Robert J Vallerand

Université du Québec à Montréal | UQAM · Department of Psychology

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a broad theory of psychological growth and wellness that has revolutionized how we think about human motivation and the driving forces behind personality development. SDT focuses on people’s basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and how social environments that support these needs fos...

This study investigated the role of passion and achievement goals in making self-oriented and team-oriented decisions. Based on the Dualistic Model of Passion, it was hypothesized that in the context of collective sports, harmonious passion should lead to the adoption of mostly mastery goals, which in turn should lead to a more team-oriented decisi...

This research presents the conceptualization and validation of a new scale assessing a multidimensional perspective on well-being named “Optimal Functioning in Society” (OFIS; Vallerand, 2013). The concept of OFIS refers to high levels of psychological, physical, and relational well-being, high performance in one’s main field of endeavor, and contr...

Persistence involves the intention to maintain efforts when faced with obstacles and challenges, in order to achieve a specific goal. The Rigid and Flexible Persistence Scale (RFPS) is a self-report measure that assesses persistence that is theoretically derived from the premises of the Dualistic Model of Passion. The aim of the present research wa...

The aim of this study was to analyse the relations between three different communicative teaching styles (gain-framing, loss-framing and amotivational style) and students’ passion and dedication to study after school hours. We recruited 430 students and data was evaluated through path analyses. Results showed that teachers’ communicative style that...

While the benefits to mood and well-being from passionate engagement with music are well-established, far less is known about the relationship between passion for explicitly violently themed music and psychological well-being. The present study employed the Dualistic Model of Passion to investigate whether harmonious passion (i.e., passionate engag...

Two cross‐sectional (Studies 1, N = 283, and 2, N = 275) and one prospective (Study 3, N = 238) studies investigated the role of passion (for academia) and emotions in the process of resilience in the education domain and in life in general. Participants were examined when facing a stressful situation related to their passion for academia (end of t...

Past research has shown that harmonious passion (HP) for work facilitates, and obsessive passion (OP) undermines, work and family outcomes. The current investigation is the first to test the quadripartite approach of passion (Schellenberg et al., Journal of Personality 87:163–180, 2019) with respect to work outcomes. In line with the Dualistic Mode...

Doctoral students often struggle with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and physical concerns, that are directly associated with their programs. Supporting doctoral students’ well-being becomes critical during a global pandemic, when students become further isolated, uncertain, and struggle academically. The present study examined students’ top chal...

The present research investigated a passion transmission model (PTM) from the perspectives of both students (N = 200) and teachers (N = 208). In accordance with the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP), we examined the PTM in which teachers’ passion and autonomy support were hypothesized to influence students’ passion via positiveand negative emotions....

Extreme metal and rap music with violent themes are sometimes blamed for eliciting antisocial behaviours, but growing evidence suggests that music with violent themes can have positive emotional, cognitive, and social consequences for fans. We addressed this apparent paradox by comparing how fans of violent and non-violent music respond emotionally...

The present study fills a void in research on passion by examining for the first time the role of passion in physiological responses. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of passion, and the mediating role of cognitive appraisals, in the psychological and physiological responses to a stressful situation related to one’s passion. Student...

The arts and humanities are prevalent sources of passion. Whether it is through performing them or appreciating the performance of others, the type of passion that individuals have for the arts and humanities can shape a variety of outcomes. Following the model proposed by Tay, Pawelski, and colleagues (2018, 2019), the present chapter documents th...

This paper presents a new perspective on persistence and how it relates to passion and outcomes in the field of education. Based on the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand, 2015), we propose the existence of two types of persistence – flexible and rigid that are specific to the activity one is passionate about. Flexible persistence takes origin i...

Murphy (2021) argues that the field of Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology needs to pay more attention to descriptive statistics (“Table 1”; e.g., M, SD, reliability, correlations) when reporting and interpreting results. We agree that authors need to present a clear and transparent description of their data and that descriptive statistics a...

This research examined the role of academic passion and emotions in procrastination. Two studies were conducted with undergraduate students (Study 1: n = 210, 63% male and 37% female, Mage = 26.93 years, SD = 5.94 years; Study 2: n = 303, 59% male and 41% female, Mage = 26.13 years, SD = 7.05 years), including one during the COVID-19 pandemic. The...

This study aimed to test the role of passion in the cognitive goals pursued in sport and the level of Optimal Functioning in Society (OFIS) derived from such sport engagement. A total of 184 competitive water polo and synchronized swimming athletes completed a questionnaire assessing their passion for their sport, achievement goals, and various sca...

University students’ passion for their studies has been previously demonstrated to be important for both their academic performance and their personal well-being. However, no studies to date have explored the role of passion for one’s studies on both academic and personal outcomes in a single model. The present research sought to determine the role...

The current research demonstrates a novel approach to investigating the role ofperceived teacher and parental autonomy support in college students’ ( N = 970 with376 males, 594 females) passion for science. Based on the Dualistic Model of Passionwhich posits the existence of a harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP) passion, weadopted a 2 x 2 model (Gau...

Integrating theoretical frameworks on psychological need satisfaction and passion we suggest that a pathway toward behavioral addiction is the development of an obsessive passion for an activity. In two studies with samples of video game players (Study 1) and gamblers (Study 2) we considered need satisfaction and passion as motivational antecedents...

Procrastination is a maladaptive behaviour that students often experience in academic activities and can result in negative consequences to mental health. The challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic can contribute to increase procrastination behaviors in academic activities that the student does not like and in those he/she is passionate. The m...

This paper presents a new perspective on persistence and how it relates to passion and outcomes in the field of education. Based on the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand, 2015), we propose the existence of two types of persistence - flexible and rigid that are specific to the activity one is passionate about. Flexible persistence takes origin i...

Based on the Dualistic Model of Passion postiting the existence of a harmonious (HP) and obsessive passion (OP), we investigated the effects of teacher and parental autonomy support on college students' passion for science (n = 970). Receiving autonomy support from both sources (i.e., a dual support) was related to higher levels of OP and HP, where...

Emotion regulation entails using specific strategies to manage emotions, impacting on well-being. Research has uncovered important factors that may affect one’s use of emotion regulation strategies. Because passionate individuals experience positive and negative emotions while engaging in the activity that they deeply care about (Vallerand in The p...

Objective: Passion research has focused extensively on the unique effects of both harmonious passion and obsessive passion (Vallerand, 2015). We adopted a quadripartite approach (Gaudreau & Thompson, 2010) to test whether physical and psychological well-being are distinctly related to subtypes of passion with varying within-person passion combinati...

Building on the dualistic model of passion Vallerand (The psychology of passion: A dualistic model Oxford University Press, New York, 2005), we examined a hypothesized model whereby harmonious and obsessive passion mediate the relationships of job crafting and leader autonomy support with work engagement and burnout in both Australian and Chinese w...

Research reveals that harmonious passion leads to more positive emotions than obsessive passion, whereas the opposite result is true with respect to negative emotions. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the role of cognitive appraisals as mediators of the passion-emotion relationships. In Study 1, 227 participants engaged in different spo...

This study aimed to examine a positive-oriented model of two types of motivational constructs (i.e., harmonious passion and obsessive passion) for learning a second language (L2) and their relationship to self-growth indicators. The dualistic model of passion was used to explore whether and how the two types of passion play different roles in posit...

The dualistic model of sexual passion defines sexual passion as a strong motivational drive to engage in various types of partnered and non-partnered sexual activities and distinguishes two types of sexual passion that lead to distinct consequences, obsessive sexual passion (OSP) and harmonious sexual passion (HSP). The purpose of the present resea...

We present a psychological model of extremism based on the concept of motivational imbalance whereby a given need gains dominance and overrides other basic concerns. In contrast, moderation results from a motivational balance wherein individuals’ different needs are equitably attended to. Importantly, under moderation the different needs constrain...

Three studies explored the role of attachment styles as determinants of romantic passion and investigated how the interplay between these variables contributes to conflict resolution strategies within a romantic relationship. In Study 1, a secure attachment style was positively, and an avoidant attachment style negatively, associated with harmoniou...

Dedicated athletes, coaches, and exercisers are often referred to as being passionate toward their sport or activity. This chapter reviews the available literature in sport and physical activity to describe the role of passion for sport and physical activity in adaptive and less adaptive outcomes, as well as look at the determinants of passion. In...

This chapter presents the role of passion in education. It first introduces the concept of passion and the predominant theory on passion, the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP; Vallerand, 2010, 2015; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2019). According to this model, passion is a strong inclination for an important, meaningful, and self-defining activity in which...

This longitudinal study (T1 n = 399; T2 n = 279) investigated the moderating role of work motivation in the relationship between job resources (control and recognition) and burnout. Overall, job recognition and control resulted in more burnout for employees with poor‐quality work motivation (high controlled or low autonomous motivation). These resu...

Drawing from the dualistic model of passion for activities (Vallerand et al., 2003), this research investigated the role of passion for social partnered dancing in relationships quality with other dancers as well as outside of the dance community, in a romantic relationship. Study 1 showed that harmonious passion (HP) was related to enjoyment while...

The new construct of integrated temporal positivity-defined as the positive, adaptive, and dynamic use of the past, the present, and the future-is posited to promote optimal functioning. Based on the dualistic model of passion, the present research sought to test the hypothesis that harmonious passion, more than obsessive passion, triggers a higher...

In empirical research, sexual passion has frequently been conceptualized as the interdependent dynamics experienced with a partner and as following a unidimensional continuum of intensity. A recent theoretical model conceptualized sexual passion as an intrapersonal motivation, which can energize both partnered and non-partnered sexual behaviors (Ph...

Extradyadic sex in monogamous romantic relationships represents a violation of trust that has been associated with adverse personal and relationship outcomes. Although relational factors related to extradyadic sex have been extensively studied, few individual sexual factors have been identified, and these factors have remained one-dimensional. The...

We examined the prospective relationship between harmonious passion and post-treatment health outcomes among female breast cancer survivors. Participants reported passion toward a favorite activity, physical pain symptoms, and mental health after their final breast cancer treatment (Time 1, N = 188). Twelve months later (Time 2, N = 148), participa...

Passion is a pervasive concept in the work domain. Workers aspire to be passionate in the hope of finding meaning and satisfaction from their professional life, while employers dream of passionate employees who will ensure organizational performance. Does passion for work matter ? Does passion invariably bring about the anticipated positive outcome...

Passion has long been mentioned in the field of work. This chapter introduces the book by discussing the relevance of studying passion at work. A short history of the passion construct at large is followed by how the passion construct has been understood and studied in organizational research. Following a presentation of the definition of the passi...

This chapter focuses on the prevalent model of passion, namely the dualistic model of passion. This model defines passion as a strong inclination toward an activity that people love, value, engage in on a regular basis and is part of identity. Further, the dualistic model of passion posits the existence of two distinct types of passion leading to o...

According to self-determination theory, sexual motivations are cardinal in relation to sexual well-being and functioning. Despite that motivations are thought to occur in combination instead of separately, this proposition has not been explicitly tested in relation to sexual motivations. To address this issue, the present two-study investigation ex...

Introduction. La psychologie positive, une psychologie intégrative. Passion et bien-être (Robert Vallerand et Léa Bragoli-Barzan). Psychologie positive, cognition et neurosciences (Elisabeth Grimaud). Autonomie et contrôle (Yvan Paquet). Economie et sociologie du bonheur. Le modèle des 3I pour appréhender le bonheur (Gaël Brûlé). Economie et psycho...

Objective Four studies examined the relationship between motivational imbalance ― the degree to which a goal dominates other goals ― and political activism. Method Based on the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand, 2015) and recent theorizing on violent extremism (Kruglanski, Jasko, Chernikova, Dugas, & Webber, 2017), we predicted that obsessive...

The present research investigated the role of the personality traits and facets of the Big Five Model in harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP) passion. A total of 284 participants completed an online questionnaire measuring personality traits and facets, HP and OP, and positive and negative affect. Results from correlational and structural equation mo...

Work is a central aspect of most individuals' lives. Not surprisingly, happiness and success on the job are positively linked with life satisfaction and subjective well-being. Pursuing work tasks that align with one's interests, provide a sense of accomplishment, and offer a chance to connect with others can help workers satisfy their psychological...

The Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 756–767, 2003) suggests the existence of two types of passion: harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP). Previous research in positive psychology has shown that passion can be oriented toward activities, as well as romantic partners, and that both are impor...

The dualistic model of passion (Vallerand, 2015) proposes two distinct forms of passion, obsessive (OP) and harmonious (HP). The purpose of this research was to test if emotional reactivity following athletic successes and failures was related to one’s levels of HP and OP for sport. We recruited recreational golfers (N = 115) to report how they typ...

This chapter examines the definitions and current developmental models of expertise. It presents the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP). The chapter proposes a new conceptual model linking passion to the development of expertise. It explores the practical implications of the model and suggests avenues for future research. The model also expands prior...

This article proposes that passion for music is an essential element in explaining the well-being of musicians. Based on the PERMA model of well-being and on research on passion for music, this article posits that being passionate about music, and more specifically holding a harmonious type of passion (HP), reduces music-related anxiety and enhance...

RÉSUMÉ Cette recherche étudie les liens entre motivation, participation aux activités de loisirs et adaptation de personnes âgées au centre d’hébergement dans lequel elles vivent. En accord avec la théorie de l’autodétermination , nous avons testé l’hypothèse que les profils les plus autodéterminés présenteront la meilleure adaptation, la plus gran...

Objectives Grounded in the basic psychological needs theory (BPNT; Ryan & Deci, 2017) and dualistic model of passion (DMP; Vallerand et al., 2003), the aim of the present study was to examine within-person variations in athletes' optimal functioning (i.e., positive and negative affect, athletic satisfaction, and quality of preparation and performan...

This study examined the relationship between harmonious and obsessive passion and athletic burnout and assessed the mediating role of need satisfaction and conflict as well as the role of passion for a second activity on burnout. Using a cross-sectional design, this research was conducted with endurance athletes (N=316) who filled out self-report m...

The purpose of the present study was to propose and test an academic persistence model incorporating the role of passion and persistence in students’ academic performance in sciences, intentions to pursue a science education, and overall psychological wellbeing. The model was based in relation to the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand et al., 20...

We used latent profile analyses to understand how the different forms of motivation proposed by self-determination theory combine with each other and how they relate to some organizational factors (i.e., perceived organizational support and procedural justice) and well-and ill-being indicators (i.e., work engagement, quality of working life, work s...

Objective: Passion research has focused extensively on the unique effects of both harmonious passion and obsessive passion (Vallerand, 2015). We adopted a quadripartite approach (Gaudreau & Thompson, 2010) to test whether physical and psychological well-being are distinctly related to subtypes of passion with varying within-person passion combinat...

The goal of this research was to examine passion as a determinant of mindfulness. Three studies were conducted based on the premise that harmonious passion (HP) provides access to adaptive self-processes, such as mindfulness, whereas obsessive passion (OP) limits such access. In Study 1 (n = 301), results revealed that HP and OP positively and nega...

In 2016, Pokémon Go became the most popular smartphone game. Despite the increasing popularity of this augmented reality game, to date, no studies have investigated passion for playing Pokémon Go. On the theoretical basis of the Dualistic Model of Passion, our goal was to investigate the associations between Pokémon Go playing motives, passion, and...

Qu’est-ce que le bonheur? Quels sont certains des facteurs qui peuvent contribuer à atteindre un tel état? Le but de cet article consiste à démontrer le rôle fondamental de la passion envers diverses activités dans l’atteinte du fonctionnement optimal. Dans ce cadre, nous présentons le Modèle dualiste de la passion (Vallerand, 2010, 2015; Vallerand...

Although the construct of passion goes back to the early times of philosophers, it has been largely neglected in contemporary psychology until recently. Passion deserves our attention because it reflects a reality for a majority of individuals in a variety of cultures and leads to important life outcomes. In this chapter, I address a number of issu...

Self-determination theory postulates various types of motivation can be placed on a continuum according to their level of relative autonomy, or self-determination. We analyze this question through the application of a bifactor-ESEM framework to the Academic Motivation Scale, completed by undergraduate (N = 547; Study 1) and graduate (N = 571; Study...

The goal of the present research was to examine the correlates of passion towards screen-­based activities. In two studies, we aimed to test the role of impulsivity as a predictor of obsessive (but not harmonious) passion for Facebook use and series watching. We also aimed to distinguish between problematic and non-­-problematic outcomes as pertain...

The Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) proposes two types of passion, namely harmonious passion and obsessive passion. The DMP posits that the activity becomes part of one’s identity. However, little research assessed how the two types of passion relate to identity. Two important facets of identity hypothesized to be associated with passion are ident...

Objective: The present research investigated the role of two sources of psychological need satisfaction (inside and outside a passionate activity) as determinants of harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP) passion. Method: Four studies were carried out with different samples of young and mid-aged adults (e.g., athletes, musicians; n = 648 in total)....