Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
2010, Vol. 98, No. 6, 917–932© 2010 American Psychological Association
0022-3514/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0018017

Passion for an Activity and Quality of Interpersonal Relationships:
The Mediating Role of Emotions
Frederick L. Philippe

Robert J. Vallerand

McGill University

Université du Québec à MontréalNathalie Houlfort

Geneviève L. Lavigne and Eric G. DonahueÉcole Nationale d’Administration Publique

Université du Québec à Montréal

Our purpose in this research was to investigate the role of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) for a given
activity in the quality of interpersonal relationships experienced within the context of that activity in 4
studies. Study 1 demonstrated that a harmonious passion was positively associated with the quality ofinterpersonal relationships within the context of the passionate activity, whereas an obsessive passion was
unrelated to it. Furthermore, in line with the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001), results also
showed that positive emotions experienced at work fully mediated the relation between harmonious
passion and quality of interpersonal relationships. Obsessive passion was not associated with positive
emotions. Study 2 replicated the results from Study 1 while controlling for trait extraversion. Also, inStudy 2, we examined the negative mediating role of negative emotions between obsessive passion andquality of interpersonal relationships. Finally, Studies 3 and 4 replicated the results of Study 2 withprospective designs and with objective ratings of interpersonal relationships quality. Implications for the
dualistic model of passion and the broaden-and-build theory are discussed.
Keywords: passion, interpersonal relationships, emotion, broaden-and-build theory

People who are passionate for an activity are often depicted as
being energetic and magnetic by others. The intense focus on theactivity, the energy, and the strong positive emotions that suchpeople experience and display often attract and inspire others toconnect with them. Thus, unsurprisingly, people highly involved inan activity are usually seen as very popular and come to develop
positive relationships with the people with whom they partake inthe activity. At the same time, people who are passionate for an
activity are also described as putting so much emphasis on theactivity that they come to experience stress and negative emotions.
When displayed, such emotions are likely to be a major turn off forother participants, thereby undermining the quality of relationships
developed within the purview of the activity. Thus, two possibilities are left: Does passion for an activity benefit or deteriorate
one’s quality of interpersonal relationships in that activity? Furthermore, do emotions play a mediating role in the quality ofinterpersonal relationships that passionate individuals come todevelop in that activity? Our purpose in this article was to examine
these issues, thus extending knowledge on passion, relationships,
and the social functions of emotions.

A Dualistic Model of Passion
If passion has been an important concept in philosophy throughout centuries (see Rony, 1990, for a review), it has received very
little attention in psychology until very recently (see Vallerand etal., 2003; Vallerand et al., 2007, on this issue). It is only in the last
few years that Vallerand and his colleagues (Vallerand, 2008;
Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003) have formulated a dualistic model in which passion is defined as a strong
inclination or desire toward a self-defining activity that one likes(or even loves), that one finds important (high valuation), and inwhich one invests time and energy. Passion is conceptualized as amoderate-level construct that is positioned at the contextual level,
between global (trait) and situational (state) levels (see Vallerand,
1997, for a theoretical account of the different levels of a threelevel hierarchy). A given construct at the contextual level refers toa relatively stable person–activity relationship that reflects how aperson typically behaves with respect to a specific activity (and notnecessarily with respect to all activities).1
In this theoretical model, it is proposed that there exist two typesof passion. The first type of passion is harmonious passion. A
harmonious passion refers to a strong desire to engage in theactivity that remains under the person’s control. This type of
passion results from an autonomous internalization of the activity
into the person’s identity (Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerand, Rous-

Frederick L. Philippe, Department of Psychology, McGill University;
Robert J. Vallerand, Geneviève L. Lavigne, and Eric G. Donahue, Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Comportement Social, Université du Québec à
Montréal; Nathalie Houlfort, École Nationale d’Administration Publique.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Frederick
L. Philippe, Human Motivation Lab, Department of Psychology, McGill
University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1,
Canada. E-mail: frederick.philippe@mail.mcgill.ca

1

See Vallerand (2008) and Amiot, Vallerand, and Blanchard (2006) for
a comprehensive differentiation between the dualistic model of passion andother related constructs. Also, see Philippe, Vallerand, and Lavigne (2009)
for a differentiation between obsessive passion and addiction.
917

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PHILIPPE ET AL.

seau, Grouzet, Dumais, & Grenier, 2006). An autonomous internalization occurs when individuals have freely accepted the activity as important for them without any contingencies attached to it(Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand, 1997). The activity is thus part of an
integrated self-structure (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). In such a case,the activity occupies a significant but not overpowering space inthe person’s identity and is in harmony with other aspects of theperson’s life. With harmonious passion, the person is in control of
the activity and can freely decide when to engage or not engage in
the activity and even when to stop activity engagement. The
activity is engaged in because of the pleasure that is drawn from it
and not from other extrinsic sources. An example of such a type of
passion would be a student with a passion for basketball who has
to study for an important exam the next day. Because this student
is characterized by a harmonious passion for basketball, if his
friends call to propose a basketball scrimmage, he will be able toturn down the invitation in order to study for his exam without
experiencing much conflict.
The second type of passion identified by Vallerand and colleagues (Vallerand et al., 2003) is obsessive passion. This type of
passion entails a strong desire to engage in the activity, which is
not under the person’s control. It is as if the activity controlled theperson. Obsessive passion results from a controlled internalizationof the activity into one’s identity (Vallerand et al., 2003; Vallerandet al., 2006). Such internalization originates from intra- and/orinterpersonal pressure because certain contingencies are attachedto the mental representations of the activity, such as feelings ofsocial acceptance or self-esteem. Thus, individuals like the activity
so much that they cannot help but to engage in it, due to a lack ofcontrol over internal contingencies that come to control the person
and preclude the experience of volition in activity engagement. To
go back to the above example, if the student has an obsessive
passion for basketball and his friends call to propose a basketballscrimmage, he will probably accept the invitation and go playbasketball, while feeling guilty for not studying. This conflicted
form of activity engagement should lead to a narrow range ofexperiences that can reduce the positive affective outcomes thatwould be normally experienced and can even increase negative
emotional experiences (e.g., guilt, anxiety).
Research has provided empirical support for the concept of
passion. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
supported the two-factor structure of the Passion Scale, an instrument developed to measure harmonious passion and obsessive
passion (e.g., Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand et al.,2006, Study 1). The Passion Scale was also shown to have highlevels of internal consistency as well as predictive, discriminant,construct, and external validity. Results on this scale revealed thatboth harmonious passion and obsessive passion were positively
associated with measures of activity valuation, perceptions of theactivity as a passion, time and energy investment in the activity,and inclusion of the activity in the self (Vallerand et al., 2003,
Study 1). Both types of passion were also found to be positively
associated with activity perseverance and performance (Vallerandet al., 2008, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1).
However, each type of passion has also been found to bedifferently associated with a variety of outcomes. Indeed, harmonious passion has been found to be positively correlated withpositive experiences such as flow and positive emotions (Mageau,
Vallerand, Rousseau, Ratelle, & Provencher, 2005; Vallerand etal., 2003, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2006, Studies 2 and 3), reduced
negative emotions (Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003,
Study 1), and higher levels of concentration during task engagement (Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1).
Harmonious passion has also been found to be positively associated with psychological adjustment indices (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2003, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2; Vallerand et al.,2007, Studies 1 and 2). Conversely, obsessive passion has beenfound to be positively associated with negative emotions duringtask engagement (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1), anxiety (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2003), and rumination when the person isprevented from engaging in his or her passionate activity (Ratelle
et al., 2004; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). In addition, obsessive
passion has been shown to negatively predict psychological adjustment indices (Rousseau & Vallerand, 2003, 2008; Vallerand etal., 2007, Study 2; Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2).
As can be seen from the above, several studies have provided
support for the dualistic model of passion as pertains to a variety
of intrapersonal outcomes. However, very little research has been
conducted at the interpersonal level. In fact, only in one study, to
our knowledge, have researchers looked at the role of passion ininterpersonal relationships. In this particular study, SéguinLévesque, Laliberté, Pelletier, Blanchard, and Vallerand (2003)
found that a harmonious passion for the Internet was associatedwith better dyadic adjustment in romantic couples, whereas anobsessive passion for the Internet was positively correlated withinterpersonal conflict in the couple. However, this study focusedon passion for the Internet and its consequences on couple adjustment and not on the quality of interpersonal relationships with thepeople with whom the activity is engaged in. Thus, the results from
Seguin-Lévesque and colleagues’ study only provide indirect support with respect to the role of passion in the quality of interpersonal relationships experienced within the purview of the passionate activity.
It is hypothesized that the two types of passion should lead todifferent levels of quality of interpersonal relationships in theactivity. As described above, harmonious passion derives from anautonomous internalization of the activity. The individual withharmonious passion is thus capable of a flexible engagement in theactivity that is conducive to a willingness to experience what is
occurring at the present moment (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). This
process should thus lead the person to more fully experience
positive emotions during task engagement (Hodgins & Knee,
2002). Past research has indeed found harmonious passion to bepositively related to positive emotions during task engagement(Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). In parallelto this, Fredrickson (2001) has proposed through the broaden-andbuild theory that positive emotions have the virtue of broadening
people’s thought–action repertoires and self, leading to the inclusion of other people in one’s self and, thus, to increased closenessand relationship satisfaction with these other people (Aron et al.,
2000; Fredrickson, 2001; Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). Research
has shown that positive emotions experienced in a given context
facilitate the broadening of thought–action repertoires and self
(Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005; Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006),
leading to an increase in perceived similarities with others(Dovidio, Gaertner, Isen, & Lowrance, 1995; Johnson & Fredrickson, 2005) and in positive interpersonal relationships (Waugh &Fredrickson, 2006). It is thus posited that the experience of posi-PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

tive emotions triggered by harmonious passion should promote thequality of interpersonal relationships (Cappella, 1997; Shiota,
Campos, Keltner, & Hertenstein, 2003; Walter & Bruch, 2008).
Conversely, because it originates from a controlled internalization of the activity, obsessive passion should result in a rigid andconflicted impersonal functioning and in emotional defensiveness(Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Such a rigid and defensive style should
lead to self-closure from intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences (Aron, Aron, & Smolan, 1992), to a poor integrative experience during task engagement (Hodgins & Knee, 2002), and, thus,
to a negative emotional experience, while reducing the positive
affective outcomes that would have been normally experienced(Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Past research has indeed shown thatobsessive passion is either negatively related or unrelated to positive emotions but is positively associated with negative emotions
during task engagement (Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al.,2003, Study 1; Vallerand et al., 2006, Studies 2 and 3). In line withFredrickson’s (2001) broaden-and-build theory, negative emotions
are posited to lead to a narrowing of the thought–action repertoires
and self (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) and thus to poor interpersonal relationships (Levenson & Gottman, 1983; Waugh &Fredrickson, 2006). Therefore, the different emotional consequences of each type of passion might mediate the quality ofinterpersonal relationships experienced within the purview of thepassionate activity.

The Present Research
Emotions are often considered to serve important social functions (Frijda, 2006; Keltner & Haidt, 2001). Indeed, research has
shown that positive emotions represent critical ingredients thatfacilitate positive interpersonal relationships (e.g., Algoe, Haidt, &Gable, 2008; Walter & Bruch, 2008; Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006).
However, research is lacking on the personal factors that trigger
these positive emotions. As shown above, recent research on
passionate activities has gathered much evidence demonstratingthat having a passion for an activity in one’s life may lead to a hostof affective outcomes within the purview of the activity. In linewith the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001), it can be
expected that these affective outcomes may, in turn, influence thequality of interpersonal relationships with the people with whom
the activity is engaged in. However, such a passion– emotions–interpersonal relationships sequence has remained unexplored. Our
purpose in the present research was to examine this sequence. Fourstudies were thus conducted. In Study 1, we investigated whether
an association existed between passion and quality of interpersonal
relationships, with a sample of middle-age workers involved inchallenging and interesting positions that people can be passionate
about. We also aimed to test the mediating role of positive emotions in the relation between passion and quality of interpersonal
relationships. Our purpose in Study 2 was to replicate the results ofStudy 1 and to examine the mediating role of negative emotions,while controlling for trait extraversion. Finally, in Studies 3 and 4
we used prospective designs to replicate the results of Study 2 witha wider range of emotional and interpersonal measures, including
objective interpersonal relationships ratings.

919
Study 1

Study 1 had two purposes. First, we aimed to investigate
whether a link existed between passion and quality of interpersonal
relationships experienced in the course of a passionate activity. As
an initial investigation of this association, work has been selected
as an activity that people can be passionate about and that involves
interpersonal relationships. Second, we sought to determine thenature of the psychological processes involved in the relation
between passion and interpersonal relationships. In line with past
research with both the dualistic model of passion and the broadenand build theory, it was hypothesized that harmonious passion for
an activity (in this case the person’s work) should lead to theexperience of positive emotions within the context of that activity,
which in turn were expected to be conducive to the quality ofinterpersonal relationships with work colleagues. Conversely, inline with past research, it was hypothesized that obsessive passion
should be negatively associated with or unrelated to positive
emotions and, therefore, should not be conducive to the quality ofinterpersonal relationships.

MethodParticipants. Participants were 195 (97 females, 96 males,and 2 missing values) employees from the Greater Montreal,
Canada, area working in challenging positions in education asteachers or in administration as managers. These work positions
were selected, as they were very likely to be in a passionate
profession. Participants were 42 years old on average (SD ⫽ 9.68
years). They had occupied their position for an average of 11.41
years (SD ⫽ 8.78 years) and were working, on average, 32.87 hr
per week (SD ⫽ 8.44 hr).
Measures.
Passion. The Passion Scale (Vallerand et al., 2003) was administered to assess the type of passion that characterizes participants’ work. The Passion Scale is composed of two subscales of
six items, each assessing a precise type of passion: harmonious
passion and obsessive passion. Each item is responded to on a
7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (do not agree at all) to 7(completely agree). Sample items for obsessive passion are “I havedifficulties controlling my urge to do my work” or “I have almost
an obsessive feeling for my work,” whereas sample items forharmonious passion are “The new things that I discover in mywork allow me to appreciate it even more” or “My activity is inharmony with other things that are part of me.” Alphas in thisstudy were .79 for each of the two subscales.2
Positive emotions. Two items from the Work Affective andCognitive Consequences Scale (WACCS; Blais & Vallerand,1991) were used to measure positive emotions experienced at work
(happy and in a good mood). Participants were asked to rate the2Participants also indicated on an item ranging from 1 (do not agree atall) to 7 (completely agree) the extent to which their work was a passion
for them. In this study, 61% of the participants reported being passionate
about their work (a rating of 4 and up according to Vallerand and colleagues’ (Vallerand et al., 2003) passion criterion. In addition, results were
exactly the same with and without the participants who indicated being lessthan moderately passionate for their work. Thus, all participants were kept
in the analyses.

PHILIPPE ET AL.

920

extent to which they experienced each emotion on a 7-point Likert
scale (1 ⫽ do not agree at all, 7 ⫽ very strongly agree), according
to the stem “In general, when I do my work I realize that I am—”Alpha was .70.
The Quality of Interpersonal Relationships Scale (QIRS; Sénécal, Vallerand, & Vallières, 1992) is composed of four items
responded to on a 5-point Likert scale (0 ⫽ not at all, 4 ⫽extremely). Participants were asked to indicate to what extent therelationships they have with the people at work are enriching, aresatisfying, are harmonious, and inspire trust. Adequate validity andreliability indices have been reported for this scale (see Sénécal etal., 1992). Alpha in this study was .91.
Procedure. Workers were reached through internal mail attheir workplace. A written letter asked them whether they would
be interested in completing a short questionnaire. Participants weretold that the purpose of the questionnaire was to learn more about
what is satisfying and what is not satisfying at work. They were
informed that they were free to participate or not and that theiranswers would remain anonymous and would never be sent to theirsupervisor or to anyone in their company or institution. All questionnaires were returned in a preaddressed and stamped envelope.

Results and Discussion
Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and correlationsof all study variables. To assess the relation between passion andquality of interpersonal relationships experienced during activity
engagement (work), a multiple regression analysis was conducted.
The quality of interpersonal relationships served as the dependent
variable in the regression analysis, and the two types of passion
served as predictor variables. Finally, because a higher number ofhours worked weekly may lead to better interpersonal relationships, this variable was controlled for in the analysis. Results of theregression yielded a significant model, F(3, 191) ⫽ 6.82, p ⬍ .000,
R2 ⫽ .10. Results also uncovered that harmonious passion was asignificant predictor of quality of interpersonal relationships (␤ ⫽.28, p ⬍ .001). Obsessive passion was not associated with qualityof interpersonal relationships (␤ ⫽ ⫺.02, ns). The number of hours
worked weekly was also significant (␤ ⫽ .16, p ⬍ .05).
The second hypothesis stated that positive emotions should
mediate the relation between harmonious passion and quality ofinterpersonal relationships. To test this model, a path analysis was
conducted with LISREL 8.54 (Jöreskog & Sörborm, 2003). The
covariance matrix served as the database for the path analysis andthe method of estimation was maximum likelihood. All the pathanalyses conducted in the present research were performed withthis software and this method. The present model was composed ofthree exogenous variables (harmonious passion, obsessive passion,and number of hours worked weekly) and two endogenous variables (positive emotions and quality of interpersonal relationships). The paths were drawn according to the hypotheses presented above. In addition, because the time spent at work may lead
to better interpersonal relationships with work colleagues, a positive path between number of hours worked weekly and quality ofinterpersonal relationships was added.
Results of the path analysis revealed a satisfactory fit to the data,␹2(3, N ⫽ 195) ⫽ 1.56, p ⫽ .67, normed fit index (NFI) ⫽ 1.00,
non-normed fit index (NNFI) ⫽ 1.00, comparative fit index(CFI) ⫽ 1.00, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) ⫽ .00 [.00; .094], goodness-of-fit index (GFI) ⫽ 1.00,
standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR) ⫽ .022. As
shown in Figure 1, all estimated paths were significant at least atp ⬍ .05, except for the path between obsessive passion andpositive emotions that was nonsignificant (␤ ⫽ ⫺.05, ns). Inspection of the correlation residuals revealed that all were nonsignificant, indicating that additional paths would not be significant andwould not improve the model fits (Kline, 2005). In addition, direct
paths from harmonious passion and obsessive passion to quality ofinterpersonal relationships were not significant, and their inclusionin the model did not affect the fit indices, ⌬␹2(2) ⫽ 1.26, ns, or thecoefficients of the hypothesized paths, thus suggesting mediation.
Bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% confidence interval estimates of
the indirect effect (see Preacher & Hayes, 2008; Shrout & Bolger,
2002) were then conducted to confirm the significance of thismediation of positive emotions between harmonious passion andquality of interpersonal relationships. Bootstrapping is a statisticalmethod that randomly takes a sample size of n cases from an
original sample to estimate the indirect effect and replaces thesecases into the original sample. This process is repeated 5,000
times, yielding 5,000 estimates of the indirect effect of X on Y.
These 5,000 estimates thus create a sampling distribution of theindirect effect, and a 95% confidence interval can be extracted
from it. Bootstrapped confidence intervals provide a more accurate
estimate of the indirect effect with small-to-moderate samples size,
compared with the Sobel tests (see Shrout & Bolger, 2002). The
indirect effect is significant at p ⬍ .05 if the 95% confidence
intervals do not include the value of zero. As seen in Table 2, thistest confirmed that the mediation effect was significant.
An alternative model tested whether the quality of interpersonal
relationships mediated the relation between harmonious passion
and emotions (passion 3 quality of interpersonal relationships 3

Table 1Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations: Study 1
Variable

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

1. Harmonious passion
2. Obsessive passion
3. Quality of interpersonal relationships
4. Positive emotions
5. Hours of weekly involvement

4.69
3.14
2.46
5.32
32.87

1.14
1.28
0.72
1.12
8.44

—
.45ⴱⴱⴱ
.27ⴱⴱⴱ
.55ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.07

—
.08
.20ⴱⴱ
.06

—
.36ⴱⴱⴱ
.14ⴱ

—
⫺.04

—

Note. N ⫽ 195.
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01.

ⴱⴱⴱⴱp ⬍ .001.

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

921

Figure 1. Study 1 path analytic model of the relations among passion, positive emotions, and quality ofinterpersonal relationships, controlling for hours of weekly involvement. Standardized path coefficients arepresented. Nonsignificant direct effect paths are not shown for the sake of clarity. However, the values of thepath coefficients are those of the full mediating model, including the direct effects of the independent variables
to the outcome variables. ⴱ p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

positive emotions). Results revealed that the fit indices of thisalternative model were very poor compared with those of the
hypothesized model, ␹2(3, N ⫽ 195) ⫽ 50.89, p ⬎ .000,
RMSEA ⫽ .288 [0.22; 0.36], CFI ⫽ .60, NFI ⫽ .61, SRMR ⫽ .13.
In addition, modification indices suggested the inclusion of a pathfrom harmonious passion to positive emotions. These are clear
evidence that the hypothesized model should be preferred. The
model with positive emotions predicting both passion and interpersonal relationships would represent an equivalent model (equal
fit indices) and inversing the whole original path (interpersonal
relationships 3 positive emotions 3 passion) would also appear
plausible. Past research, however, has consistently shown that
passion is a predictor of the consequences of passionate activity
engagement and is not an outcome per se (for a review see
Vallerand, 2008; see also Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay,
2008, for a cross-lagged panel study that provides empirical support for the present position).
In sum, as predicted, harmonious passion was positively related
to positive emotions that were in turn associated with positive
quality of interpersonal relationships at work. Conversely, obsessive passion was not associated with either positive emotions or
quality of interpersonal relationships at work. Thus, overall, thepresent findings provide preliminary support for positive emotions
as the psychological process responsible for the positive relation
between harmonious passion and quality of interpersonal relationships.

positively predict the quality of interpersonal relationships, evenwhen controlling for trait extraversion, whereas obsessive passion
would be unrelated to the quality of interpersonal relationships.
Study 1 had only two items with which to assess positive
emotions, and those items did not clearly distinguish emotions
from mood. Thus, a second purpose in Study 2 was to replicate thefindings of Study 1 with a more standard measure of positive
emotions (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule [PANAS]
MacKinnon et al., 1999). A third goal was to assess negative
emotions, to disentangle the role of both positive emotions andnegative emotions in interpersonal relationships. In line with Study
1, it was proposed that harmonious passion for an activity should
lead to the experience of positive emotions within the context ofthat activity. These positive emotions were expected, in turn, to be
conducive to quality of interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, inline with past passion research (see Vallerand, 2008), it waspredicted that harmonious passion should be negatively associatedwith negative emotions. On the other hand, in line with Study 1, it
was hypothesized that obsessive passion for an activity should beunrelated to positive emotions and to the quality of interpersonal
relationships. In addition, it was also predicted that obsessive
passion should be positively associated with negative emotions(e.g., Mageau et al., 2005; Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1). which
in turn should be negatively related to the quality of interpersonal
relationships (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). Finally, it was further
predicted that these mediation effects should not be altered by trait
extraversion.

Study 2
Study 2 had three purposes. First, to determine more clearly
whether the results obtained in Study 1 were indeed due to passion
for an activity and not to the mere result of a positive interpersonal
orientation, we replicated Study 1, this time controlling for trait
extraversion. Controlling for extraversion was deemed importantbecause extraversion has been shown to be associated with both
positive emotional experiences and positive interpersonal relationships (Costa & McCrae, 1980; Watson & Clark, 1997). In line with
Study 1, it was first hypothesized that harmonious passion would

MethodParticipants. Participants were 266 (174 females, 92 males)
French-Canadian undergraduate students from a university in Quebec, Canada. Because we were interested in the quality of interpersonal relationships within the context of a passionate activity,
participants who reported engaging in their activity alone were
removed from this analysis (n ⫽ 77). A total of 12 participants
were also dropped from the analysis because of several missing
data. The final sample was composed of 177 participants (M ⫽

PHILIPPE ET AL.

922

Table 2
Bias-Corrected Bootstrapped Estimates of the Mediations ofStudies 1– 4
ModelStudy 1HP 3 PE 3 Positive QIRStudy 2HP 3 PE 3 Positive QIR
HP 3 NE 3 Positive QIR
OP 3 NE 3 Positive QIRStudy 3HP 3 PE 3 Athletes’ positive ratings
HP 3 PE 3 Coaches’ positive ratings
HP 3 NE 3 Athletes’ positive ratings
HP 3 NE 3 Coaches’ positive ratings
OP 3 NE 3 Athletes’ positive ratings
OP 3 NE 3 Coaches’ positive ratings
Study 4
HP 3 PE 3 Connectedness
HP 3 PE 3 Seclusion
HP 3 PE 3 Teammates’ positive ratings
HP 3 PE 3 Teammates’ negative ratings
HP 3 NE 3 Connectedness
HP 3 NE 3 Seclusion
HP 3 NE 3 Teammates’ positive ratings
HP 3 NE 3 Teammates’ negative ratings
OP 3 NE 3 Connectedness
OP 3 NE 3 Seclusion
OP 3 NE 3 Teammates’ positive ratings
OP 3 NE 3 Teammates’ negative ratings

Bias-corrected bootstrapped
95% CI estimates
关.178, .259兴ⴱ关.059, .124兴ⴱ
关.004, .053兴ⴱ关⫺.023, ⫺.008兴ⴱ关.149, .265兴ⴱ
关.064, .273兴ⴱ关.026, .079兴ⴱ关⫺.002, .142兴
关⫺.230, ⫺.088兴ⴱ关⫺.593, .007兴
关.117, .166兴ⴱ关⫺.091, ⫺.055兴ⴱ关.440, .565兴ⴱ—关⫺.004, .098兴
关⫺.098, .004兴
—关⫺.09, .004兴
关⫺.158, ⫺.011兴ⴱ关.013, .159兴ⴱ—
关.001, .014兴ⴱ

Note. Dashes indicate that in these cases, the beta path (i.e., the association between the mediator and the outcome) was not significant. CI ⫽confidence interval; HP ⫽ harmonious passion; OP ⫽ obsessive passion;
PE ⫽ positive emotions; NE ⫽ negative emotions; QIR ⫽ quality ofinterpersonal relationships.
ⴱp ⬍ .05.

26.0 years, SD ⫽ 7.43 years) who engaged in their passionate
activity for 8.21 hr per week (SD ⫽ 10.62 hr per week) on average
and who had been engaging in it for 57.48 months (SD ⫽ 74.50
months) on average.
Measures.
The Passion Scale. The Passion Scale was again administeredin order to assess the type of passion that characterizes a highly
valued activity engaged in by the participants. Participants wereasked to list an activity that they love and value and in which spend
a considerable amount of time and energy (e.g., basketball, acting,playing pool). They were then asked to complete the scale whilereferring to this activity (e.g., “I have difficulties controlling myurge to do my activity” or “I have almost an obsessive feeling formy activity”). Alphas for the sample of this study were .80 and .85,
respectively, for the harmonious passion and the obsessive passion
subscales. Similarly to the Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 1) activity
classification, listed activities in this study included team sports (e.g.,
playing basketball, hockey, football: 58%), leisure (e.g., listening
to music, gardening, playing pool: 20%), active arts (e.g., painting,photography, theater: 12%), education and/or work (e.g., part-time
work, teaching: 5%), and interpersonal activities (e.g., being withfriends or family: 5%).3
PANAS. A short, 10-item version (MacKinnon et al., 1999) of
the PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was used to assessparticipants’ emotions while engaging in the activity. Five items
pertained to positive emotions (e.g., enthusiastic, determined) andfive items pertained to negative emotions (e.g., nervous, upset). Allemotion items were responded to on a 5-point Likert scale ranging
from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). A factorial
analysis with the selected 10 emotions, with a varimax rotation,yielded two factors accounting for 61% of the variance, thus
preserving the orthogonal structure of the original full-scale version (see MacKinnon et al., 1999, for further evidence of validity
and reliability for this short scale). Alphas for this brief version
were .80 for the positive emotions subscale and .84 for the negative emotions subscale.
The Quality of Interpersonal Relationships Scale. The Quality of Interpersonal Relationships Scale (Sénécal et al., 1992) was
also used in the present study (␣ ⫽ .92).
Extraversion. A short version (12 items) of the extraversion
subscale of the NEO Personality Inventory—Revised (Costa &McCrae, 1992) was also completed by participants on a 5-point
Likert scale (1 ⫽ strongly disagree, and 5 ⫽ strongly agree).
Sample items are “I like to have a lot of people around me” and “Ilaugh easily.” Alpha in this study was .82.
Procedure. Participants were told that the purpose of thestudy was to find out more about participants’ favorite activity. It
was also mentioned that participation was voluntary and anonymous and that responses would remain confidential. Participants
were first asked to complete the Passion Scale and to mention thenumber of hours per week they were engaging in their activity andwhether they were practicing it alone or with other people. If they
were practicing it with other people, participants reported withhow many people they were typically engaging in their activity.
Participants then completed the emotions inventory and the Quality of Interpersonal Relationships Scale. All items for both scales
were referring to the chosen passionate activity. Finally, participants completed the extraversion scale.

Results and Discussion
Table 3 reports the means, standard deviations, and correlationsof all study variables. To assess the relation between passion andquality of interpersonal relationships experienced during activity
engagement, we conducted a multiple regression analysis. The
quality of interpersonal relationships served as the dependent
variable, and the two types of passion served as predictor variables, controlling for number of hours of weekly involvement in
the passionate activity and for extraversion. Results of the regression yielded a significant model, F(4, 261) ⫽ 7.95, p ⬍ .000, R2 ⫽.16. Results revealed that harmonious passion was a significant
3
Results showed that there were no differences among types of activity
and all study variables, except on positive emotions, F(4, 172) ⫽ 4.23, p ⬍.01. Participants passionate for a team sports activity reported higher levelsof positive emotions compared with those passionate for a leisure activity,t(137) ⫽ 3.45, p ⬍ .05. However, team sports and leisure did not differ
from any other category. Therefore, no further analyses were conductedwith respect to activity categories. Correlations between the number ofpeople with whom the activity was engaged in and the passion and thequality of interpersonal relationships were not significant, but it was
positively associated with positive emotions (r ⫽ .17, p ⬍ .05). Controllingfor number of people did not affect the results of this study.

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

923

Table 3Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations: Study 2
Variable

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1. Harmonious passion
2. Obsessive passion
3. Quality of interpersonal relationships
4. Positive emotions
5. Negative emotions
6. Extraversion
7. Hours of weekly involvementa

5.50
2.29
3.23
3.99
1.77
3.76
8.21

1.00
1.22
0.69
0.83
0.83
0.57
10.62

—
.14ⴱ
.25ⴱⴱⴱ
.60ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.13ⴱ
.22ⴱⴱ
.13ⴱ

—
⫺.06
.15ⴱ
.19ⴱⴱ
⫺.06
.26ⴱⴱ

—
.34ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.15ⴱ
.33ⴱⴱⴱ
.06—.05.33ⴱⴱⴱ
.06

—
⫺.11
.16ⴱ

—
⫺.09

—

Note. N ⫽ 177.
aNontransformed means and standard deviations are presented.
ⴱp ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

predictor of quality of interpersonal relationships (␤ ⫽ .19, p ⬍.05). Obsessive passion was not associated with quality of interpersonal relationships (␤ ⫽ ⫺.09, ns), nor was the number ofminutes of weekly involvement (␤ ⫽ .09, ns). These results
replicate the findings of Study 1, this time with trait extraversion
controlled for (␤ ⫽ .29, p ⬍ .01).
Our second hypothesis was that positive emotions experienced
during the activity would mediate the relation between harmonious
passion and quality of interpersonal relationships, whereas negative emotions would mediate the relations between obsessive passion and quality of interpersonal relationships. Given past research(e.g., Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1) and the results of Study 1,
obsessive passion was not expected to be associated with positive
emotions, but harmonious passion was hypothesized to be negatively associated with negative emotions. To test this model, we
conducted a path analysis. Trait extraversion and the number ofminutes of weekly involvement were added to the model as exogenous variables, to serve as control variables. Paths were also
drawn from extraversion to positive emotions and from extraversion to quality of interpersonal relationships because research has
shown that extraversion is usually associated with both of thesevariables (Costa & McCrae, 1980; Watson & Clark, 1997). Positive and negative emotions and quality of interpersonal relationships served as endogenous variables, and a covariance was estimated between positive emotions and negative emotions.
Results of the path analysis revealed a satisfactory fit of themodel to the data, ␹2(6, N ⫽ 177) ⫽ 7.26, p ⫽ .30, NFI ⫽ .96,
NNFI ⫽ .97, CFI ⫽ .99, RMSEA ⫽ .035 [.00; .109], GFI ⫽ .99,
SRMR ⫽ .033. As shown in Figure 2, all estimated paths weresignificant at least at p ⬍ .05, except for the path between numberof hours involved weekly and quality of interpersonal relationships, which was not significant (␤ ⫽ .09, ns). Inspection of the

Figure 2. Study 2 path analytic model of relations among passion, positive and negative emotions, and qualityof interpersonal relationships, controlling for extraversion and hours of weekly involvement. Standardized pathcoefficients are presented. Nonsignificant direct effect paths are not shown for the sake of clarity. However, thevalues of the path coefficients are those of the full mediating model, including the direct effects of the
independent variables to the outcome variables. ⴱ p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

PHILIPPE ET AL.

924

correlation residuals revealed that all were nonsignificant, thus
indicating that no additional path was significant (Kline, 2005). In
addition, direct paths from harmonious passion and obsessive
passion to quality of interpersonal relationships were not significant, and their inclusion in the model did not affect the fit indices,⌬␹2(2) ⫽ 1.66, ns, or the coefficients of the hypothesized paths,
thus suggesting mediation. Bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% confidence interval estimates confirmed the significance of the mediation of positive emotions between harmonious passion and quality of interpersonal relationships and of negative emotions between
both obsessive passion and harmonious passion and quality ofinterpersonal relationships (see Table 2).
An alternative model tested whether the quality of interpersonal
relationships mediated the relation between harmonious passion
and emotions (passion 3 quality of interpersonal relationships 3
emotions). Results revealed that the fit indices of this alternativemodel were very poor compared with those of the hypothesizedmodel, ␹2(7, N ⫽ 177) ⫽ 66.15, p ⬎ .000, RMSEA ⫽ .22 [0.17;
0.27], CFI ⫽ .58. NFI ⫽ .59, SRMR ⫽ .12.
Results of Study 2 supported our hypotheses. First, they showedthat harmonious passion was again positively associated with thequality of interpersonal relationships during activity engagement,even when controlling for trait extraversion, whereas obsessive
passion was found to be unrelated to quality of interpersonal
relationships. Second, results also supported the mediation hypotheses because they revealed that the association between harmonious passion and quality of interpersonal relationships was totally
mediated by the experience of positive emotions during activity
engagement. Such a pattern was not found for obsessive passion,as findings revealed that it was unrelated to either the experienceof positive emotions during activity engagement or to the qualityof interpersonal relationships. Finally, results indicated that negative emotions were a significant mediator between both obsessive
passion and harmonious passion and interpersonal relationships.

Study 3
There were three purposes to Study 3. First, we aimed at
replicating the results of Study 2 while using a prospective design.
Specifically, in Study 3 we investigated how passionate basketball
players attending a 5-day basketball summer camp developed
interpersonal relationships with other people (coach, teammates,and players of the other teams) throughout the camp. One important limitation of Studies 1 and 2 was that interpersonal relationships ratings were obtained once the passionate people and theiractivity partners were accustomed to engaging in the activity
together. Therefore, the prior quality of their relationships might
have influenced passion ratings over time. The prospective designof Study 3 and the fact that basketball players did not know eachother prior to the camp represent two important improvements
over Studies 1 and 2 because they rule out the possibility that
passion was determined by the quality of preexisting relationships.
A second purpose of Study 3 was to broaden the assessment ofinterpersonal relationships quality. Thus, the self– other overlap(Aron et al., 1992) interpersonal measure was used with theaddition of the positive quality of the relationships (as in Studies 1
and 2). In addition, all of these relationships elements were examined for each type of person engaging in the activity with theplayers (coach, teammates, and players of the other teams). In

Study 3 we also sought to investigate the perspective of otherpeople with whom the passionate people engage in their activity.
Therefore, head coaches of each basketball team at camp (15teams) rated the extent to which each of his (all head coaches weremale) players engaged in positive interpersonal relationships withhis or her teammates, thus providing an independent and relatively
objective rating of the players’ relationships.
A third goal in Study 3 was to provide an improved examinationof positive and negative emotions at play during passionate activity engagement by use of a more extensive assessment of positive
and negative emotions.4 In line with Studies 1 and 2, it was
hypothesized that positive emotions would positively mediate therelation between harmonious passion and all positive interpersonal
dimensions, including the coaches’ objective ratings. On the basisof the results of Studies 1 and 2, we further predicted that obsessive passion would be unrelated to positive emotions. Furthermore,
it was hypothesized that negative emotions would mediate therelation between obsessive and harmonious passion and all positive interpersonal dimensions, including coaches’ ratings.

MethodParticipants. Participants were 160 (60 females, 100 males)
adolescents aged between 13 years and 17 years (M ⫽ 14.50 years;
SD ⫽ 0.92 year) who were taking part in a summer basketballcamp. They were typically (outside of camp) playing basketball,on average, for 8.08 hr per week (SD ⫽ 5.96 hr per week) and had
been engaging in it for 3.92 years, on average (SD ⫽ 1.84 years).
One female participant was removed from the analysis because ofincomplete data (analyzed n ⫽ 159). Participants in camp weremembers of one of 15 teams and were each assigned one coach.
All of these 15 head coaches also participated in the study.
Coaches were all male and were aged between 19 years and 31
years (M ⫽ 23.67 years; SD ⫽ 4.39 years) and had been coachingon average for 5.27 years (SD ⫽ 3.63 years).
Measures.
The Passion Scale. The Passion Scale was again administered. Alphas for the sample of this study were .66 and .83,
respectively, for the harmonious passion and the obsessive passion
subscales.
Positive and negative emotions. Positive emotions and negative emotions were each assessed with eight items derived from the
PANAS and from Izard’s differential emotional theory (Izard,
1977). All emotion items were responded to on a 5-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely).
4
We assessed emotions reflecting the dimensions of valence and activation, as proposed by Russell and his colleagues (J. A. Russell, 1980; Yik,
Russell, & Feldman Barrett, 1999). Specifically, a total of 16 items (fourper subscale) were used to measure high positive emotional activation (e.g.,
active), high negative emotional activation (e.g., angry), medium positive
emotional activation (e.g., joyful), and medium negative emotional activation (e.g., shy). Items assessing high activation levels were taken from the
PANAS, whereas the items measuring medium activation levels were
derived from the Izard differential emotional theory (Izard, 1977). There
was no difference in the hypothesized model as a function of the level of
emotional activation. Therefore, all emotional items for each valence(positive and negative) were averaged together and no specific hypotheses
were formulated with respect to activation levels.

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Alphas for positive emotions and negative emotions subscales
were .84 and .81, respectively.
Positive quality of interpersonal relationships. Positive quality of interpersonal relationships was measured with the Quality ofInterpersonal Relationships Scale used in Studies 1 and 2. It
assessed the quality of the interpersonal relationships with participants’ teammates (␣ ⫽ .86), coach (␣ ⫽ .89), and opponent
players during camp (␣ ⫽ .85). These items were responded to on
a 5-point Likert scale (0 ⫽ not at all, 4 ⫽ extremely).
Self– other overlap. The Inclusion of Other in Self Scale (IOS;
Aron et al., 1992) is a measure of perceived relationship closeness.
It is a single item designed with seven pairs of overlapping circles
ranging from 1 (no overlap) to 7 (almost complete overlap). For
each item, one circle represented the self (me) and the other circle
represented team players, the coach, or players of the other teams.
Participants were thus asked to rate the extent to which they felt
close during the camp to their teammates, their coach, and theplayers of the other teams by selecting the appropriate pair ofcircles.
Coaches’ ratings. The head coach of each basketball team
rated the extent to which each player appeared to be close to his or
her teammates during the camp using the Inclusion of Other in Self
Scale for each rating. The correlation between the players’ ratingsand his coach’s ratings was .27 for perceived interpersonal closeness with teammates.
All six positive interpersonal measures (quality and interpersonal closeness), relative to the teammates, the coach, and theother players, completed by athletes were averaged together (␣ ⫽.79) to yield one index labeled positive interpersonal relationships.5
Procedure. In the early part of the camp, each team composedof 10 to 15 players and the head coach were met in a classroom.
Participants were told that the purpose of the study was to better
understand the attitudes of basketball players and coaches toward
their sport. It was also mentioned that participation was voluntary
and anonymous and that their responses would remain confidential. Players were then asked to complete the Passion Scale. They
were also asked to indicate how many players of their team andplayers of the other teams they already knew prior to the camp andto specify whether they knew their coach before the camp began.6
Toward the end of the camp, participants were met in a classroom.
Players were asked to complete the emotions inventory and theinterpersonal relationships measures. The coaches were asked torate the extent to which each of their players appeared to be close
to the other players of the team during the camp. Afterward,
participants were fully debriefed and thanked for their participation.

Results and Discussion
Table 4 reports the means, standard deviations, and correlationsof all study variables.7 To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a path analysis. The two types of passion served as exogenous variables in the model. Positive and negative emotions andpositive interpersonal relationships served as endogenous variables, as well as coaches’ ratings for perceived interpersonal
closeness. A positive covariance was also estimated between these
two interpersonal variables because they were assessing the same
construct, but from a different perspective (self-evaluation vs.

925

observers’ ratings). In addition, in line with Study 2, a covariance
was drawn between positive emotions and negative emotions.
Results of the path analysis revealed a satisfactory fit of the modelto the data, ␹2(5, N ⫽ 159) ⫽ 6.12, p ⫽ .29, NFI ⫽ .96, NNFI ⫽.98, CFI ⫽ .99, RMSEA ⫽ .038 [.00; .12], GFI ⫽ .99, SRMR ⫽.043. In addition, correlation residuals were all nonsignificant.
Furthermore, all direct paths were not significant, and their inclusion in the model did not affect the fit indices, direct paths fromharmonious passion: ⌬␹2(2) ⫽ 0.96, ns; direct paths from obsessive passion: ⌬␹2(2) ⫽ 1.21, ns, or the coefficients of the hypothesized paths. Figure 3 shows the final path analysis. As can beseen, all estimated paths were significant, except for the covariance between positive emotions and negative emotions. Biascorrected bootstrapped 95% confidence interval estimates (seeTable 2) confirmed the significance of the mediations of positive
emotions between harmonious passion and athletes’ and coaches’
ratings as well as that for negative emotions between harmonious
passion and athletes’ ratings. The mediational role of negative
emotions between obsessive passion and athletes’ ratings was
significant, but that involving harmonious passion or obsessive
passion and coaches’ ratings was not.
An alternative model tested whether the quality of interpersonal
relationships mediated the relation between harmonious passion
and emotions (passion 3 quality of interpersonal relationships 3
emotions). Results revealed that the fit indices of this alternativemodel were very poor compared with those of the hypothesizedmodel: ␹2(5, N ⫽ 159) ⫽ 41.87, p ⬎ .000, RMSEA ⫽ .217 [0.16;
0.28], CFI ⫽ .71, NFI ⫽ .71, SRMR ⫽ .10. In addition, theprospective design of Study 3 rules out equivalent models, such as
positive emotions predicting both passion and interpersonal relationships (interpersonal relationships 3 emotions 3 passion),
because passion was assessed prior to all other measures andparticipants did not know each other prior to the beginning of thecamp.
Overall, results of Study 3 supported most of our hypotheses.
First, positive emotions experienced during the basketball camp5

It should however be noted that the results of the path analysis were allbasically the same when analyzing players’ interpersonal measures withthe coach, teammates, and other players, separately, as well as for eachrelationship dimensions (i.e., positive quality of interpersonal relationships
and perceived interpersonal closeness).
6
Correlations and results of the path analysis were exactly the same
when including the participants who reported knowing their coach and/or
one or more of their teammates or players of other teams prior to camp.
Thus, all participants were kept in the analyses.
7
As can be seen in Table 4, there was no significant correlation between
harmonious passion and coaches’ ratings. Although past recommendations(Baron & Kenny, 1986) suggested that for a mediation to occur thepredictor needed to be positively correlated with the outcome, recent
recommendations based on simulation studies proposed that this condition
should be dropped (MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, & Sheets,
2002), especially when the predictor is not measured at the same time as
the outcome (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). Indeed, in these latter conditions, thedirect effect tends to dilute itself over time, whereas the indirect effectbecomes more preponderant. Important conditions for mediation are thatthe alpha path (i.e., association between the predictor and the mediator) andthe beta path (i.e., association between the mediator and the outcome) areboth significant (also see Preacher & Hayes, 2008).

PHILIPPE ET AL.

926
Table 4Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations: Study 3
Variable

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. Harmonious passion
2. Obsessive passion
3. Positive emotions
4. Negative emotions
5. Athletes’ ratings of positive interpersonal relationshipsa
6. Coaches’ ratings of interpersonal closeness

5.74
3.48
4.03
1.57
0.00
5.24

0.71
1.37
0.58
0.53
0.70
1.27

—
.38ⴱⴱⴱ
.46ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.17ⴱ
.24ⴱⴱ
.12

—
.18ⴱⴱ
.14
.06
.01

—
⫺.06
.48ⴱⴱⴱ
.22ⴱⴱ

—⫺.20ⴱⴱ
⫺.18ⴱⴱ

—.30ⴱⴱⴱ

—Note. N ⫽ 159.
The mean and standard deviation are an average of z scores.
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

aⴱ

mediated (positively) the relation between harmonious passion andathletes’ assessment of positive interpersonal relationships developed throughout the week, as well as between harmonious passion
and coaches’ ratings of perceived relationship closeness. As in
Studies 1 and 2, obsessive passion was unrelated to positive
emotions. Second, there was a significant mediation for negative
emotions between harmonious passion or obsessive passion andathletes’ positive interpersonal relationships. As hypothesized, obsessive passion and harmonious passion, respectively, were significantly positively and negatively associated with negative emotions, which in turn were negatively and significantly associatedwith positive interpersonal relationships. However, negative emotions were not a significant mediator between harmonious passion
or obsessive passion and coaches’ positive ratings.

Study 4
There were several purposes to Study 4. The first purpose in
Study 4 was aimed at replicating the results of Study 3 with alonger prospective design. Indeed, in Study 3 we examined the roleof passion in the quality of interpersonal relationships in only a
5-day prospective design. Replicating Study 3 results within alonger prospective design will facilitate the interpretation of thestability of the relation between passion and development of interpersonal relationships. Specifically, in Study 4 we investigated
how passion for an academic domain (management, specifically)
influenced the development of interpersonal relationships over afull semester with other work colleagues within an academic work
team. A second purpose of Study 4 was to further extend the range
of interpersonal relationships measures. To improve on Study 3,
Study 4 extended the observers’ ratings to both positive qualities
and negative qualities of interpersonal relationships. In addition, in
Study 4 we also looked at two other dimensions of interpersonal
relationships, namely, feelings of connectedness and feelings of
seclusion (inability to establish interpersonal relationships), thus
assessing one positive self-reported measure and one negative
self-reported measure of interpersonal relationships, respectively.
Connectedness (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000) and seclusion (e.g., D.
Russell, 1996) are believed to be important dimensions of thequality of people’s interpersonal relationships.
In line with Studies 1–3, it was hypothesized that positive
emotions would positively mediate the relation among harmonious
passion, feelings of connectedness, and work colleagues’ positive
objective-interpersonal ratings. In line with past research (e.g.,
Barsade, 2002; Vallerand et al., 2003), it was also hypothesizedthat positive emotions would negatively mediate the relation
among harmonious passion, feelings of seclusion, and work colleagues’ negative objective-interpersonal ratings. Furthermore, inline Study 3, it was hypothesized that negative emotions would
negatively mediate the relation between harmonious passion andall positive interpersonal dimensions. On the basis of the results ofStudies 1–3, we also predicted that obsessive passion would beunrelated to positive emotions. In line with Studies 2 and 3, it was

Figure 3. Study 3 path analytic model of relations among passion, positive and negative emotions, and positive
and negative interpersonal relationships. Standardized path coefficients are presented. Nonsignificant direct
effect paths are not shown for the sake of clarity. However, the values of the path coefficients are those of thefull mediating model, including the direct effects of the independent variables to the outcome variables. ⴱ p ⬍.05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

927

Interpersonal seclusion from teammates. Participants’ feelings of seclusion within their work team were assessed with afour-item scale. Items assessed how much participants felt excluded and isolated within their work team (␣ ⫽ .65). A sample
item is “I felt that I was isolated from the members of my teamwork.” All items were responded to on a 7-point Likert scaleranging from 1 (do not agree at all) to 7 (completely agree).
Teammates’ interpersonal ratings. Participants were asked torate their perception of each of their teammate’s quality of interpersonal relationships with the other people in the work team.
Ratings were made on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (donot agree at all) to 7 (completely agree). Five items assessed
positive interpersonal relationships as perceived by the teammates.
A sample item is “This person had a true interest for the otherpeople in the team” (␣ ⫽ .84). Five other items assessed negativeinterpersonal relationships as perceived by the teammates. A sample item is “This person appeared irritable” (␣ ⫽ .66). Because thework teams were not composed of the same number of participants, teammates’ interpersonal ratings were made by one to fourcolleagues. To create the positive and negative interpersonal relationships rating variables, all existing positive ratings for one
participant were averaged together, and the same was done for thenegative ratings. Analyses of variance revealed that these teammates’ ratings as well as all other study variables did not differ asa function of the number of colleagues who evaluated them. In
other words, the number of people composing the work teams did
not influence the study variables, Fs(3, 182) ⬍ 1.85, ns.
Procedure. Participants were from management classes forwhich an important team project had to be completed over thecourse of the semester. Participants completed the Passion Scale atthe beginning of the semester. At that time, the work teams were
not yet formed. At the end of the semester, participants completed
measures of positive and negative emotions, felt connectedness
and seclusion within their work team, and rated each of theirteammates according to their positive and negative quality ofinterpersonal relationships with the other people in the work team.
It was clearly stated that the confidentiality of their answers would
prevail at all time.

predicted that obsessive passion would be positively associatedwith negative emotions, which would be, in turn, negatively associated with the positive interpersonal relationships variables. Finally, because negative emotions have been shown to lead tointerpersonal conflict (e.g., Barsade, 2002), it was hypothesizedthat negative emotions would positively mediate the relations
among obsessive passion, feelings of seclusion, and work colleagues’ negative objective-interpersonal ratings. Thus, taken together, it was expected that positive and negative emotions would
mediate the relations among harmonious passion and all fourinterpersonal relationships variables measured in Study 4 and thatnegative emotions would mediate the relation among obsessive
passion and all four interpersonal variables.

MethodParticipants. Participants were 187 (102 females, 85 males)
university students aged between 19 years and 49 years (M ⫽25.50 years, SD ⫽ 6.72 years) who were enrolled in a management
program. One female participant was dropped from the analysis
because her responses on two variables were located at more than
3 standard deviations of the distribution.
Measures.
The Passion Scale. The Passion Scale was again administered
to tap passion for an academic domain. Alphas for the sample ofthis study were .87 and .70, respectively, for the harmonious
passion and the obsessive passion subscales.
Positive and negative emotions. Positive and negative emotions experienced within the work team were each assessed withfive items derived from the PANAS and from Izard’s (1977)
differential emotional theory, used in Study 3. These emotions
were selected because of their likelihood to be experienced in an
academic work team (e.g., attentive, contempt). All emotion items
were responded to on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (veryslightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). Alphas for the positive andnegative emotions subscales were .84 and .74, respectively.
Interpersonal connectedness with teammates. Participants’feelings of connectedness with their teamwork colleagues wereassessed with a slightly modified three-item scale developed by
Sheldon and his colleagues (Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, & Kasser,2001). A sample item is “I felt I was close and connected with theother persons in my team.” Alpha in this study was .87. All items
were responded to on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (do notagree at all) to 7 (completely agree).

Results
Table 5 presents the correlation matrix with means and standard
deviations involving all study variables. The model was composedof two exogenous variables (i.e., harmonious passion, obsessive

Table 5Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations: Study 4
Variable

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1. Harmonious passion
2. Obsessive passion
3. Positive emotions
4. Negative emotions
5. Interpersonal connectedness
6. Interpersonal seclusion
7. Teammates’ positive QIR ratings
8. Teammates’ negative QIR ratings

4.93
2.52
3.94
1.55
4.16
2.89
5.12
2.09

1.12
1.01
0.63
0.63
1.44
1.08
1.28
0.88

—
.18ⴱ
.24ⴱⴱ
⫺.12
.14
⫺.12
.07
⫺.04

—
.04
.14ⴱ
⫺.01
.05
⫺.01
.03

—
⫺.36ⴱⴱ
.56ⴱⴱ
⫺.45ⴱⴱ
.27ⴱⴱ
⫺.14ⴱ

—
⫺.41ⴱⴱ
.55ⴱⴱ
⫺.16ⴱ
.24ⴱⴱ

—
⫺.51ⴱⴱ
.17ⴱ
⫺.12

—
⫺.15ⴱ
.15ⴱ

—
⫺.32ⴱⴱ

—Note. N ⫽ 186. All means and standard deviations pertain to untransformed variables. QIR ⫽ Quality of interpersonal relationships.
ⴱp ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01.

928

PHILIPPE ET AL.

passion) and six endogenous variables (i.e., positive and negative
emotions within the work team, connectedness, seclusion, andparticipants’ positive and negative ratings of their teammates’
quality of interpersonal relationships within the work team). The
exogenous variables were Time 1’s variables, and the endogenous
variables were all Time 2’s variables. Paths were specified according to the hypotheses, including paths from positive and negative
emotions to all the interpersonal measures. In addition, a positive
covariance was estimated between positive and negative teammates’ ratings and between participant’s felt connectedness andseclusion self-ratings, to account for common measurement methods (i.e., observers’ ratings vs. self-report). In line with Studies 2
and 3, a covariance was also estimated between positive emotions
and negative emotions. Results of this path analysis revealed asatisfactory fit of the model to the data, ␹2(13, N ⫽ 186) ⫽ 17.63,
p ⫽ .17, RMSEA ⫽ .044 [.00; .09], NFI ⫽ .95, NNFI ⫽ .97,
CFI ⫽ .98, GFI ⫽ .98, and SRMR ⫽ .035.
In addition, all correlational residuals in the model were nonsignificant. Furthermore, all direct paths were nonsignificant, andtheir inclusion in the model did not affect the fit indices, direct
paths from harmonious passion: ⌬␹2(4) ⫽ 4.80, ns; direct paths
from obsessive passion: ⌬␹2(4) ⫽ 9.06, ns, or the coefficients of
the hypothesized paths. As shown in Figure 4, harmonious passion
was positively and negatively associated with positive emotions
and negative emotions, respectively, whereas obsessive passion
was positively associated with negative emotions and unrelated topositive emotions. Positive emotions and negative emotions wereboth, in turn, significantly associated with all interpersonal variables. The only nonsignificant paths were between positive emotions and teammates’ negative interpersonal ratings (␤ ⫽ ⫺.06, ns)
and between negative emotions and teammates’ positive interpersonal ratings (␤ ⫽ ⫺.07, ns). Finally, it should be noted that all theabove results remained virtually the same when examining only

individuals passionate for management (i.e., 84% of the sample) or
when excluding from the analyses participants who reported beingat least slightly familiar with one of their teammates (n ⫽ 17). An
alternative model was used to test whether the quality of interpersonal relationships mediated the relation between harmonious passion and emotions (passion 3 quality of interpersonal relationships 3 emotions). Results revealed that the fit indices for thisalternative model were less adequate: ␹2(8, N ⫽ 186) ⫽ 17.94, p ⬍.02, RMSEA ⫽ .082 [.03; .14], CFI ⫽ .97, NFI ⫽ .95, NNFI ⫽.89, GFI ⫽ .98, SRMR ⫽ .06. In addition, the Akaike information
criterion (AIC) value used to compare nonhierarchical alternativemodels (Kline, 2005) revealed that the hypothesized model had alower value, AICo ⫽ 63.63, compared with the alternative model,
AICA ⫽ 73.94. Therefore, the hypothesized model with the lowest
AIC value should be preferred.
Table 2 provides the bias-corrected bootstrapped estimates examining the significance of each mediation. As in Studies 1, 2, and3, positive emotions were a significant mediator between harmonious passion and interpersonal relationships variables, except for
teammates’ negative ratings. Negative emotions were a significant
mediator between obsessive passion and both positive and negative interpersonal relationships self-report and teammates’ negative ratings, but not between harmonious passion and interpersonalvariables or between obsessive passion and teammates’ positive
ratings. Thus, positive emotions appear to be a stronger mediatorof harmonious passion, compared with negative emotions, whereas
obsessive passion appears to be better mediated by negative emotions than positive emotions. Finally, as mentioned above, positive
emotions did not significantly predict teammates’ negative interpersonal ratings, whereas negative emotions did not significantly
predict teammates’ positive interpersonal ratings. Therefore, no
mediation tests could be computed for these paths. It should be
noted, however, that for both of these relationships, their zero-

Figure 4. Study 4 path analytic model of relations among passion, positive and negative emotions, and positive
and negative interpersonal relationships. Standardized path coefficients are presented. Nonsignificant direct
effect paths are not shown for the sake of clarity. However, the values of the path coefficients are those of thefull mediating model, including the direct effects of the independent variables to the outcome variables. QIR ⫽quality of interpersonal relationships. ⴱ p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

order correlations were significant (see Table 5). The nonsignificance of their paths in the model might be due to a number offactors, including the fact that four interpersonal variables weremodeled together as competing covariates (some of these involving observers’ assessments), thus reducing the strength of theirassociations with nonsignificant results. However, overall, thepresent study provided support for most of our other hypotheses.

General Discussion
The present research had two major purposes. The first one wasto ascertain the role of passion for an activity in the quality ofinterpersonal relationships experienced within the context of that
activity. The second purpose of the present research was to examine the psychological processes involved in the relation between
passion and interpersonal relationships. In line with past research,
it was hypothesized that the experience of positive emotions during task engagement would positively mediate the harmonious
passion–interpersonal relationships relation but that obsessive passion would be positively associated with negative emotions thatshould positively and negatively mediate the relation between
obsessive passion and negative and positive interpersonal relationships, respectively. The present results provided support for mostof these hypotheses. Overall, the findings of the present researchlead to a number of implications.

Passion and Interpersonal Relationships
A first implication from the present findings is that they support
the application of the dualistic model of passion to interpersonal
relationships. It appears that the type of passion one has for an
activity matters with respect to the type of interpersonal relationships that one will develop during task engagement. Results of fourstudies showed that harmonious passion was indirectly positively
associated with positive interpersonal relationships within the context of an activity through the effect of positive emotions (Studies
1– 4), whereas obsessive passion was indirectly, negatively related
to them through negative emotions experienced within the context
of the activity (Studies 2– 4). Overall, these findings are very
robust because they were obtained with four different populations(teenage athletes, collegiate students, university students, andworkers), with a variety of activities, while controlling for trait
extraversion. In addition, the findings of Study 4 further showedthat obsessive passion was indirectly conducive to negative interpersonal relationships through experiences of negative emotions,whereas harmonious passion was negatively associated with negative interpersonal relationships through both positive emotions
and negative emotions. However, overall, the indirect effect fromharmonious passion to interpersonal relationships variables wasstronger through positive emotions, although it was much weakerthrough negative emotions. The present results are the first to showthat the type of passion one holds for an activity predicts thequality of interpersonal relationships within the context of that
activity. Such findings highlight the important implications that thetype of engagement in a passionate activity can have on oneself
and on other people. These intra- and interpersonal consequences
can be important in the context of sports teams, workplaces, or
social groups because they may affect other facets of an activity.
For instance, poor interpersonal relationships triggered by high929

levels of obsessive passion may negatively influence team unity,
productivity, and performance. Future research is needed on thisissue.
A second implication from the findings of the present researchis that they highlighted the importance of emotions as a mediatorof the passion– quality of interpersonal relationships relation. Specifically, harmonious passion and obsessive passion both appear toinfluence interpersonal relationships through different emotional
pathways. A first pathway is through the positive emotions experienced during activity engagement. Findings from four studies
showed that harmonious passion was positively associated withpositive emotions experienced during activity engagement. In addition, as posited by Fredrickson (2001; Waugh & Fredrickson,2006), positive emotions were found to be positively associatedwith positive interpersonal relationships and negatively associatedwith negative interpersonal relationships. Obsessive passion wasconsistently unrelated to positive emotions across all four studies.
Finally, as hypothesized, positive emotions were found to positively mediate all relations between harmonious passion and positive interpersonal relationships and to negatively mediate therelation between harmonious passion and feelings of seclusion(Study 4).
A second emotional pathway facilitated by passion appears to be
the negative emotions experienced during activity engagement.
Results showed that obsessive passion was consistently and positively related to negative emotions (Studies 2– 4), whereas harmonious passion was consistently, negatively associated with them.
Furthermore, Studies 3 and 4 showed that negative emotions
negatively mediated the relation between obsessive passion andself-reported positive aspects of interpersonal relationships (butnot between obsessive passion and objective positive interpersonal
relationships), whereas Study 4 showed that negative emotions
positively mediated the relation between obsessive passion andnegative aspects of interpersonal relationships. Harmonious passion was consistently, negatively associated with negative emotions, but negative emotions were a significant mediator between
harmonious passion and interpersonal relationships variables in
only two out of seven tests. Finally, positive emotions were foundthroughout Studies 1– 4 to be a much stronger predictor of positive
interpersonal relationships, whereas negative emotions seemed tobetter predict negative aspects of interpersonal relationships.
Therefore, it appears that they are two main pathways that affectemotional experience and interpersonal relationships with the people with whom the activity is engaged in— one from the harmonious passion and another from the obsessive passion. Dependingon the type of passion at play, one will experience very different
types of emotional experiences and, as a consequence, interpersonal relationships.
One explanation for these mediation effects is that harmonious
passion for an activity is well integrated within the self and theidentity and, consequently, allows for a flexible engagement in thetask (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). It thus becomes possible to experience task engagement more fully and with a willingness toexperience what is occurring at the moment. Such a flexible formof activity engagement facilitates the experience of positive emotions while engaging in the activity (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study
1; Vallerand et al., 2006, Study 2; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003).
These positive emotions then sustain the broadening of thethought–action repertoires and self (Fredrickson, 2001; Waugh &930

PHILIPPE ET AL.

Fredrickson, 2006), leading to positive interactive behaviors suchas smiling, joking, and encouraging others and to a true interest inother people (self– other overlap). Indeed, past research has shownthat such positive behaviors and attitudes create conditions that are
conducive to positive interpersonal relationships (Cappella, 1997;
Frank, Ekman, & Friesen, 1993; Shiota et al., 2003).
Conversely, an obsessive passion for an activity fosters a rigid
and conflicted form of activity engagement that is unrelated topositive emotions and may even be conducive to negative emotions (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 2; also see Vallerand, 2008),
thus leading to the narrowing of the thought–action repertoires andthe self (Fredrickson, 2001; Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006) and to aclosing off from others (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). This leaves
little space for the emergence of positive emotions and for relating
to others. Indeed, results from all four studies revealed that obsessive passion was not associated with positive emotions during task
engagement. In fact, it was positively related to negative emotions(Studies 2– 4). These negative emotional experiences appear topreclude external demonstrations of enjoyment and feelings ofself– other overlap, thereby leading to poor social interaction(Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). Indeed, negative emotions were
found to be negatively associated with positive interpersonal relationships and positively associated with negative interpersonal
relationships. Therefore, the findings of the present research underscore the fact that passion may lead to two types of emotional
experience— depending of the type of passion at play—and that
only positive emotions triggered by harmonious passion may leadto positive interpersonal relationships through a broaden-and-build
process. Conversely, the negative emotions produced by obsessive
passion appear to lead to negative interpersonal relationships.
Although most meditational effects were significant, some ofthem were marginally significant (see Table 2). In light of theseresults, and in order to provide clarity on these mediational effects,
a meta-analysis was conducted on the present four studies to
examine these meditational effects with more power. All selfreport measures assessing interpersonal relationships were combined and all objective ratings were combined, holding positive
and negative assessments separate for both self-report and objective ratings. Thus, the model hypothesized in Study 4 was tested on
the aggregation of all four studies data (Hunter & Schmidt, 2004).
Pooled correlations coefficients were calculated for all examined
relationships across all four studies. These correlations were theninput in a correlation matrix, which served as the database for thepath analysis (Hunter & Schmidt, 2004). The median sample size
among all examined relationships (n ⫽ 345) was used (e.g., Brown& Peterson, 1993).
Fit indices for this meta-analyzed path model were adequate,␹2(13, N ⫽ 345) ⫽ 22.28, p ⫽ .051, RMSEA ⫽ .046 [.00; .08],
CFI ⫽ .98, NFI ⫽ .96, NNFI ⫽ .96, GFI ⫽ .98, SRMR ⫽ .03.
Results revealed that all hypothesized paths were significant at p ⬍.05, except for the covariance between positive and negative
emotions. Sobel tests were then conducted to examine the significance of each mediational effect. Results revealed that they were
all significant (zs ⬎ 2.00). Therefore, it would appear that some
meditational effects did not reach significance in a single study
because their effect size was small and the power was not large
enough to detect them with a p below .05. However, when they
were examined with more power, they were statistically significant. Caution is advised with respect to the meditational role ofpositive and negative emotions between passion and negative
quality of interpersonal relationships because these latter interpersonal measures were only used in one study (Study 4).

Passion, the Social Functions of Emotions, and theBroaden-and-Build Theory
The present findings also lead to important implications for thesocial functions of emotions and the broaden-and-build theory(Fredrickson, 2001). The present series of studies extended past
research on these aspects in three ways. First, the present findings
suggest that passion for an activity represents an important igniterof the broaden-and-build (or the narrowing) process. It appears that
harmonious passion would facilitate a broadening process throughthe experience of positive emotions and through limiting negative
emotions. Obsessive passion would, however, be conducive to anarrowing process because of the negative emotions generated bythis type of passion. Therefore, passion appears to play a role intriggering the broadening and narrowing processes. A second
extension of the social functions of emotions and the broaden-andbuild theory is that the present findings underscore that various
types of positive and negative emotions, and not only interpersonalemotions such as gratitude or compassion, experienced in thecontext of a highly valued activity can lead to important interpersonal consequences. Indeed, various types of positive and negative
emotions were used across four studies, and each time, results
showed that these emotions had an impact on interpersonal relationships. Of additional interest is that the findings of Study 3 evenshowed that various emotions of different arousal levels were all
associated with positive interpersonal relationships. Thus, it would
appear that various types of emotion might possess social functions.
Finally, the present findings showed that various self-reported
emotions predicted interpersonal relationships as rated by external
observers. Studies 3 and 4 showed that players’ various positive
emotions were positively associated with the coaches’ ratings oftheir players’ interpersonal closeness with teammates (Study 3),
whereas students’ positive emotions positively predicted their coworkers’ ratings of positive and negative interpersonal relationships with them. Although, the present set of studies is not the firstto show an association between emotion and objective interpersonal
relationships ratings (e.g., Keltner & Bonano, 1997), the present
findings specifically highlight a potentially important extension of
the broaden-and-build theory: Other people can observe the consequences of the broadening and narrowing effects facilitated bypositive emotions and negative emotions, respectively. Therefore,
harmoniously passionate people, through the positive emotions
they experience, might come to display overt behaviors toward
others such as smiles of enjoyment, laughs, or physical closeness,
which would come to be perceived by others (Frank et al., 1993).
It might even be possible that observers reciprocate such positive
behaviors leading to social bonding with the target (Walter &Bruch, 2008). Future research is needed to look at the positive,
external interpersonal demonstrations (verbal and nonverbal) that
accompany emotions and examine their consequences on the development of the quality of interpersonal relationships.
Some limitations of the present research should be underscored.
First, all studies were correlational in nature. It is thus not possible
to establish the causality of the relations among passion, emotion,

PASSION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

and interpersonal relationship. Although the prospective designs
used in Studies 3 and 4 and the results of the various alternativemodels in Studies 1 and 2 provide additional support for theadequacy of the direction of the model passion 3 emotion 3
relationships, future research is needed in order to test the inverse
model, which remains plausible. Second, emotions in the present
research were all assessed with paper and pencil measures. In the
future, researchers might do well in extending the present findings
to include other types of assessment such as physiological measures or video recordings of interactions.
In sum, to go back to our introductory comments, it would
appear that passion for an activity leads to positive interpersonal
relationships within the purview of the passionate activity. However, such a positive effect takes place only if passion is harmonious. Indeed, an obsessive passion for an activity may evennegatively affect interpersonal relationships. Additional researchon these issues would therefore appear important.

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Received September 23, 2008
Revision received August 31, 2009
Accepted September 2, 2009 䡲