The role of passion in mainstream and radical behaviors: A look at environmental activism

• Published in: Journal of environmental psychology 2013-09, Vol.35, p.18-29
• Main Authors: Gousse-Lessard, Anne-Sophie, Vallerand, Robert J., Carbonneau, Noémie, Lafrenière, Marc-André K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activist behaviors; Emotions; Environmental activism; Environmental cause; Passion; Psychology; Radicals
• ISSN: 0272-4944; 1522-9610
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.03.003

The dualistic model of passion proposes that individuals can have two distinct types of passion toward an activity, a harmonious passion (HP) or an obsessive passion (OP), that lead to more or less adaptive outcomes, respectively. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the differential role of passion toward the environmental cause in mainstream and radical activist behaviors. Three studies were conducted with participants actively engaged in the environmental cause. In Study 1 (n = 106), path analysis results revealed that both HP and OP were associated with the endorsement of mainstream behaviors whereas only OP was related to the endorsement of radical behaviors. Study 2 (n = 123) replicated this pattern of results by looking at the extent to which participants were willing to engage in mainstream and radical behaviors in a hypothetical scenario depicting a real-life situation. Finally, path analysis results in Study 3 (n = 169) underscored the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between passion and activist behaviors. Overall, the present findings highlight the importance of distinguishing HP from OP for an important cause such as that of the environment. •Harmonious passion toward the environmental cause is positively associated with mainstream activist behaviors only.•Obsessive passion toward the environmental cause is positively associated with both mainstream and radical activist behaviors.•Emotions mediated the passion–behavior relationship.