Passion for Exercise: Passion’s Relationship to General Fitness Indicators and Exercise Addiction

Research into the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) has suggested that a harmonious passion for an activity is related to more positive outcomes (e.g., higher well-being and satisfaction with life), and an obsessive passion for an activity is related to negative and less adaptive outcomes (e.g., lower self-esteem and burnout; 37, 40, 43). The current study demonstrated differences between passion types (i.e., harmonious passion, obsessive passion, no passion) in terms of physical fitness, risk of exercise addiction, frequency of exercise, and perceptions of exercise. Sixty-one college students from a large, Midwestern university completed the study. A MANOVA with the self-report exercise behavior/perceptions measures (F(8, 96) = 3.94, p<.001, Wilk’s λ= 0.58) was significant with post-hoc analyses revealing significant differences (p< 0.05) between obsessive, harmonious, and non-passionate individuals on time in vigorous activity, risk of exercise addiction, and perceptions of exercise, with no significant differences in fitness levels. Obsessive individuals spend more time in vigorous exercise and are most at risk for exercise addiction, while harmonious individuals do not differ from obsessive on time in vigorous activity and are between obsessive and non-passionate individuals for risk of exercise addiction. The MANOVA with physical fitness indicators (body fat, VO(2max), completed push-ups and curl-ups) revealed no significant differences between the passion groups, but follow-up ANOVAs examining trends indicated differences in body fat and pushups, with non-passionate individuals having higher body fat and fewer pushups than the two passion groups. The findings of this study partially support the Dualistic Model of Passion and previous research findings, and these findings demonstrate interactions between passion and performance in fitness tasks.