The dualistic model of passion (Vallerand, 2010) regards passion as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that one loves, values, and in which one invests a substantial amount of time and energy. The model proposes two distinct types of passion, harmonious and obsessive, that predict adaptive and less adaptive outcomes, respectively. It was hypothesized that individuals with an obsessive passion would have their life satisfaction dependent on their performance. This is so because obsessive passion leads the activity to take a disproportionate place in one's life. On the other hand, this should not be the case for harmonious passion. Results of Study 1 (N ¼ 63) revealed that the more professional painters had an obsessive passion toward their art, the more they experienced increases in life satisfaction following a success. On the other hand, accentuated decreases in life satisfaction were experienced following a failure. In contrast, harmonious passion was unrelated to this phenomenon. Study 2 was conducted with a sample of hockey fans (N ¼ 77) who reported their life satisfaction the day after each game of a 2009 National Hockey League playoff series. Results using hierarchical linear modeling analyses replicated findings from Study 1.

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Using the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003), this research investigated how harmonious passion (HP) or obsessive passion (OP) for a cause can affect volunteers' health and subjective well-being. Three studies with volunteers for local (local emergency crises and community help) and international (humanitarian missions) causes assessed physical and psychological health using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Study 1 (N = 108) showed that HP was positively related to satisfaction with one's involvement in the cause and unrelated to physical injuries due to cause involvement. OP was unrelated to satisfaction but positively associated with injuries. Findings were replicated in Study 2 (N = 83). Moreover, self-neglect mediated the positive and negative effects of HP and OP, respectively, on injuries. Study 3 (N = 77) revealed that HP predicted an increase in satisfaction and health over a 3-month mission. OP predicted an increase in physical symptoms and a decrease in health. Furthermore, OP before a mission was positively related to self-neglect that was positively associated with physical symptoms after a mission. OP also positively predicted rumination that was conducive to posttraumatic stress disorder. HP was unrelated to these variables. Findings underscore the role of passion for a cause in predicting intrapersonal outcomes of volunteers.

The creative process refers a sequence of thoughts and actions leading to a novel, adaptive production (Lubart, 2000). It demands love, time, and devotion, and, therefore, creators are passionate toward their creative work. The Dualistic Model of Passion defines passion as a strong inclination for a self-defining activity that people love and find important, and in which they invest a significant amount of time and energy. Two types of passion are proposed, where harmoniously passionate (HP) individuals engage in the passionate activity with free choice, and obsessively passionate (OP) individuals feel an uncontrollable urge to partake in the activity, leading to positive and negative consequences respectively. This research explored the role of emotions and passion during a successful creative process. Study 1 (N ¼ 82) looked at positive emotions experienced by passionate artists at each phase of their creative process. Study 2 (N ¼ 114) replicated Study 1 and also assessed negative emotions. Results revealed that positive emotions facilitate creativity and that moderate and high levels of activation of positive emotions serve different functions. Negative emotions were relatively absent of the successful creative process. Finally, HP artists presented an emotional experience that was more positive than OP artists.