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Merged 2017 12 07T16 - 04 - 59.881Z
Merged 2017 12 07T16 - 04 - 59.881Z
Merged 2017 12 07T16 - 04 - 59.881Z
Passion Gaps:
Why People Quit Their Job in Pursuit of Work Passion
Jon M. Jachimowicz
Columbia University
Christopher To
Jochen I. Menges
Modupe Akinola
Columbia University
Author Note
We thank Erica Bailey, Kristen Duke, Adam Galinsky, Lilly Kofler, Shi Liu,
and Siyu Yu for helpful comments on an earlier draft, as well as Avalon Borg, Fatima
Ghedira, Zain Adam Kabeer, Joseph Kim, Thet Zaw Naing, Jane Selegean and
New York City, NY, 3022 Broadway, 10025, USA. Email: jmj2183@columbia.edu
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 2
Abstract
Existing research suggests that attaining passion for work involves engaging in
activities that people both “like” and see as “important.” We show that these two
components of work passion have opposing effects on whether people report passion
gaps, defined as the experience of having less work passion than desired. Through
five studies using correlational, field, and experimental designs, we find that people
who believe work passion means pursuing what they “like” (i.e., adopting a feelings
mindset) experience larger passion gaps, in comparison to people who believe work
passion means pursuing what they see as “important” (i.e., a values mindset). Feeling
less passion for work than desired holds organizational relevance: people suffering
from larger passion gaps are more likely to consider quitting their job. The current
Employees are switching jobs at record rates. Recent studies suggest that the
current generation of employees will move between jobs with an even higher
Management, 2000). Prior research suggests that one reason why employees desire to
quit their jobs is when their employment experience does not match their expectations
One expectation that employees hold concerns how passionate they wish to be
for their work and this expectation has grown in prominence in recent years (Bolles,
2009, Wolf et al. 2016). Passion has been defined as a strong inclination toward an
activity that people “like” and find “personally important” (Vallerand et al., 2003, p.
757). Higher levels of work passion have been associated with manifold positive
outcomes, such as higher perseverance, engagement, and performance (e.g., Burke &
Fiksenbaum, 2009; Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007; Ho, Wong, &
Lee, 2011; Zigarmi, Nimon, Houson, Witt, & Diehl, 2009). But the expectation to be
passionate for work is not always met. We propose that when employees experience
less passion for their work than they desire—what we call a “passion gap”—then this
expectation-experience discrepancy may lead them to look for a new job in the hope
In the current research, we examine the link between passion gaps and
turnover intentions, and investigate why employees experience passion gaps. Across
five correlational, field, and experimental studies, we find that the extent to which
work passion is more driven by feelings—how much they view their job as an activity
they “like”—or values—how “important” they perceive their job to be. Although
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 4
prior research suggests passion is a composite of liking an activity (i.e., feelings) and
finding it important (i.e., values; Vallerand et al., 2003), the current research shows
that people attain different levels of work passion depending on whether their pursuit
of work passion focuses on feelings or values. This has consequences for turnover:
we find that employees who primarily think of work passion as a feeling suffer from
greater passion gaps, leading to increased turnover intentions, in contrast to those who
intentions in several ways. First, we disentangle two different lay beliefs individuals
hold on work passion pursuit, thus providing more clarity on the theoretical construct.
Specifically, whereas prior studies combine the “like” and “important” aspects of
passion, we demonstrate these aspects have opposing effects: those who hold a lay
theory of work passion focused on feelings are more likely to suffer from passion
gaps, in comparison to those who focus on values. This feelings focus has
consequences for turnover intentions. Thus, people may benefit if they see work
of work passion. That is, rather than investigating the beneficial consequences of
higher levels of work passion—as prior research has commonly done (e.g. Ho et al.,
2011; Zigarmi et al., 2009)—we concentrate on the gap between how much work
passion people experience relative to how much work passion they desire. Thus, the
relative to how much it is desired: lower work passion may be more detrimental for
those who desire work passion more, thus leading to greater turnover intentions
among those who seek high levels of passion (Podsakoff et al., 2007).
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 5
Five studies investigate how different lay beliefs of work passion pursuit
affect passion gaps and, in turn, turnover intentions. We sample online participants
company (Study 1c), and provide a mini meta-analysis across these three samples
(Goh, Hall, & Rosenthal, 2016). Next, we manipulated lay beliefs of work passion
pursuit to provide causal support for the relationship between lay beliefs, passion
gaps, and turnover intentions, sampling MBA students (Study 2a) and online
Study 1a
Method
Mechanical Turk (MTurk; Mage = 35.81, 52.6% male). Our target sample size (100
Work Passion Pursuit Lay Belief. First, participants completed nine items
assessing their lay beliefs about the pursuit of work passion. We developed this scale
the value of pursuing work passion (for more details, see Supplemental Materials
available online). Participants were first given the prompt, “to follow my passion for
work, I believe it is important to…,” and then provided with nine items that included
“never be bored at work” and “feel like I never work a day in my life” (feelings); and
“explore what matters to me” and “identify aspects of my work that allow me to
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 6
strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). The scale was reliable (α feelings = .72; α values
= .92). A two-factor model (feelings and values) fit the data better than a single factor
model, thus suggesting the two measures are distinct (CFI = .85, RMSEA = .16, χ2(27)
= 92.75, p < .001; Δχ2 = 38.16, p < .001; see Supplemental Materials available online
passion gaps with a three-item measure. Participants rated their agreement with three
passionate for my work than I should be”, “I often feel as if I have to be more
passionate for my work”, and “I frequently feel obliged to be more passionate for my
two-item measure adapted from Chen et al. (2011). On a scale from 1 = strongly
think of quitting my job” and “I am planning to search for a new job during the next
12 months” (r = .78).
related to work passion (Perrewé, et al., 2014), we also measured intrinsic motivation
(e.g., in response to “Why are you motivated to do your work?”, items included,
“Because I enjoy the work itself”; α = .98; Grant, 2008), work meaningfulness (e.g.,
calling (e.g., “The work I do feels like my calling in life” ; α = .95; Bunderson &
TABLE 1
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Gender 0.47 0.5
(1 = female)
2 Age 35.81 11.19 .01
3 Feelings 4.56 1.20 .04 -.01
4 Values 5.60 0.99 .01 -.16 .47**
5 Passion Gap 3.43 1.52 -.09 -.02 -.10 -.52**
Turnover
6 3.27 1.79 .08 .01 -.11 -.47** .63**
Intentions
Intrinsic
7 4.47 1.87 -.08 -.08 .26* .56** -.49** -.67**
Motivation
8 Meaningfulness 4.33 1.80 -.13 -.06 .24* .47** -.44** -.63** .87**
Neoclassical
9 4.14 1.58 -.12 -.06 .23* .46** -.48** -.63** .89** .90**
Calling
Notes. * p < .05; ** p < .01
Results
Passion Gaps. We first regress passion gaps onto both feelings and values. As
Table 2, Model 1, shows, we find that higher levels of feelings endorsement were
contrast, individuals who endorsed a values theory were significantly less likely to
experience passion gaps (B = -.94, SE = .15, p < .001). Thus, individuals who
endorsed feelings lay beliefs reported marginally higher passion gaps, whereas
individuals who focused more on values experienced significantly lower passion gaps.
people’s desire to quit their job. To do so, we regressed turnover intentions on passion
gaps and find a significant effect (B = .74, SE = .10, p < .001), such that higher levels
(CI95% = [.005; .321]), such that individuals who endorsed a feelings lay belief had an
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 8
increased desire to quit their job through higher passion gaps. We also examined
iterations) indicate a significant indirect effect (CI95% = [-.711; -.204]), such that
individuals who endorsed a values lay belief had a decreased desire to quit their
significance levels of our results remain unchanged (see Table 2, Model 2). All VIFs
TABLE 2
Model 1 Model 2
Intercept 7.58*** (.78) 7.59*** (.79)
Feelings .24† (.13) .24† (.12)
Values -.94*** (.15) -.73*** (.12)
Intrinsic Motivation -.01 (.17)
Meaningfulness .04 (.18)
Neoclassical Calling -.33 (.21)
Adj. R2 .30 .34
†
Notes. Outcome Variable: Passion Gaps; n = 93; p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Discussion
Study 1a demonstrates that lay beliefs of work passion pursuit are associated
with passion gaps and turnover intentions. Participants who held a feelings lay belief
experienced larger passion gaps, and reported greater turnover intentions. In contrast,
those who focused on values had fewer passion gaps and indicated lower intentions to
Study 1b
Method
work passion as one of the core values in their company mission statement.
Employees were not paid for their participation, and received an invitation from their
subject group head to participate in the study. Based on Study 1a, we aimed to recruit
at least 100 participants, but continued data collection after this threshold was
Work Passion Pursuit Lay Belief. We used the same nine-item scale from
Study 1a to measure employees’ lay beliefs of work passion pursuit (α feelings = .65; α
values = .88).
statistics.
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 10
TABLE 3
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Gender
(1 = female)
0.48 0.55
2 Age 27.38 5.53 .03
3 Tenure 32.99 25.09 -.18* .39**
4 Feelings 4.52 1.09 -0.13 -.19** -.21**
5 Values 5.79 0.85 -0.06 -.18* -.23** .38**
6 Passion Gap 3.56 1.47 .00 -.04 .03 .08 -.14
Turnover
7 3.74 1.80 -.23** -.10 .14 .06 -.07 .42**
Intentions
Notes. * p < .05; ** p < .01
Results
Passion Gaps. We regressed passion gaps onto both feelings and values.
Employees who endorsed a feelings lay belief experienced greater passion gaps (B
intentions and find that higher levels of passion gaps are associated with an increased
iterations) of our indirect effects indicate that feelings increased turnover intentions
through higher passion gaps (CI95% = [.002; .231]), whereas values decreased turnover
Discussion
beliefs of work passion pursuit are associated with passion gaps, and in turn, turnover
intentions.
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 11
Study 1c
In Study 1c, we aimed to replicate the effects of Studies 1a-b in another field
setting with a broader variety of jobs to ensure our findings are robust to different
types of jobs.
Method
in Colombia, Latin America (Mage = 31.90, 59.05% male, mean tenure = 55.20
department to participate in the study and could complete the survey during their
work time. Based on Studies 1a and 1b, we aimed to recruit at least 100 participants,
but continued data collection after this threshold was surpassed because this was a
Work Passion Pursuit Lay Belief. We used the same nine-item scale from
Studies 1a and 1b to measure employees’ lay beliefs of work passion pursuit (α feelings
= .61; α values = .88). However, since the majority of employees were native Spanish
speakers, the survey was translated into Spanish. For this and subsequent measures,
TABLE 4
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Gender
(1 = female)
0.41 0.49
2 Age 31.90 7.58 -.12**
3 Tenure 55.20 97.04 -.05 .28**
3 Feelings 5.59 1.00 -.02 -.03 -.00
4 Values 6.28 0.76 -.00 .03 .04 .54**
5 Passion Gap 3.34 1.52 -.01 -.05 -.05 .05 -.07*
Turnover
6 2.94 1.81 .03 -.08* -.06 -.04 -.12** .61**
Intentions
Notes. * p < .05; ** p < .01
Results
greater passion gaps (B = .20, SE = .06, p < .001), whereas the endorsement of values
was significantly related to lower passion gaps (B = -.29, SE = .08, p < .001).
iterations) of our indirect effects indicate that feelings increased turnover intentions
through higher passion gaps (CI95% = [.061; .224]), whereas values decreased turnover
Discussion
(Viechtbauer, 2010). Since the measures and models were identical across all three
studies, point estimates and standard errors of the regression coefficients and indirect
effects model to test our hypotheses, as recommended by Goh et al. (2016). The
confidence interval around the effect sizes for both feelings ([.068, .179]; r = .123)
and values ([-.368; -.029]; r = -.200) on passion gaps did not include zero, thus
indicating that both are significant. Likewise, the indirect effects of feelings
([.062, .172]; r = .117) and values ([-.272; -.039,]; r = -.155) on turnover intentions
through passion gaps were also significant as the confidence interval around both
Discussion
Studies 1a-c provide robust evidence for the opposing effects of feelings and
values on passion gaps: individuals who endorsed a feelings lay belief reported higher
values lay belief reported lower passion gaps, and reducing turnover intentions.
Supporting the notion that work passion consists of both feelings and values,
the findings of Studies 1a-c also suggest a moderate positive correlation between
feelings and values. To determine the causal effect of emphasizing one more than the
passion pursuit lay beliefs to examine their opposing effects on passion gaps and
turnover intentions.
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 14
Study 2a
Study 2a provided both feelings and values work passion pursuit lay beliefs,
but emphasized that one is more important than the other, and tested whether this
Method
Participants and Design. We recruited 355 participants who had just started
their MBA program at a private East Coast university (M age = 27.59, 56% male). The
sample size was determined by the overall size of the class and the willingness of
indicated that English was their first language to ensure sufficient text
comprehension.
design: feelings over values, values over feelings, or feelings equal to values.
read the transcript of a highly passionate person giving a graduation address at their
local college (adapted from an actual graduation speech; see Supplemental Materials
available online). While all three conditions mentioned that the pursuit of work
passion requires attention to both feelings and values, the conditions differed on the
emphasis they placed on the feelings or values inherent in the pursuit of work passion.
In the feelings over values condition, the speech emphasized that a focus on feelings
is more important than values. An excerpt read: “In order to become more passionate,
you should first and foremost focus on doing work you enjoy.” In the values over
feelings condition, the speech emphasized that a focus on values is more important
than feelings. An excerpt read: “In order to become more passionate, you should first
and foremost focus on doing work you really value.” Finally, in the feelings equal to
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 15
values condition, the speech emphasized that feelings and values are equally
important in the pursuit of passion. An excerpt read: “In order to become more
passionate, you should therefore focus on both, doing work you enjoy, and doing
Passion Gaps. We measured passion gaps using the same three-item scale
used in our prior studies (α = .87). However, given that participants had just begun
their MBA program, questions began with the prompt, “Thinking about your last job
before you started your MBA...” and then read statements such as “I was less
passionate for my work than I should have been.” The scale ranged from 1 = strongly
“Thinking about your last job before you started your MBA... I often thought of
quitting my job.” The scale ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.
Results
Passion Gaps. An ANOVA with lay beliefs condition (i.e., feelings over
values, values over feelings, or feelings equal to values) as the independent variable
and passion gaps as the dependent variable shows a significant effect of condition on
passion gaps (F(2, 352) = 3.63, p = .028). Subsequent pairwise comparisons reveal
that participants in the values over feelings condition indicated significantly lower
passion gaps (M = 3.78, SD = 1.71) than participants in the feelings over values
condition (M = 4.33, SD = 1.51; t(353) = 2.68, p = .02, d = .28). The feelings equal to
values condition (M = 4.13, SD = 1.60) did not differ significantly from either the
values over feelings condition (t(353) = 1.67, p = .22, d = .0.18), nor the feelings over
FIGURE 1
4.5
Passion Gaps
3.5
3
Feelings Over Values Values Over Feelings Feelings Equal to Values
passion gaps reported greater intentions to quit their organization. Across conditions,
bootstrapped iterations and find that when comparing values over feelings to feelings
over values, the bias-corrected confidence interval does not include zero (CI95% =
[-.647, -.095]). The mediation is not significant, when comparing values over feelings
to feelings equal to values (CI95% = [-.531, .046]), or when comparing feelings equal
Discussion
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 17
Study 2a shows that when mentioning both the feelings and values of work
passion, where the emphasis is placed matters: when feelings feature more
prominently than values, passion gaps and turnover intentions are higher.
Study 2b
focuses on a stronger test between feelings and values. Rather than emphasizing both
of either feelings or values, and examined their effect on passion gaps and turnover
intentions.
Method
Participants and Design. Our target sample size (270 participants) was
determined before data collection began, based on the effect size of the difference
between the feelings over values and values over feelings conditions in Study 2a, to
male). Fifty-one participants (18.9%) failed our attention check, leaving a final
demographics between participants who failed the attention check and those that did
not (Age: t(487) = .51, p = .61, d = .05; Gender: t(487) = .13, p = .90, d = .01). We
present our analysis with and without participants who failed the attention check.
pursuit lay beliefs through a graduation speech either emphasizing that to achieve
more work passion, one should follow what one finds “fun,” “enjoyable,” or which
makes one “happy” (feelings), versus follow what reflects “obtaining clarity of
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 18
they “care about” (values) (see Supplemental Materials available online). For
example, an excerpt read: “The important point is thus: you need to have a strong
desire to work on things you enjoy [care about], and make sure you set aside time
each day to do what makes you happy [what you personally value].”
Results
Passion Gaps. A t-test on passion gaps shows that participants in the feelings
0.35; see Figure 2). When including participants who failed the attention check, the
= 1.88, p = .06, d = 0.23; M feelings = 4.43, SD feelings = 1.51; M values = 4.09, SD values =
1.52).
passion gaps reported greater intentions to quit their organization. Across conditions,
higher levels of passion gaps are related to increased turnover intentions both when
excluding (B = .60, SE = .07, p < .001) and including (B = .66, SE = .06, p < .001)
intentions through passion gaps. The bias-corrected confidence interval did not
include zero both when excluding (CI95% = [.072, .564]) and including (CI95% =
[.002, .457]; 5,000 bootstrapped iterations) participants who failed the attention
check. This suggests participants in the feelings condition reported increased turnover
condition.
Discussion
Study 2b conceptually replicates the results of Study 2a. Participants who read
a graduation speech emphasizing feelings were more likely to indicate higher passion
General Discussion
possess (Bolles, 2009; Wolf et al., 2016). When people fall short of their desired
levels of work passion, their expectations are not met and, consequently, they are
more likely to leave their organization (Podsakoff et al., 2007). Across five studies,
with both correlational (Study 1a-c) and causal designs (Study 2a-b), we find that lay
beliefs of work passion pursuit affect passion gaps and, in turn, their turnover
intentions. People who primarily held a feelings lay belief indicated higher passion
gaps and a stronger desire to quit their organization. In contrast, people who held a
values lay belief indicated lower passion gaps and a weaker desire to quit their
organization. Together, our studies provide some insight into why employees are
The distinct lay beliefs of focus (i.e., feelings and values) are conflated in the
academic literature. For example, Vallerand and colleagues (2003, p. 756) define
passion as both “a strong inclination toward an activity that people like” (reflecting a
feelings lay belief) and “that they find important” (reflecting a values lay belief). The
contained statements referring to both feelings and values lay beliefs. Our finding that
feelings and values lead to opposing effects on passion gaps, even when both are
mentioned (as in Study 2a), not only offers a more nuanced theoretical understanding
of work passion, but also provides important normative implications: people may
benefit if they see work passion as the enactment of personal values, rather than
constituting a feeling.
We also extend prior literature that has focused on work passion as an absolute
measure (e.g., being low versus high in passion; Ho et al., 2011; Zigarmi et al., 2009)
by investigating the outcomes of relative work passion (i.e., passion gaps). Employees
may vary in how much they desire passion for their work, and hence lower work
passion may have distinct consequences for different employees; for employees with
a higher desire to attain work passion, lower passion for work is more likely to have
have a lower desire for work passion. Emphasizing the importance of work passion—
as academic literature and public discourse increasingly espouse (Wolf et al., 2016;
Duckworth, 2016; Bolles, 2009)—may inadvertently increase passion gaps. This can
be detrimental for employees’ quest for a passion-filled job, and for organizations
We did not make ex ante predictions on why feelings and values lay beliefs
may lead to opposing effects on passion gaps and turnover intentions. However, prior
passion with a feelings lay belief, they pursue a fleeting emotional experience.
Because the joy individuals gain from tasks and events diminishes over time (Diener,
Lucas, & Scollon, 2006), individuals who focus on feelings will likely experience less
emotion than they desire. As Frijda (1988, p. 353) once noted, “continued pleasure
wears off.” Thus, focusing on the thrill of work passion likely highlights the
pursue work passion with a values lay belief focus on enduring underlying values.
Because values are stable cognitions, sometimes lasting over a lifetime, jobs that
reflect one’s values can provide a continuing fulfilling experience (Rokeach, 2008).
hardship, individuals holding a values lay belief may wish to see things through, even
when times are tough, and are less likely to quit their job. Future research is necessary
Conclusion
increasing (Benartzi et al., 2017). The current research suggests that passion gaps, and
values rather than feelings lay belief of work passion pursuit. Clearly distinguishing
between these two different lay beliefs of work passion pursuit appears crucial for a
generation that has developed a habit of job hopping in the pursuit of work passion
(Meister, 2012). How passionate people are for work may have less to do with their
job, and instead more with how they think work passion is obtained.
Running Head: PASSION GAPS 22
Author Contributions
J.M. Jachimowicz, C. To, J.I. Menges, and M. Akinola designed the studies
and wrote the manuscript. J.M. Jachimowicz and C. To conducted the experiments
and analyzed the data. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for
submission. In accordance with guidelines endorsed by the Center for Open Science,
we report how we determined our sample size in the supplementary materials. We did
not exclude any data points from our analyses, and we report all manipulations and all
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Pilot Study
We explored lay beliefs on how to attain work passion (e.g., if you do X, you will be
passionate for your work) by sampling popular narratives of work passion pursuits from
graduation addresses.
narratives for two reasons. First, graduation speeches occur at a pivotal moment in the life of
many young adults, just before many of them will begin their first job. Demarcating such a
personally relevant event, graduation speeches are likely to exert a considerable influence on
the development of people’s lay beliefs (Rawolle, Schultheiss, Strasser, & Kehr, 2016).
Second, graduation speeches are typically given by individuals of high status who are seen as
having reached the pinnacle of the aspirations harbored by audience members. As perceived
experts on the topic of achieving work passion, advice speakers give will be more likely to be
influential in the mind of the graduating college student about to enter the job market (Grier
To maximize the likelihood of identifying diverse lay beliefs about work passion
pursuit, we collected narratives on how to achieve work passion from 117 graduation
addresses from a variety of different university categories (e.g., doctoral versus non-doctoral;
public versus private; liberal arts versus not). These graduation addresses were chosen based
graduationwisdom.com).
Coding. Three independent raters coded the narratives for themes related to work
passion pursuits (for similar methods, see Grant, Berg, & Cable, 2014; Spielmann et al.,
2013). The coding was conducted in a data-driven fashion, such that themes emerged from
the comments on work passion pursuit provided by the graduation addresses (Braun &
Clarke, 2006). Each narrative received as many codes as were applicable, with coding
indicating either the presence or the absence of a theme. An average Cohen’s kappa
agreement between raters of .84 reflected reasonably good agreement overall (e.g. Landis &
Koch, 1977).
examples for both themes are summarized in Table S1. Speeches frequently contained
When discussing how to obtain more work passion, many statements in graduation
speeches made explicit claims that to become more passionate for work, one had to pursue
the feelings associated with work passion. These statements suggested that work passion is
obtained as a consequence of being “happy to do what you get to do,” “enjoying your work”
and “loving what you do.” We labeled this first category as pursuing work passion with a
feelings lay belief. It is the causal belief that being passionate for work is best pursued
through a quest for the feeling of being passionate, which a job must imbue.
passionate for one’s work required the pursuit of one’s values. The statements advocating this
“knowing what your values are,” and “dedicating time to pursuing a personally meaningful
value.” We labeled this second category as pursuing work passion with a values lay belief. It
is the causal belief that being passionate for work is best obtained enacting one’s value,
Percent
Theme reported Example
…following the feeling “[F]ind what you love to do, and pour yourself into it. You do not want to dread driving to work every day.
68.2
associated with passion. You'll be at your best, by the way, when you're happy. When you feel joy.”
…avoiding future regret. “And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to
42.7
be lived.”
…enjoying your work. 41.2 “These qualities bloom when we're doing what we love.”
…becoming content through
21.2 “Find your passion, and you will find joy.”
your work.
…pursuing euphoric
12.7 “Whatever you choose to do, do it with a childlike passion.”
experiences.
…exploring what is “You have to give meaning to your life. And to do so, you have to embrace with passion the things that you
57.3
personally important. believe in, and that you are fighting for.”
…allowing your personal
47.3 “Use your heart and the values imbedded in it to inform and guide your intellect.”
values to guide you.
…working on what you “It is absolutely essential that you ask yourself what it is that you really care the most about? What are your
care about. 34.6 passions? It is actually easier than it sounds because when we are truly following our hearts we are tapped
into our deepest passions in life.”
…prioritizing interests and 26.4 “Joy, by contrast, is unpredictable. It comes from pursuing interests and passions that do not ‘obviously’ result
values. in happiness. It comes from building a great team, from family, from friends and inexpensive if not free things.”
…finding activities that are “A few years ago, when Barack Obama was serving in the U.S. Senate, I visited him with a group of students.
meaningful to you. 18.5 They peppered him with questions about how he built his career. ‘Look,’ he told them, ‘you can't plan out your
life. What you have to do is first discover your passion - what you really care about.”
Additional Text for Study 1a
We developed the scale items on the basis of the codes extracted from statements in
the graduation speeches. In response to the prompt, “To follow my passion for work, I
believe it is important...” participants were asked to rate their agreement on a 7-point scale to
the following items for for feelings, “to never be bored at work,” “to avoid having regrets,”
“to make my work leisurely” and “to feel like I never work a day in my life” and for
values,“to identify aspects of my work that allow me to express my values,” “to trust myself
to find work activities that are meaningful to me,” “to explore what matters to me,” “to be
inspired to work on what I care about” and “to dedicate time to engage in work activities that
Scale structure. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the work passion pursuit
scale yielded two factors that accounted for 68.00% of the variance. As expected, feelings
and values loaded on separate factors (all factor loadings greater than .35 on the
corresponding factor and lower than .35 on the other factor). A two-factor CFA model
(feelings and values) also fit the data reasonably well (CFI = .94, RMSEA = .10, χ2(26) =
54.59, p < .001), and significantly better than a single factor model (CFI = .85, RMSEA =
.16, χ2(27) = 92.75, p < .001; Δχ2 = 38.16, p < .001). To examine whether feelings and values,
another CFA. The fit-indices were acceptable when loading each construct onto its own scale
(χ²(242) = 478.69, RMSEA = .10, CFI = .91, SRMR = .07), and fit significantly better than a
one factor-model (RMSEA = .18, CFI = .72, SRMR = .12, χ2(252) = 1036.42, p < .001; Δχ2 =
It takes guts to look deep inside of yourself and find the things that make you happy. Where
should you look? You first must have some idea of what you enjoy, what you love doing.
Ask yourself: “what activities do I find enjoyable?” Everyone has hobbies, of course, but try
to look deeper at the things that provide your life with happiness – indeed, with that rush of
feeling that you experience when you do something that you truly love! How will you know
when you are doing things you are passionate about? Usually, it is quite easy. One moment
you are talking in hopes of finding a topic of great interest. The next you find yourself talking
and don’t want to stop, and then you realize why: because it’s so much fun for you. Passion is
what you genuinely love. But the rule of passion is two-fold: yes, it’s mostly about what
makes you happy and what you love – but don’t forget that the other thing to consider is what
is meaningful to you. Look for opportunities to work on tasks that mainly make you feel good
but also reflect what is meaningful to you. Let me conclude. In order to become more
passionate, you should first and foremost focus on doing work you enjoy. Find an exciting
job! So, focus on your feelings first. Indeed, this is what I did, and now, I finally experience
It takes guts to look deep inside of yourself and find the things that are meaningful to you.
Where should you look? You first must have some idea of what your values are, what you
stand for. Ask yourself: “what activities do I find meaningful?” Everyone has hobbies, of
course, but try to look deeper at the things that provide your life with meaning – indeed, with
that sense of responsibility that you experience when you do something that truly matters!
How will you know when you are doing things you are passionate about? Usually, it is quite
easy. One moment you are talking in hopes of finding a topic of great interest. The next you
find yourself talking and don’t want to stop, and then you realize why: because it represents
something you personally value. Passion is what you genuinely care for. But the rule of
passion is two-fold: yes, it’s mostly about what you find meaningful and what gives you a
sense of purpose – but don’t forget that the other thing to consider is what is fun for you.
Look for opportunities to work on tasks that mainly reflect what is meaningful for you but
also make you feel good. Let me conclude. In order to become more passionate, you should
first and foremost focus on doing work you really value. Find a meaningful job! So, focus on
your values first. Indeed, this is what I did, and now, I finally experience passion for my work
It takes guts to look deep inside of yourself and find the things that make you happy and are
meaningful to you. Where should you look? You first must have some idea of what your
values are and what you stand for; as well as what you enjoy and love doing. Ask yourself:
“what activities do I find both enjoyable and meaningful?” Everyone has hobbies, of course,
but try to look deeper at the things that provide your life with happiness, that rush of feeling
that you experience when you do something that you truly love! — and with meaning, that
sense of responsibility that you experience wen you do something that truly matters. How
will you know when you are doing things you are passionate about? Usually, it is quite easy.
One moment you are talking in hopes of finding a topic of great interest. The next you find
yourself talking and don’t want to stop, and then you realize why: because it’s so much fun
for you, and because it represents something you personally value. Passion is what you
genuinely love and care for. So the rule of passion is two-fold: it’s about both what you find
meaningful and what makes you happy. Don’t forget to consider that what you do should be
both meaningful and fun for you. Look for opportunities to work on tasks that equally make
you feel good and reflect what is meaningful to you. Let me conclude. In order to become
more passionate, you should therefore focus on both, doing work you enjoy, and doing work
you really value. Find a meaningful and exciting job! Focus on both your values and your
feelings. Indeed, this is what I did, and now, I finally experience passion for my work – it’s
It takes guts to look deep inside of yourself and find the things that make you happy. Where
should you look? You first must have some idea of what you enjoy. Ask yourself: “what
desires do I find enjoyable?” Everyone has hobbies, of course, but try to look deeper at the
things that provide your life with happiness. How will you know when you are doing things
you are passionate about? Usually, it is quite easy. One moment you are talking in hopes of
finding a topic of great interest. The next you find yourself talking and don’t want to stop,
and then you realize why: because it’s so much fun for you. The rule of passion is simple: the
mind cannot stop thinking about what makes it happy. Once you have a better idea of what
you like doing, you can start looking for more opportunities to work on things that you enjoy.
Perhaps you could speak to your manager about working on tasks that reflect what is fun for
you. Perhaps you could create more of those opportunities yourself. The important point is
thus: you need to have a strong desire to work on things you enjoy, and make sure you set
aside time each day to do what makes you happy. Indeed, this is what I did, and now, I finally
feel passion for my work – it’s the best feeling in the world.
Manipulation Text for: values
It takes guts to look deep inside of yourself and find the things that strongly reflect your
values. Where should you look? You first must have some idea of what your values are. Ask
yourself: “what desires do I find meaningful?” Everyone has hobbies, of course, but try to
look deeper at the things that provide your life with meaning. How will you know when you
are doing things you are passionate about? Usually, it is quite easy. One moment you are
talking in hopes of finding a topic of great interest. The next you find yourself talking and
don’t want to stop, and then you realize why: because it represents something that you
personally value. The rule of passion is simple: the mind cannot stop thinking about what it
finds important. Once you have a better idea of what your values are, you can start looking
for more opportunities to work on things that you personally value. Perhaps you could speak
to your manager about working on tasks that reflect what is meaningful to you. Perhaps you
could create more of those opportunities yourself. The important point is thus: you need to
have a strong desire to work on things you care about, and make sure you set aside time each
day to work on things that you personally value. Indeed, this is what I did, and now, I finally
feel passion for my work – it’s the best feeling in the world.
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