Passion and its outcomes: Implications on positive psychology

Pages: 1702-1705
Shweta Chaudhary (Department of Psychology, Gargi College, University of Delhi, Delhi)
Harpreet Bhatia (Department of Psychology, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The aim of the paper is to study the concept and models of passion in psychology and explore the recent studies pointing to its relationship with related constructs of positive psychology. Passion is defined as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that people like, find important, and in which they invest time and energy. Furthermore, two types of passion harmonious and obsessive are proposed. Harmonious passion leads people to choose to engage in the activity that they love. Conversely, obsessive passion creates an internal pressure to engage in the activity they like. Harmonious passion is hypothesized to lead to more adaptive outcomes than obsessive passion. Results of various studies reveal that passion which is harmonious in nature matters with respect to a number of outcomes and seems of significant importance for the various concepts of positive psychology such as psychological well-being, flow, interpersonal relationships, affect, self-esteem, and performance.