Introduction

The concept of passion has received little attention in Psychology because researchers have mainly focused on its motivational aspect. ^{Frijda, Mesquita, Sonnemans and Van Goozen (1991}) defined passions as priority objectives with emotionally important outcomes. Furthermore, the concept of passion has been placed in different contexts, such as creativity (^{Goldberg, 1986}) and the passion for driving vehicles (^{Marsh & Collet, 1987}). These studies did not lead to a great deal of empirical research and consequently ^{Vallerand et al. (2003}) found that practically all the empirical work on passion has been in the field of personal relationships. These authors then put forward a new approach, focusing on passion towards things, and defined passion as a strong inclination or desire towards an activity which people like (or even love), an activity that they consider important in their life and in which they invest their time and energy. In this way it becomes something significant in their lives, something that delights them and something they spend their time doing. The above mentioned authors based their work on previous research studies, which had clearly demonstrated that the appraisal of the activity (^{Deci, Eghrari, Patrick, & Leone, 1994}), the time and energy spent (^{Emmons, 1999}), and the degree of enjoyment doing the task (^{Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993}) are associated with the time that people invest in a particular activity.

Vallerand and his collaborators (^{Vallerand, 2008}, ²⁰¹⁰, ²⁰¹⁵; ^{Vallerand et al., 2003}; ^{Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003}; ^{Vallerand, Paquet, Philippe & Charest, 2010}; ^{Verner-Filion, Lafrenière, & Vallerand, 2012}) put forward two types of passion: (1) Harmonious Passion, the outcome of internalising the autonomous activity in the person's identity, which takes place when individuals have accepted an activity that is important for them at their own free will without attributing any types of contingencies to it. This type of internalisation produces strength of motivation to voluntarily take part in the activity and it engenders will power and personal support for seeking out the activity. People feel obliged to perform the activity but decide to do so of their own accord. Thus the activity occupies a significant but not unbearable space in the person's identity and what's more, it is in harmony with other aspects of the person's life. (2) Obsessive Passion is the outcome of a controlled internalisation of the activity. This internalisation stems from intrapersonal and/or interpersonal pressure either because certain contingencies are linked to the activity, such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem, or because the emotional sensation derived from taking part turns it into an uncontrollable activity. Therefore, although individuals like the activity, they feel obliged to take part in it because of these internal contingencies which exercise control over them. This means that the person does not stop taking part in the passionate activity because it controls them. This is due to the fact that their commitment to the activity is beyond the person's control and over time it takes up a disproportionate space in their identity, creating conflicts with other activities in their life. ^{Vallerand (2015}) proposes that two types of internalization processes, autonomous and controlled, lead, respectively to harmonious and obsessive passions, and Obsessive passion results from a controlled internalization of the activity into the person's identity. In this sense, ^{Gulyani and Bhatnagar (2017}) indicate that Individual orientation at workplace affects passion levels. Passion for work relates positively to proactive work behavior. Passion for work mediates the relationship between Protean career attitude and Proactive work behavior. Fourth, Protean career attitude influences proactive work behavior indirectly.

The objective of this research study is to develop a predictive model of Passion towards Work using the following indicators: Personality, Engagement, Self-Efficacy, COI, Satisfaction with life and Lifestyle. The hypotheses we put forward are outlined below:

Method

Results

The correlational study featured below (Table 1) only displays the correlations between the criterion variables and the predictor variables in this study.

From the present study we extracted the following correlations and found a positive correlation between Harmonious Passion and fifteen predictor variables (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Responsibility, Openness to Experience, Self-efficacy, Vigor, Dedication, Absorption, Perfectionism, Excessive responsibility, Satisfaction with Life, Responsibility for one's health, Physical activity, Nutrition and Growth). As far as Obsessive Passion is concerned, it correlated positively with seven predictor variables (Vigor, Dedication, Absorption, Perfectionism, Excessive responsibility, Responsibility for one's health and Growth), and correlated negatively with Kindness and Openness to experience.

Table 1.  Correlations between the predictor variables and the criterion variables. 

^**The correlation is significant at .01 (bilateral).

^*The correlation is significant at .05 (bilateral).

We used multiple linear regression analysis in order to test the effects that sixteen predictor variables have on the criterion variables related to Passion towards Work. Two multiple linear regression models were used for this purpose.

Figure 1.  Model followed in this investigation. 

The first model aimed to identify the degree to which these predictor variables were capable of predicting the criterion variable Harmonious Passion (PTW). Table 2 presents a summary of the model in which we can see that the predictor variables, Dedication, Growth, Physical activity, Satisfaction with life, Excessive responsibility and Vigor account for 55.5 % of the criterion variable's variance. The Dedication variable stands out as the best predictor, accounting for 50.1% of variance. Among the most important aspects are the beta coefficient values. If we take a look at these coefficients we can see that the predictor variables which were found to be statistically significant were: Vigor (β= -.110), Excessive responsibility (β=.095), Satisfaction with life (β=.088), Physical Activity (β=.109), Growth (β=.147) and Dedication (β=.682). All of them were significant.

Table 2.  Summary of the predictive models for the four criterion variables. 

The second model analysed the variables' ability to predict the criterion variable Obsessive Passion (PTW). The model is summarised in Table 2 which shows that the predictor variables Absorption, Excessive responsibility, Satisfaction with life, Openness to experience and Kindness account for 36.9 % of the criterion variable's variance, whereas the variable Absorption is the best predictor, accounting for 25.5% of variance. The beta coefficient values were as follows: Kindness (β = -.103), Openness to experience (β = -.119), Satisfaction with life (β = -.156), Excessive responsibility (β=.230), Absorption (=.500).

Discussion

The results presented above are in line with the concept that certain variables have predictive power over factors studied in relation with Passion towards work.

We can safely say that the first hypothesis was partially verified, given that, according to our findings, the best predictive model included the variables, Dedication, Growth, Physical Activity, Satisfaction with life, Excessive responsibility, and inversely, Vigor (Table 2).

The analysis also showed (Table 1) a positive correlation between Harmonious Passion and fifteen predictor variables (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Responsibility, Openness to experience, Self-efficacy, Vigor, Dedication, Absorption, Perfectionism, Excessive responsibility, Satisfaction with life, Responsibility for one's health, Physical Activity, Nutrition and Growth). Of these variables, Extraversion, Emotional stability, Responsibility, Openness to experience, Self-efficacy, Absorption, Perfectionism, Responsibility for one's health and Nutrition, despite the fact that they related positively with the criterion variable, were not included in the predictive model. According to other authors who have linked harmonious passion with a series of beneficial results, which include performance in the role, well-being, flow, organization, commitment, pro-environmental behavior and positive affect. It has also been found to be negatively related to role conflict and role overload, as well as to exhaustion (^{Birkeland, Richardsen, & Dysvik, 2018}; ^{Curran, Hill, Appleton, Vallerand, & Standage, 2015}; ^{Marsh et al., 2013}).

We can therefore conclude that none of the Personality variables were found to be predictive although we did find a positive relationship between Extraversion, Emotional stability, Responsibility and Openness to experience. Along the same lines, ^{Balon, Lecoq and Rimé (2013}) state that individuals with Harmonious Passion are characterised by a certain degree of Responsibility, Extraversion, Kindness and Openness to experience.

The Engagement variables included in the model were Dedication (direct) and Vigor (inverse), and a positive relationship was also found with the variable Absorption. ^{Balon et al. (2013}) indicate that Harmonious Passion positively predicts Engagement, in that it foments emotional energy and job satisfaction and allows employees to carry out tasks in a flexible way which in turn leads to positive results (for example, they have a positive effect on Absorption and flow). ^{Qadeer, Ahmed, Hameed and Mahmood (2016}) demonstrates a positive relationship of harmonious passion with work engagement, with employee's job performance and extra-role behaviors. Furthermore, the predictor variable Self-efficacy, was not included in the predictive model despite the fact that it related positively with Harmonious Passion. ^{Cardon and Kirk (2013}) indicate that business owners' passion towards work may help to explain the relation between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and continuing with the entrepreneurial activity.

In the Compulsive Obsessive component (COI), Excessive responsibility is included in the predictive model whereas Perfectionism, despite the fact that it was not included in the model, correlated positively. Satisfaction with life was included in the predictive model, (^{Philippe, Vallerand and Lavigne, 2009}; ^{Rousseau and Vallerand, 2008}) indicate that Harmonious Passion increases the levels of Satisfaction with life. As regards Lifestyle, the predictive model included Physical Activity and Growth, whereas a positive relation was also found with Nutrition and Responsibility for one's health.

As far as the second hypothesis is concerned we can also say that it was partially verified given that we found that the best predictive model for Obsessive Passion directly incorporates the variables Absorption and Excessive responsibility, and inversely incorporates Satisfaction with life, Openness to experience and Kindness (Table 2). Furthermore, we found that Obsessive Passion, correlated positively with seven predictor variables (Vigor, Dedication, Absorption, Perfectionism, Excessive responsibility, Responsibility for one's health and Growth) and negatively with Kindness and Openness to experience. Of these variables, Vigor, Dedication, Perfectionism, Responsibility for one's health and Growth, despite the fact that they correlated positively with the criterion variable, were excluded from the predictive model.

Hence, we can conclude that as far as Personality variables are concerned, Kindness and Openness to experience inversely predict Obsessive Passion whereas no relation was established with the variables Extraversion, Emotional stability and Responsibility. In this respect, ^{Balon et al. (2013}) associate Obsessive Passion with a low level of Kindness as well as with a lack of connection with the other dimensions of personality. As regards Engagement, the variable that was included in the model was Absorption, whereas it also correlated positively with Vigour and Dedication. ^{Vallerand et al. (2003}) point out that Obsessive Passion is not related to Engagement because, despite the fact that employees with more Obsessive Passion have a deep inclination towards their job, the internal pressure that makes them work intensely also seems to prevent them from fully enjoying it. It therefore appears that Obsessive Passion restricts the emotional energy of employees and mental resistance at work. ^{Mageau and Vallerand (2007}) found that Harmonious Passion and Obsessive Passion may lead to different patterns of Engagement. Furthe rmore, the Self-efficacy variable was not included in the predictive model and no relation was found between it and Obsessive Passion, despite the fact that ^{Cardon and Kirk (2013}) state that the passion that business owners have towards work may help to explain the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurship. With regard to the Compulsive Obsessive component (COI), the Excessive responsibility variable was included in the predictive model whereas Perfectionism, although it wasn't included in the model, did relate positively. In this respect, passionate people are obsessive people (^{Hatfield and Rapson, 1993}). In addition, obsessive passion has been linked to work addiction, and as this is characterized by an internal compulsion that prevents dissociation from it even if they are not in it (^{Serrano-Fernández, 2014}).

Satisfaction with life was included inversely in the predictive model. Along the same lines we found that Obsessive Passion correlates negatively with the level of Satisfaction with life (Philippe et al., 2009; ^{Rousseau and Vallerand, 2008}). As regards Lifestyle, the predictive model did not include any variables, although a positive relation was found with Responsibility for one's health and Growth.

The present research study contributes to the body of knowledge concerning Passion towards Work in various aspects which include Personality, Engagement, Self-efficacy, COI, Satisfaction with life and Lifestyle.

The findings have important practical implications concerning Passion towards Work which should be taken into account to ensure adequate strategic management of human resources inside organisations. Chief among these are: Promoting Satisfaction with life, training employees in aspects such as Responsibility towards one's health, Physical Activity and Nutrition, and furthering Growth and Personal relationships.

The study has a number of limitations, the most important of which stem from the fact that its design is cross-sectional, which means that the results cannot be interpreted causally. What's more, the data we obtained comes from self reports that participants filled in themselves, hence a part of the conclusions may have been affected by common method variance. On the other hand, the multiple regression analysis we implemented, which studies the relation between predictor variables and criterion variables, enabled us to obtain conclusions concerning the direct and inverse influence between the variables used in the study. However, the research could be improved by using a structural equations model in the data analysis.