It was 2018, and I had just submitted my doctoral dissertation. What it meant was that it was time for me to move on from being a doctoral student, to whatever the next stage of my career was going to be. After carefully evaluating all my options, I decided that I would like to remain in academia. I thoroughly enjoyed the processes of both research and teaching, and wanted to continue getting better at both.
The problem was, it is extremely rare for universities to hire a recent doctoral graduate to be a professor. Instead, most doctoral students who aim to be professors need to go through another tier of training called a Postdoctoral Fellowship, or “postdoc” in academic jargon. The equivalent of a paid internship, a postdoc places you as an apprentice of a professor. And for me, that professor was no other than Dr. Robert J. Vallerand, the world renowned expert on passion.
When I began working with Dr. Vallerand, all I knew about passion is roughly what everyone else knows: passion is when you really love something or someone. And that is always a good thing, right?
Wrong.
I worked with Dr. Vallerand for about 4 years, and together we published multiple peer-reviewed papers about passion. Here are the two main things I learned:
- You should always aim to be passionate about something in your life.
- The wrong type of passion can ruin your life.
Let’s start with the first premise. Passionate people are happier people. That is because their passion gives their life flavour, meaning, and purpose. When people are passionate about watching a sport, for example, they will better handle work and personal challenges throughout the week, in anticipation of watching their favourite team play on the weekend.
Passionate people have something to look forward to. Studies across a variety of contexts consistently find that being passionate improves people’s functioning, well-being, and relationships (Vallerand, 2012).
But only if it’s the right type of passion.
A Dualistic Perspective on Passion
Dr. Vallerand developed the Dualistic Model of Passion, which outlines two types of passion that people may have: harmonious passion and obsessive passion (Vallerand et al., 2003).
Harmonious passion, or the “good” passion, creates a very strong desire to engage in an activity, but that desire remains under the person’s control. A harmoniously passionate pianist, for example, will freely decide how much time she wants to spend playing the piano and when to stop. When she is engaged in other activities, such as spending time with friends or family, she is able to fully disconnect from her passion and shift her focus to the present moment.
Getting obsessive passion under control can be hard. Like other behaviours that can get out of control, it requires discipline and boundaries.
Obsessive passion, on the other hand, is the type of passion that is running the show. The desire to engage in the activity is as strong as with harmonious passion, but the obsessively passionate person cannot control it. If our pianist is obsessively passionate, she will spend as much of her free time as possible playing the piano, sometimes at the cost of self-care, social relationships, or other responsibilities.
For the vast majority of obsessively passionate people, the consequences will be dire. Numerous studies, including my own, have shown that not being in control of your passion leads to mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression (Vallerand, 2012), social alienation (Lobato et al., 2023), and declines in performance (Sverdlik et al., 2019).
How Do I know if I am Obsessively Passionate?
As a general rule, obsessive passion is one that occupies a person’s time, energy, and other resources (such as money) in excess of what they should be spending on their passion.
If you feel passionate about an activity, a cause, or a person, and you are not sure whether you are harmoniously or obsessively passionate, consider some of the following questions. Do you:
- lie in order to engage in your passion?
- neglect yourself or others in order to engage in your passion?
- sacrifice your relationships (such as being willing to have conflicts) in order to engage in your passion?
- sacrifice your future in order to engage in your passion in the present (such as spending money you know you shouldn’t)?
- constantly think about your object of passion, even when doing something unrelated?
- find it hard to talk about any other topic/ find other topics boring?
- feel bad about yourself (low self-esteem or low self-worth) when you are unable to engage in your passion, such as due to an injury?
- experience a steep decline in motivation whenever you encounter difficulty or failure related to your passion?
- feel like your passion provides you with social approval that you will lose if you stop doing it?
What Should I do if I am Obsessively Passionate?
Everyone experiences obsessive passion at some point in their life. So if you just self-diagnosed as possibly being obsessively passionate, don’t fret. As previously mentioned, one of the core differences between harmonious and obsessive passion, is control.
Getting obsessive passion under control can be hard. Like other behaviours that can get out of control, it requires discipline and boundaries. The decision to pursue a passion while attempting to lead a balanced life requires intentionality and sacrifice, specifically in terms of prioritizing long-term harmony over short-term pleasure or progress.
Taking the reins and purposefully deciding when to engage, and disengage, from your passion can make all the difference. Shifting your perspective to viewing your passion as one feature of your identity, rather than your whole identity, can allow you to allocate space for people and activities without feeling diminished. By doing so, you increase the likelihood that your passion, and a balanced life, will be long-lasting.
About the author
Dr. Anna Sverdlik is the founder of Melioscope. Since 2011, she has been specializing in uncovering organizational structures that shape motivation, engagement, and well-being.