Passion in University: The Role of the Dualistic Model of Passion in Explaining Students' Academic Functioning

The dualistic model of passion proposes that harmonious and obsessive passions play distinct roles in predicting individuals' functioning. Few research projects explored the contribution of passion for one's studies and none to our knowledge used a person-centered approach. This study aimed to identify passion profiles toward one's studies and to compare students' academic functioning (burnout, engagement, satisfaction, dropout intentions, and achievement) as a function of their passion profile. Results of latent profile analysis demonstrated the presence of four profiles:High(high harmonious and obsessive passions),Moderate(moderate harmonious and obsessive passions),Low(low harmonious and obsessive passions), andOptimal(high harmonious passion and low obsessive passion) in a sample of 460 university students. Overall, highly passionate students (HighandOptimalprofiles) reported the most positive indices of academic functioning while students in theLowprofile evidenced the worst levels of academic functioning. Implications of research and intervention on academic passion are discussed.

Automated summary

This study explored the impact of students' passion for studying on their academic functioning, identifying four passion profiles in a sample of 460 university students: High, Moderate, Low, and Optimal. Highly passionate students demonstrated the most positive academic functioning, while students in the Low profile showed the worst levels of academic functioning. Implications for research and intervention on academic passion were discussed.