Passion for Academics and Problematic Health Behaviors

According to the Dualistic Model of Passion (39), passion entails valuing, liking, and spending time on an activity. The Dualistic Model also posits two types of passion for activities: harmonious passion (individual voluntarily engages in the activity) and obsessive passion (individual is compelled to engage in the activity). The purpose of the present study was to examine the possible links between college students’ passion for academic activities and problematic health behaviors including smoking, excessive drinking, exercise addiction, disordered eating, and sleepiness, which is a possible indicator of sleep deprivation. Participants (n = 502) completed a survey gauging passion type and health behaviors. Regression analyses revealed obsessive passion for academic activities was positively associated with scores on measures of excessive drinking (β = .15, p= .008), exercise addiction (β = .19, p<.001), and disordered eating (β = .17, p < .001) but was not associated with sleep deprivation (β = .07, p = .15). Harmonious passion for academic activities, in contrast, was negatively associated with excessive drinking behavior (β = −.16, p = .002) and sleep deprivation (β = −.13, p = .007) but was not associated with exercise addiction (β = .002, p = .97) and disordered eating (β = −.04, p = .37). These findings provide further support for the Dualistic Model of Passion. Students who are obsessively passionate about their academic activities are more likely to engage in poor health behaviors and, in turn, may experience greater negative outcomes than students who are harmoniously passionate about their academics.