions with a specific activity represent a relatively stable
internal factor that is sufficiently important to influence one's well-being over
time. Future research is needed in order to better understand how such a
factor influences well-being. In line with the Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson,
2001), recent research (e.g. Rousseau & Vallerand, 2008) has shown
that increases in subjective well-being take place through the positive affect
experienced during task engagement that is created by harmonious passion.
Additional research is needed to determine if other concepts such as flow
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) that is also predicted by harmonious (but not obsessive)
passion (see Vallerand et al., 2003) can also contribute to well-being.
A final contribution of the present research is that it paves the way to future
interventions that may have salutary effects on well-being. In light of the
present findings, future research is needed in order to determine how best to
foster the development of a new harmoniously passionate activity and assess
its effects on people's well-being. It is believed that such research is important
as it would inform practitioners on how to help people bring about meaningful
increases in well-being in their own lives.
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Limitations
Some limitations of the present set of studies need to be underscored. First, a
correlational design was used in both studies. Therefore causality cannot be
inferred from the present findings. Future research using experimental
designs is needed in order to more firmly establish the causal role of passion
in well-being. For instance, future research on the role of subliminal priming
of harmonious and obsessive activities under controlled laboratory conditions
should allow us to examine the effects of passion on measures of
emotional or situational well-being. A second limitation to the present
research is that it relied exclusively on self-report data. Future research
should seek to replicate the present findings with objective assessments of
well-being, or with evaluations from informants such as spouses or friends. A
third limitation is that the response rate of both studies was rather low
(respectively 28 and 30%). Although these figures correspond to what is
usually obtained with mailed questionnaires (e.g. Díaz de Rada, 2005), it is
unknown if participants who refused to take part in Study 1 or in the second
phase of Study 2 differed on some other variables unrelated to the present
research from participants who agreed to complete Study 1 or both measurement
phases of Study 2. Finally, the participants of both studies were FrenchCanadian
participants. Future research might do well to examine if cultural
differences exist in the relationship between passion and well-being and as a
function of age and gender.
In sum, to go back to our opening question, it would appear that having a
passion for an activity may indeed make someone happy and help him/her
grow psychologically. However, such a positive effect takes place only if
activity engagement is fueled by harmonious passion. In fact, an obsessive
passion for an activity does not contribute at all to well-being. Future
research on the processes that may foster harmonious passion in people's
lives would therefore appear important from both theoretical and applied
perspectives.
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