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The Donald O. Hebb Award / Le Prix de Donald O. Hebb
From Motivation to Passion: In Search of the Motivational
Processes Involved in a Meaningful Life
ROBERT J. VALLERAND
Universite´ du Que´bec a` Montre´al
Abstract
In this address, I present an overview of
research on motivational processes that
has been conducted by my research team
over the past 30 years. Such research subscribes to an organis-
mic view of human motivation wherein people are seen as ac-
tive agents who strive to fulfill their potential. Four lines of re-
search are briefly presented: (a) the role of social factors in
intrinsic motivation; (b) the determinants and outcomes of moti-
vational processes in real-life settings; (c) an integrative per-
spective on the role of personality, task, and social factors in
motivational processes and outcomes (the hierarchical model of
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation); and (d) a new perspective on
passion for life activities (the dualistic model on passion). Key
studies are highlighted and some conclusions are drawn.
Keywords: passion, motivation, self-determination theory, posi-
tive psychology
Donald O. Hebb was an outstanding scientist and a visionary on
the contribution of psychology to the human condition. It is thus
with great honour that I receive the 2011 Donald O. Hebb Award
for distinguished contributions to psychology as a science. I accept
this award as the captain of my research team. Without the con-
tribution of all team members, the research conducted over the
years could not have been done. I also see this award as positive
feedback on the quality of research in which Canadian motivation
researchers engage (to this effect, see the 2008 special issue of
Canadian Psychology edited by Vallerand, Pelletier, & Koestner,
2008).
For the last 30 years or so, my research and that of my col-
leagues has focused on the scientific study of motivational pro-
cesses. This address charts the progress that my own thinking and
that of my colleagues have gone through during this period. While
I review some of our research conducted over the 1980 –2010
period, I also reflect the upon Zeitgeist of the time during which
such research was conducted. Thus, the present article may also
provide a fertile background to reexamine the evolution of human
motivation research during this period. In doing so, I focus on four
lines of research: (a) the role of social factors in intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation; (b) the determinants and outcomes of moti-
vational processes in real-life settings; (c) an integrative perspec-
tive on the role of personality, task, and social factors in motiva-
tional processes and outcomes; and finally (d) a new perspective
on passion for life activities. As we shall see, there is a link across
these four research thrusts: the search for the motivational pro-
cesses involved in living a meaningful life.
The Role of Social Factors in Intrinsic Motivation
Motivation can be defined as: “the hypothetical construct used
to describe the internal and/or external forces that produce the
initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behaviour”
(Vallerand & Thill, 1993, p. 18; translated from French). Motiva-
tion has been studied from several perspectives. For example,
some perspectives have focused on instinctual drives (e.g., Freud,
1962/1923), whereas others have focused on environmental con-
tingencies (Skinner, 1953). While radically different, these two
positions nevertheless share a fundamental assumption: people are
passive organisms who merely react to internal or external stimuli.
I subscribe to a more comprehensive theoretical perspective that
considers the individual as an active organism striving for effective
interactions with the environment in the hope of growing as an
individual (see Deci, 1980; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Vallerand,
1997) and living a meaningful life (Seligman & Csiksentmihalyi,
2000). This organismic metatheoretical approach has guided much
of my conceptual thinking.
Over the years, researchers have come to identify two major
classes of motivated behavior. The first deals with behavior per-
formed for itself, in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction
inherent in the activity, and has been called intrinsic motivation
(Deci, 1975). The second, which involves performing behavior in
This research was supported by continuous grants throughout the years
by mainly the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada and
also the Fonds Que´be´cois pour la Recherche sur la Socie´te´ et la Culture.
This article is based on the author’s address for the Donald O. Hebb
Award, given to the 72nd Canadian Psychological Association Annual
Convention, June 4, 2011, in Toronto, Ontario. Information on this re-
search program is available at http://www.psycho.uqam.ca/lrcs.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert J.
Vallerand, Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Comportement Social, De´parte-
ment de psychologie, Universite´ du Que´bec a` Montre´al, PO Box 8888,
Succursale Centre-ville, Montre´al QC H3C 3P8, Canada. E-mail:
Vallerand.bob@gmail.com
Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne © 2012 Canadian Psychological Association
2012, Vol. 53, No. 1, 42–52 0708-5591/12/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0026377
42
order to achieve some separable goal such as receiving rewards or
avoiding punishment, has been termed extrinsic motivation (Deci,
1980, Deci & Ryan 1985). These two types of motivated behavior
fits in well with the definition of motivation where factors both
inside and outside the individual are hypothesized to affect the
person’s motivation.
At first, theorists posited that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
had an additive relationship (e.g., Porter & Lawler, 1968). That is,
that the two types of motivations combined in leading to the
highest level of motivation. However, in a series of studies to
examine intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the laboratory with
human subjects, Deci (1971) showed that leading individuals to
engage in a new interesting activity in order to receive a monetary
reward (and thus out of extrinsic motivation) produced a decrease
of subsequent intrinsic motivation in the activity. In Deci’s terms,
intrinsic motivation was undermined by the controlling nature of
the reward.
According to the organismic approach, individuals desire to be
effective (White, 1959), autonomous (deCharms, 1968; Deci,
1980), and related to significant others (Deci & Ryan, 1991) in
their attempts to explore, grow, and develop. This innate tendency
to grow, however, may be facilitated, stalled, or stopped because
of the organism’s vulnerability to being influenced by the envi-
ronment. Cognitive evaluation theory (Deci, 1975; Deci, 1980,
Deci & Ryan, 1985), a subtheory of self-determination theory
(Deci & Ryan, 2000), posits that any event whether a reward, a
structure, or a communication, has two main functional aspects: a
controlling aspect and an informational aspect. When the control-
ling aspect is salient, intrinsic motivation is negatively affected by
a decrease in perceptions of autonomy triggered by the perceived
locus of causality process; when the informational aspect is salient,
the perceived competence process triggers changes in intrinsic
motivation with increases or decreases in perceptions of compe-
tence producing corresponding effects in intrinsic motivation.
Following the initial research by Deci, the interplay between
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has been explored in hundreds of
studies, most of them conducted in the laboratory (see Deci,
Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). Such research focused on the immediate
effects of various situational variables (e.g., rewards, feedback,
constraints, deadlines) on intrinsic motivation. Some of the re-
search we have conducted looked at the role of competition and
verbal feedback in intrinsic motivation.
Competition Studies
We have tested the validity of the controlling and informational
aspects with respect to the structure inherent in competition in labo-
ratory settings. In a first study (Vallerand, Gauvin, & Halliwell,
1986a), we randomly assigned children to conditions of competi-
tion or noncompetition on a balancing task (the stabilometer task).
In the competition condition, participants were explicitly encour-
aged to try to “beat” other people’s scores, whereas no mention of
competition was made in the control condition. Participants were
given 8 trials and were not informed of their scores. After the
trials, participants were left alone and had the opportunity to play
again on the stabilometer for a 5-min free-choice period. The time
spent on the task during this free-choice period served as the
intrinsic motivation index (see Deci, 1971). In addition, partici-
pants completed a question assessing their self-perceptions of
competence on the stabilometer. It was expected that to beat other
contestants, participants in the competition condition would thwart
the discovery process that is normal when exploring a novel task.
Such a self-imposed loss in discovery process should undermine
one’s feelings of autonomy that, in turn, should lead to a loss of
intrinsic motivation relative to the noncompeting participants. Fur-
ther, this decrease in intrinsic motivation should be independent of
perceptions of competence. The results supported the hypothesis.
Participants in the competition condition displayed significantly
lower levels of intrinsic motivation than those in the noncompeting
condition. There were no differences in perceived competence
between the two conditions.
In a second study (Vallerand, Gauvin, & Halliwell, 1986b) on
competition, we tested the informational aspect (and thus the
perceived competence process) of competition. Participants were
randomly assigned to either the “win” or “loss” competition con-
dition on the stabilometer task again. The same measures as those
used in the previous competition study were collected. Results
revealed that participants who had lost the competition felt less
competent and less intrinsically motivated than those who had won
the competition.
Taken together, these two studies underscore the fact that the
structure in which people operate can have a potent effect on their
intrinsic motivation through both the locus of causality process
(Vallerand et al., 1986a) and the perceived competence process
(Vallerand et al., 1986b). Subsequent research with former grad-
uate student Michelle Fortier, now professor at the University of
Ottawa, and colleagues (Fortier, Vallerand, Brie`re, & Provencher,
1995), replicated these findings in real-life competitive settings.
Verbal Feedback Studies
We have also tested the perceived competence process, this time
inherent in a communication. For instance, Vallerand, Reid, and
Marisi (1980) had male participants engage in a balancing task (the
stabilometer) during a pretest and a posttest. During the posttest,
participants were randomly assigned to conditions of positive,
negative, or no verbal feedback of performance. Following both
the pretest and the posttest, participants completed questionnaires
assessing self-perceptions of competence and intrinsic motivation
toward the stabilometer. Results revealed that positive feedback
(e.g., “You are one of the best participants I’ve had so far”)
increased intrinsic motivation and perceived competence relative
to the pretest scores and the other two conditions. Conversely,
negative verbal feedback (e.g., “You’re not doing very well on this
task”) decreased subjects’ intrinsic motivation and perceived com-
petence relative to the pretest scores as well as relative to the other
two conditions. No change took place in the control condition from
pre- to posttest. Of additional importance, results from a path
analysis reported in a subsequent article (see Vallerand & Reid,
1984), revealed that the more positive the feedback, the more
participants felt competent. In turn, the more participants felt
competent, the more they were intrinsically motivated.
Results from the Vallerand and Reid (1984) laboratory study
were the first in the field of human motivation to show that
positive and negative verbal feedback produce changes in intrinsic
motivation through their effects on perceptions of competence.
These findings were particularly convincing because they relied on
both an experimental design and path analysis. These findings on
43
THE DONALD O. HEBB AWARD
feedback have been replicated in a number of studies (see
Vallerand, 2001, 2007) and were also important from a statistical
point of view. Back in the mid 1980s, analyses of variance ruled
the social psychologist’s world. The Vallerand and Reid (1984)
study was the first to use path analysis to test a motivational
sequence involving mediating processes. In part based on the
procedures and analyses used in that study, nowadays motivation
researchers routinely use path analysis to test similar sequences.
Motivation in Real-Life Settings
The Importance of Field Research
Although laboratory research was important initially for control
purposes, it was time to move to the field for at least two reasons.
First, the tasks we used in the lab were novel tasks. We did not
know if our findings in the lab would generalise to other tasks used
in the field. Second, from a psychological standpoint, content may
interact with psychological process (Zajonc, 1980). In other words,
the very motivational processes that take place in people’s lives
may differ as a function of task meaningfulness, and such mean-
ingfulness exists in real-life settings. Thus, the search for a more
complete understanding of motivational processes involved in a
meaningful life led my colleagues and me to focus on field
research, in people’s lives with tasks that mattered to them.
Beyond the IntrinsicⴚExtrinsic Motivation Dichotomy
At the same time that we were embarking on our field research
journey, important theoretical changes were taking place in moti-
vation theory. Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (1985) proposed
that the usual intrinsic⫺extrinsic dichotomy was insufficient to
account for the types of motivation that operate in people’s lives.
They proposed a more complex typology of extrinsic motivation
where some types of extrinsic motivation involve self-
determination and choice. In other words, people could be extrin-
sically motivated and still experience high levels of autonomy in
their behaviour. What Deci and Ryan proposed, among other
things, is that in addition to the inside⫺outside distinction, what is
inside the person also varies qualitatively depending how it has
been internalized. This conceptual contribution produced a shock
wave that still has ripple effects on the field of human motivation
today.
Deci and Ryan identified four types of extrinsic motivation that
vary in their degree of self-determination. The four types of
extrinsic motivation are: external regulation (to act to obtain
rewards or avoid punishment), introjected regulation (to act in
order to avoid feelings of guilt and internal pressure), identified
regulation (to act out of choice and volition), and integrated
regulation (behaving out of choice with coherence with other
elements of the self). These four types of extrinsic motivation are
hypothesised to entail a linear progression in self-determination
from external to integrated regulation. Deci and Ryan (1985) also
proposed the existence of a third type of motivational construct,
namely, amotivation. Amotivation is at work when individuals
display a relative absence of motivation (see Vallerand, 1997). It
implies the lowest level of self-determination.
In addition to these different types of extrinsic motivation, we
also proposed that different types of intrinsic motivation existed
in people’s lives (Vallerand, Blais, Brie`re, & Pelletier, 1989;
Vallerand & Bissonnette, 1992). First, intrinsic motivation to know
implies engaging in activities because of the pleasure and satis-
faction derived from learning, exploring, and understanding new
things. Second, intrinsic motivation to accomplish things refers to
engaging in activities because of the pleasure and satisfaction
derived from trying to surpass oneself, creating, or accomplishing
something. Third, intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation
operates when one is engaged in an activity because of the stim-
ulating sensations associated with it. This taxonomy of intrinsic
motivation has received much empirical support over the years
(see Carbonneau & Vallerand, in press).
Validating Motivation Scales for Important
Life Activities
Very little intrinsic motivation research had been done at the
time (mid 1980s) in field settings. In an early field study (Blais,
Vallerand, Brie`re, Gagnon, & Pelletier, 1990b), we had empiri-
cally determined that the three major life tasks (or domains) for
male and female college students were their studies, leisure activ-
ities, and relationships. These were the types of activities on which
we needed to focus. No scale existed to assess the different types
of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation presented above. Thus, this
move from the lab to the field meant that we had to develop
instruments to measure the different types of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation in these various settings. Further, because
our participants included both French and English Canadians,
we had to validate these scales in both French and English. In
so doing, we developed methodological procedures to validate
scales in another language (Vallerand, 1989).
Some of the scales that we validated include l’E
´
chelle de Mo-
tivation en E
´
ducation (Vallerand et al., 1989) and its translation,
the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992, 1993);
l’E
´
chelle de Motivation en Loisirs (Pelletier, Vallerand, Green-
Demers, Brie`re, & Blais, 1996) and its translation, the Leisure
Motivation Scale (Pelletier et al., 1995); l’E
´
chelle de Motivation
au Travail de Blais (Blais, Brie`re, Lachance, Riddle, & Vallerand,
1993); l’E
´
chelle des Motivations pour les Personnes A
ˆ
ge´es
(Vallerand & O’Connor, 1991) and its translation, the Elderly
Motivation Scale (Vallerand, O’Connor, & Hamel, 1995); The
political Motivation Scale (Koestner, Losier, Vallerand, & Car-
ducci, 1996); and the Motivation for Couple Relationship Scale
(Blais et al., 1990a). Because sports represents a major form of
leisure activities, we also developed l’E
´
chelle de Motivation en
sports (Brie`re, Vallerand, Blais, & Pelletier, 1995) and its trans-
lation, the Sport Motivation Scale (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand,
Tuson, Brie`re, & Blais, 1995). The contribution of former graduate
student Luc Pelletier in the construction and validation of several
of those scales should be underscored. Now professor at the
University of Ottawa, Dr. Pelletier has also developed a motivation
scale for preserving the environment and much of his research has
focused on this topic (see Pelletier, Tuson, Green-Demers, Noels,
& Beaton, 1998).
In line with the notion that motivation refers to the why of
behaviour (McClelland, 1985), such scales ask participants to
respond to the question “Why do you engage in your (leisure)
activities (or go to school or play sports)?”, using items that
represent answers to that question (e.g., “Because I enjoy learning
44
VALLERAND
new things”). Validation procedures included exploratory and con-
firmatory factor analyses and correlations with a number of deter-
minants and outcomes to test the construct validity of the scale. All
scales have shown high levels of validity and reliability.
Perhaps a further word on measurement is in order. When we
initially developed our motivation measures in the late 1980s, we
did it in order to conduct our field research. We did not know at the
time that a whole field would follow suit and design instruments to
assess intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in line with our method-
ology. Although Ryan and Connell (1989) had also designed a
scale to assess school motivation in elementary and high school
students, their scale did not go through full psychometric evalua-
tion and did not assess the three types of intrinsic motivation or
amotivation. Now, some 20 years later, most intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation scientists who conduct field research do so either with
one of the scales that we have developed or with a scale based on
our methodological and statistical procedures; a very rewarding
situation indeed.
Consequences and Determinants of Intrinsic and
Extrinsic Motivation, and Amotivation
Now that scales were validated, we could embark on our quest
to look at the motivation⫺outcomes relationship in the field.
Given that behaviour can be intrinsically and extrinsically moti-
vated, or amotivated, what are the consequences of these kinds of
motivation in people’s lives? Because the different kinds of mo-
tivation are hypothesised to be on a continuum from high to low
self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985), and because self-
determination is associated with enhanced psychological function-
ing (Deci, 1980), one would expect a corresponding pattern of
consequences. That is, one might expect intrinsic motivation to
have the most positive consequences, followed by the self-
determined forms of extrinsic motivation (integrated and identified
regulations), non-self-determined types of extrinsic motivation
(introjected and external regulations), and finally amotivation.
External regulation and especially amotivation should lead to the
most negative consequences.
We tested these hypotheses in the first study to look at the role
of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in intimate relationships
(Blais, Sabourin, Boucher, & Vallerand, 1990a). In this study,
middle-age adults completed a scale assessing their intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation for being involved in an intimate relationship
with their partner or spouse as well as scales assessing various
outcomes such as couple happiness and couple adaptive and mal-
adaptive behaviours. The results of the correlations between the
different types of motivation and outcomes revealed that the pos-
itive outcomes were increasingly positive as one’s motivations for
the relationship were more self-determined (e.g., intrinsic motiva-
tion and identified regulation), while the negative outcomes were
increasingly negative as one’s motivations moved toward the
non-self-determined end of the continuum (i.e., introjected and
external regulations and amotivation). These findings have been
supported in dozens of studies dealing with a variety of activities
and life domains, including those that initially interested us,
namely, education, relationships, and leisure (see Vallerand, 1997,
2007; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2008), but also in other fields such
as successful aging (O’Connor & Vallerand, 1994; Vallerand &
O’Connor, 1989; Vallerand, O’Connor, & Hamel, 1995).
In subsequent research, we started looking at an integrating
sequence involving social factors, psychological mediators, and
self-determined motivation, in order to predict outcomes. One
outcome of interest was school dropout. Initial research (Vallerand
& Bissonnette, 1992) had shown that college students who had the
least self-determined motivational profile toward a compulsory
course early on in the term dropped out significantly more than
those with a more self-determined motivational profile. In a re-
search with Michelle Fortier and Fre´de´ric Guay, now Professor of
Education at the Universite´ Laval, we (Vallerand, Fortier, & Guay,
1997), we proposed that the lower the autonomy support provided
by the social context (and especially the behaviours of teachers,
parents, and the school administration), the less positive the stu-
dents’ self-perceptions of competence and autonomy, and, in turn,
the lower students’ levels of self-determined school motivation
should be. Finally, low levels of self-determined motivation should
lead students to develop intentions to drop out of high school that
are later implemented, leading to actual drop-out behaviour. This
model was tested with more than 4,000 high school students using
a prospective design. In October, students completed the various
scales that assessed all aspects of the model. The following year,
we contacted the Ministry of Education as well as each of the
schools to clearly identify students who had dropped out of school.
A structural equation modelling analysis was performed on the
data. The results supported the entire sequence from social factors
to outcomes.
The basic model from the Vallerand et al. (1997) study was also
successfully applied to high school performance in education (see
Fortier, Vallerand, & Guay, 1995; Guay & Vallerand, 1997) as
well as dropping out of sports with Canadian elite swimmers
(Pelletier et al., 2001) and French handball players (Sarrazin,
Vallerand, Guillet, Pelletier, & Curry, 2001). With former graduate
student Gae¨tan Losier, now professor at the Universite´ de Monc-
ton, we later showed that this motivational sequence was able to
integrate much of the research on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
in sports (see Vallerand & Losier, 1999).
The research on the motivational sequence outlined by Vallerand et
al. (1997) was important in that it showed that people’s perceptions
of how other people behave toward them (and especially whether
others cater to their psychological needs of competence and au-
tonomy) has a great impact on their motivation and ensuing
outcomes that matter greatly for them. Such research, however,
relied on students’ perceptions of their parents and teachers be-
haviour and did not actually assess social agents’ actual behaviour.
Although, ultimately it is such perceptions that matter as pertains
to motivation, it is nevertheless important to determine if the actual
social environment influences these perceptions that, in turn, lead
to motivation and outcomes. Therefore, with Fre´de´rick Philippe,
now a colleague at the Universite´ du Que´bec a` Montre´al, we
(Philippe & Vallerand, 2008) sought to determine whether the
objective environment can trigger the motivation sequence in the
field, leading to changes in meaningful outcomes. Specifically,
using a one-year prospective design, we found that the level of
autonomy actually provided by nursing homes (as assessed by
trained observers) predicted residents’ perceptions of autonomy
that, in turn, predicted self-determined motivation in major life
domains. Self-determined motivation, in turn, predicted increases
in psychological adjustment over the one-year period.
45
THE DONALD O. HEBB AWARD
The theoretical importance of such research on the causal se-
quence is obvious because it charts the sequence of motivational
processes involved from one’s interaction with the environment to
motivation and to outcomes. However, the applied benefits from
such research should not be overlooked. Indeed, because we had
identified the actual factors that trigger motivational processes and
their outcomes, it was now possible for practitioners to engage in
meaningful theory-informed interventions (for an example, see
Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon, & Barch, 2004).
Finally, it should be underscored that, in addition to the above
causal sequence, we also proposed that it is important to look at
how different types of motivation combine in leading to outcomes
(Vallerand, 1997). Subsequent research with former students
Catherine Ratelle, now professor at the Universite´ Laval and
Nicolas Gillet, now professor at the Universite´ de Tours in France,
supported this hypothesis. Through the use of cluster analyses, we
showed that a combination of different types of motivation can
lead to the meaningful prediction of educational (Ratelle, Guay,
Vallerand, Larose, & Sene´cal, 2007) and sport outcomes (Gillet,
Vallerand, & Rosnet, 2009).
The Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Motivation
Our laboratory and field research had empirically supported the
validity of a coherent causal sequence involving Social Factors3
Psychological Needs3 Motivation3 Outcomes. Of additional in-
terest, our subsequent field research also showed that motivation
varied not only in types (i.e., the different types of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation) but also in levels of generality. Specifically,
in addition to situational or state motivation studied mainly in the
laboratory (Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000), field research
revealed that one can hold relatively stable forms of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation for classes of activities such as school (Harter,
1981; Vallerand et al., 1989; Vallerand et al., 1993) and leisure
(Pelletier et al., 1995) as well as have broad personality disposi-
tions to be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated (see Deci &
Ryan, 1985; Maddi, Hoover, & Kobasa, 1982). To integrate these
and other findings from the literature in a rather comprehensive
perspective on human motivation, my colleagues and I proposed
the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Valle-
rand, 1997, 2001, 2007; Vallerand & Miquelon, 2008; Vallerand &
Ratelle, 2002).
The hierarchical model is made up of elements that are orga-
nized both vertically and horizontally (see Vallerand & Lalande,
2011). The vertical organisation integrates three different levels of
generality that range from stable (on top) to momentary or state
elements (at the bottom), namely, the global, contextual, and
situational levels. The global level is the most general and refers to
a person’s personality or usual motivation to interact with the
environment. Motivation at this level takes the form of broad
dispositions to engage in activities in a typically intrinsic or
extrinsic way. It can be considered the trait level of motivation.
Next in the hierarchy is the contextual level. This level represents
specific life contexts, such as education (for students), leisure, and
interpersonal relationships. This level accounts for the fact that
some life activities may be more intrinsically motivating than
others (e.g., leisure vs. school activities). Furthermore, this inter-
mediate level also seeks to account for the likelihood that individ-
uals may have developed relatively stable intraindividual motiva-
tional orientations that may differ in the level of self-determination
depending on the contexts. For instance, a given individual may
engage in leisure activities in an intrinsic way but partake in
work-related activities out of extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, it
may be the opposite for another individual. It would therefore
appear important to take into consideration the type of activity one
engages in to make refined predictions with respect to motivation
and outcomes. Finally, the situational level is the most specific and
refers to the here and now of motivation. It is the motivational state
that an individual experiences when engaging in a specific activity
at a given moment in time (playing the guitar on a Saturday
afternoon at 3:00 p.m.).
The hierarchical organisation of the three levels of generality
implies certain relationships among them. First, top-down effects
refer to the influence of higher levels in the hierarchy on lower
levels. Specifically, the more stable forms of motivation (e.g.,
global motivation) can influence the less stable forms of motiva-
tion such as contextual motivation and situational motivation. For
example, having a contextual motivation to be intrinsically moti-
vated should lead one to be intrinsically motivated in a given
situation at the situational level. Research supports this top-down
hypothesis. For instance, in a study with former graduate student
Ce´line Blanchard, now a professor at the University of Ottawa, and
other colleagues (Blanchard, Mask, Vallerand, de la Sablonnie`re,
& Provencher, 2007), we showed that the more athletes had a
self-determined contextual motivation (i.e., engaging in an activity
out of pleasure and choice) for their sport (basketball), the more
they had a self-determined situational motivation during a subse-
quent basketball game. Other research has also replicated the
top-down effect from contextual to situational motivation in dif-
ferent settings including the classroom (see Lavigne et al., 2009;
Lavigne & Vallerand, 2010) and the gymnasium during physical
education classes (Ntoumanis & Blaymires, 2003). Finally, the
top-down effects from global to contextual motivation were also
observed using a longitudinal design over a 5-year period (Guay,
Mageau, & Vallerand, 2003).
Second, the bottom-up effect reflects the influence that lower
levels in the hierarchy can have on higher levels and serves, among
other things, to explain how changes in more stable forms of
motivation (e.g., contextual and global motivation) come about
through repeated motivational experiences at the lower situational
level. Research shows that after certain success and failure expe-
riences, changes in situational intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
are induced (e.g., Vallerand & Reid, 1984, 1988). When these
changes are experienced repeatedly, over time they are internalized
at the next level up in the hierarchy and lead to changes in
motivation at that level (e.g., the contextual level relevant to the
activity one engaged in). Support for the bottom-up process was
obtained where situational motivation predicted changes in con-
textual motivation that took place over time in various fields such
as sports (Blanchard et al., 2007) and education (Lavigne &
Vallerand, 2010).
The hierarchical model also proposes that the various contextual
motivations may influence each other. For instance, two contextual
motivations may conflict leading to important influences on peo-
ple’s functioning. For instance, in research with former graduate
student Caroline Sene´cal, now professor at the Universite´ Laval
(Sene´cal, Vallerand, & Guay, 2001), we showed that the less
46
VALLERAND
workers’ motivations for both work and family activities were
self-determined in nature, the more they experienced work-family
conflict. Such conflict, in turn, predicted negative psychological
outcomes such as burnout. Similar findings were obtained with
college students as pertains to conflict between school and leisure
motivation (Ratelle, Vallerand, Sene´cal, & Provencher, 2005).
The hierarchical model also posits a horizontal organisation of
some components. Such an arrangement reflects the social psy-
chological processes dimension of the model. It posits a causal
sequence of events involving social factors, psychological needs,
motivation, and outcomes. Such a Social Factors3 Need
Satisfaction3 Motivation3 Outcomes sequence was empirically sup-
ported in several studies and was discussed in the previous section.
However, what research has also shown is that this causal sequence
takes place at every level of generality, including the contextual (e.g.,
Vallerand et al., 1997), the situational (e.g., Grouzet, Vallerand,
Thill, & Provencher, 2004), and the global levels (e.g., Philippe &
Vallerand, 2008). Thus, the hierarchical model accounts for these
findings by integrating these causal sequences at each level of gen-
erality of the model.
In sum, the hierarchical model specifies two sets of sequences
that serve to integrate processes involving the personality (the
vertical organisation of the model and the top-down and bottom-up
effects) and social psychological dimensions (the horizontal se-
quence and processes involving social factors) of motivation and
outcomes. Together, these two mechanisms provide a detailed
description of how social and personal factors influence motiva-
tion in time and space, as well as how the different types of
motivation lead to outcomes. In addition, the intermediate, con-
textual, level serves to take into consideration the fact that not all
activities (or tasks) are created equal and that some (e.g., leisure)
may be more intrinsically motivating than others with the ramifi-
cations that such a state of affairs entails for outcomes.
On the Psychology of Passion
The 1990s saw an important change take place in psychology. In
addition to identifying the factors that undermine people’s adap-
tive functioning, psychologists started to work on identifying some
of the factors that lead people to be happy and to function opti-
mally. Positive psychology had arrived (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,
2000). We felt that passion was one of these “positive” activities.
Indeed, it seemed to us that regularly engaging in passionate
activities that provide a recurrent dose of happiness should have
a profound impact on people’s psychological functioning
(Vallerand, 2010).
When we started our research on passion in the late 1990s, we
expected to find a lot of research on the subject. Yet, surprisingly,
very little if any psychological research had been conducted on this
concept (there was research on romantic passion, but not for
passion for activities). So we found ourselves in the unique posi-
tion to open up a new field of psychological inquiry. This has led
us to formulate the first, and as of now the only, psychological
theory on passion for activities. Thus, with my good friend Pro-
fessor Richard Koestner at McGill University and graduate stu-
dents Ce´line Blanchard and Genevie`ve Mageau (now professors at
the Universities of Ottawa and Montre´al, respectively), and other
colleagues, we proposed the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand
et al., 2003).
The Dualistic Model of Passion
As mentioned previously, people interact with their environment
in order to grow as individuals. Eventually, after a period of trial
and error, most people will eventually start to show preference for
some activities, especially those that are enjoyable. Of these ac-
tivities, a limited few will be perceived as particularly meaningful
and to have some resonance with how people see themselves. A
special bond then has been created between the person and the
activity. This activity becomes passionate for the person (Mageau
et al., 2009).
In line with the above, Vallerand et al., 2003) defined passion as
a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity (or object) that
one likes (or even loves), finds important and meaningful, and in
which one invests time and energy. Thus, a passion entails a
special relationship with an activity that one loves. However,
contrary to intrinsic motivation, it is essential that this activity be
meaningful for the person and part of one’s identity to be a
passion. For instance, a passionate tennis player does not simply
play tennis, he or she is a tennis player. Tennis is part of who he
or she is. The activity is part of one’s life and is engaged in on a
regular basis. Enjoying playing tennis from time to time may refer
to intrinsic motivation but it would not be considered a passion. To
become passionate about playing tennis, one would need to greatly
enjoy playing tennis regularly (at least once per week) as well as
to read about it, to watch it live or on TV, to discuss it with friends,
to find it meaningful, and to perceive oneself as a tennis player.
Although there was very little in psychology on passion, there
had been much philosophical thinking on the subject (see Rony,
1990). One contribution from philosophers is that two positions
have been separately proposed on passion. One where passion is
seen as maladaptive for the person because it entails a loss of
reason (see Plato, 429–347 BC; Spinoza, 1632–1677) and another
that posits that passion can actually have some adaptive functions
(see Hegel, 1770–1831). These two positions represent the duality
of passion. Something you love can be “good” for you but some-
times it can be “bad”. One can have a great time playing poker but
if the person loses control over it, it can lead to some problems
while playing as well as in his or her life. No motivational theory
at the time could explain how your love for a given activity can
have either some adaptive or some deleterious effects on your life.
We needed to account for the duality of passion.
In line with theory and research in the field of human motivation
that show that two types of internalization processes existed, a
controlled and an autonomous process (see Deci et al., 1994;
Sheldon, 2002; Vallerand et al., 1997), we proposed that the two
types of internalization processes lead to two types of passion,
obsessive and harmonious. Obsessive passion results from a con-
trolled internalization of the activity into one’s identity and self. A
controlled internalization originates from intra- and/or interper-
sonal pressure typically because certain contingencies are attached
to the activity such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem
(see Lafrenie`re, Be´langer, Vallerand, & Sedikides, in press;
Mageau, Carpentier, & Vallerand, in press), or because the sense
of excitement derived from activity engagement is uncontrollable.
People with an obsessive passion thus experience an uncontrolla-
ble urge to partake in the activity they view as enjoyable. They
cannot help but engage in the passionate activity, as the passion
comes to control them. Consequently, people risk experiencing
47
THE DONALD O. HEBB AWARD
conflicts and other negative affective (e.g., guilt, anxiety), cogni-
tive (e.g., lack of concentration), and behavioural (e.g., over en-
gaging in the activity) consequences during and after activity
engagement.
Conversely, harmonious passion results from an autonomous
internalization of the activity into the person’s identity and self. An
autonomous internalization occurs when individuals have freely
accepted the activity as important for them without any contingen-
cies attached to it and produces a motivational force to engage in
the activity willingly and engenders a sense of volition and per-
sonal endorsement about pursuing the activity. When harmonious
passion is at play, individuals do not experience an uncontrollable
urge to engage in the passionate activity, but rather freely choose
to do so. Such a state of mind allows the person to fully partake in
the passionate activity with an openness that is conducive to
positive experiences (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Consequently, peo-
ple with a harmonious passion are likely to experience positive
affective, cognitive, and behavioural consequences during and
after activity engagement.
Initial Research on the Concept of Passion
Our initial study on passion (Vallerand et al., 2003, Study 1) had
over 500 college students complete the Passion Scale with respect
to the dearest activity to their heart as well as other scales allowing
us to test predictions derived from the dualistic model of passion.
There were at least three major conclusions. First, there is a high
prevalence of passion in people’s lives. Indeed, 84% of partici-
pants indicated that they had a passion for at least one activity in
their lives (participants also reported engaging in their activity 8.5
hours per week and having done so for 6 years). Second, through
exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses a valid scale was
developed. These findings on the factor validity of the Passion
Scale has been replicated in a number of studies with respect to a
variety of activities (e.g., Carbonneau, Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay,
2008; Rousseau, Vallerand, Ratelle, Mageau, & Provencher, 2002;
Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003; Vallerand, Rousseau, Grouzet,
Dumais, & Grenier, 2006). The Passion Scale consists of 2 sub-
scales of 6 items each reflecting Obsessive (e.g., “I almost have an
obsessive feeling toward this activity”) and Harmonious Passion
(e.g., “This activity is in harmony with other activities in my life”).
Furthermore, internal consistency analyses have shown that both
subscales are reliable (typically ⱖ .75).
Finally, the third conclusion is that both types of passion
correlated with the definitional elements of the passion con-
struct (loving the activity, spending regular time on it, valuing
it, the activity being part of the person’s identity, and perceiv-
ing the activity as being a passion for the person). Furthermore,
research provided support for the hypotheses dealing with af-
fect, wherein harmonious passion positively predicted positive
affect both during and after engagement in the passionate
activity, while obsessive passion was unrelated to positive
affect but positively related to negative affect, especially after
task engagement and while prevented from engaging in the
activity. Now that the foundations had been laid, it became
possible to pursue our research on the role of passion in leading
a meaningful life.
On the Role of Passion in Meaningful Outcomes
Since the initial publication of 2003, over 100 studies have been
conducted on the role of passion in a host of cognitive, affective,
behavioural, relational, and performance outcomes experienced
within the realm of a number of passionate activities carried out in
both our own as well as other laboratories (for reviews, see
Vallerand, 2008, 2010, in press; Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003).
Below we briefly present research conducted by our own group
that shows that passion can contribute in important ways to a
meaningful life. Specifically, it is proposed that to the extent that
one’s passion for an activity is harmonious, this will set in motion
processes that will promote optimal functioning and protect
against poor functioning (e.g., Keyes, 2007). However, if one’s
passion is obsessive, then the positive effects may not be forth-
coming and an increase in poor functioning may even take place.
Much research supports the above hypothesis with psychologi-
cal well-being. For instance, in research with elderly individuals,
Rousseau and Vallerand (2003) found that harmonious passion
toward one’s favourite activity (e.g., playing cards, playing music)
positively predicted positive indices of psychological well-being
(life satisfaction, vitality, and meaning in life) but negatively
predicted indices of ill-being (anxiety and depression). Con-
versely, obsessive passion positively predicted anxiety and depres-
sion, was negatively related to life satisfaction, and was unrelated
to vitality and meaning in life. Subsequent research using different
measures of psychological well-being has yielded similar findings
with people across the life span (e.g., Forest, Mageau, Sarrazin, &
Morin, 2011; Philippe, Vallerand, & Lavigne, 2009; Rousseau &
Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al., 2007, Studies 1 and 2; Vallerand,
Mageau et al., 2008, Study 2). Thus, the promoting and protective
functions of harmonious passion have been supported while the
less than optimal role of obsessive passion was demonstrated.
Furthermore, people with a harmonious passion toward one activ-
ity in their lives display higher levels of psychological well-being
than those with an obsessive passion and those with no passion;
these last two groups do not differ in general (Philippe et al., 2009,
Study 1).
Passion also matters with respect to one’s physical health.
Because both forms of passion leads to high-energy involvement
and long-term persistence, being passionate for a given sport or
physical activity should promote physical conditioning and health
(Vallerand, 2010). However, the type of passion should matter.
Because obsessive passion entails rigid persistence for the activity,
it should lead people to engage in the activity when they should not
and to take unnecessary risks that may put one’s health in jeop-
ardy. Such should not be the case with harmonious passion be-
cause people can show a more flexible form of involvement in the
passionate activity. Research supports these hypotheses. For in-
stance, Vallerand et al. (2003, Study 3) showed that regular cy-
clists with an obsessive passion engage in winter cycling in the
Province of Quebec that may prove quite hazardous. Additional
research by Rip, Fortin, and Vallerand (2006) with dancers showed
that while both types of passion protect against acute injuries,
obsessive (but not harmonious) passion leads to chronic injuries.
Finally, research by Carbonneau, Vallerand, and Massicotte (2010,
Studies 1 and 2) showed that even with a well recognised positive
activity such as yoga, the adaptive consequences are only obtained
48
VALLERAND
if it is practiced out of harmonious passion. In fact, obsessive
passion can lead to some negative affective outcomes.
Our research has also shown that passion matters with respect to
relationships on two counts. First, in a series of studies conducted
in a variety of settings, including the sport (Lafrenie`re, Jowett,
Vallerand, Donahue, & Lorimer, 2008) and work domains with my
colleagues Fre´de´rick Philippe and Nathalie Houlfort (Philippe,
Vallerand, Houlfort, Lavigne, & Donahue, 2010), we found that
the more people have a harmonious passion for the activity, the
more they develop and maintain better relationships with the
people with whom they engage in the passionate activity. Self-
reports and informant reports of quality of relationships lead to the
same results. Obsessive passion has some negative effects on
relationships!
Second, passion toward an activity can also influence our rela-
tionships in other areas of our lives through the conflict it might
create with these other activities. For instance, research conducted
with passionate soccer fans from the U.K., with Professor Nikos
Ntoumanis at the University of Birmingham and other colleagues
(Vallerand, Ntoumanis et al., 2008, Study 3), showed that having
an obsessive passion for one’s soccer team predicted conflict
between soccer and the loved one. Conflict, in turn, negatively
predicted satisfaction with the relationship. While harmonious
passion negatively related to conflict, the effects only approached
statistical significance. Similar findings were obtained with respect
to having an obsessive passion for the Internet (Se´guin-Le´vesque,
Laliberte´, Pelletier, Blanchard, & Vallerand, 2003). Clearly, pas-
sion has an important effect on the quality of our relationships.
Research on passion has also showed that it mattered with
respect to performance. For instance, we found that expert musi-
cians display significantly higher levels of both harmonious and
obsessive passion than the younger musicians (Mageau et al.,
2009, Study 3). So, if passion is involved in expert performance,
what is the process through which it affects performance? Re-
search conducted in sports (Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 1),
dramatic arts (Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 1), and music
(Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, & Vallerand, 2011) reveals that
passion represents the fuel that allows people to engage in delib-
erate practice repeatedly and relentlessly, so that over time they
improve their skills in the activity. Furthermore, additional re-
search conducted with Professor Andy Elliot at the University of
Rochester and colleagues also showed that harmonious passion
leads to the use of adaptive goals such as mastery goals during the
performance process, while obsessive passion leads to the use of
mastery, but mainly the less adaptive avoidance goals (avoiding
failure relative to others) (see Vallerand et al., 2008, Study 2;
Vallerand et al., 2007, Study 2). Finally, it is important to note that
in all of our studies on performance, the performance variable was
not a subjective perception offered by participants, but rather a
more objective performance assessment provided by coaches and
teachers and even actual objective performance.
In sum, research reveals that harmonious passion positively
predicts psychological well-being, physical health, positive rela-
tionships, and high-level performance. On the other hand, the
contribution of obsessive passion would appear much less positive
and at times negative. Thus, having a harmonious passion toward
one activity can contribute immensely to living a meaningful life.
The fact that passion is a hot construct and that our passion model
is the only theory on passion for activities in psychology suggest
that the dualistic model of passion may play an important role in
generating much future research in the search for the psychological
processes involved in leading a meaningful life.
Conclusion
Our 30-year journey on the study of motivational processes
leads at least to three conclusions. A first conclusion is that
motivational processes matter greatly with respect to living a
meaningful life. Our research as well as that of others has clearly
shown that both passion and motivation influences a number of
outcomes that permeates people’s existence. What we need to
know more about is the relative contribution of each type of
motivational processes (i.e., motivation vs. passion) to a more
meaningful life. Both passion and motivation are important. Mo-
tivation may matter more for nonpassionate activities that we still
need to perform in our lives (e.g., to go to school, clean up our
room or office!), while passion may be especially important for the
relatively few activities that make us thrive in our lives (e.g., play
basketball; although some may be lucky enough to be passionate
about their work). Future research is needed in order to know more
about the types of tasks and conditions under which passion and
motivation are more relevant. Such research could also lead to a
more complete integration of motivation and passion processes.
Second, the quality of the motivational processes matters. Spe-
cifically, the more self-determined the motivational processes (and
the more harmonious the passion), the more the outcomes are
positive. This is an important lesson from our research: it is not
sufficient to speak of motivation quantity (high vs. low amount of
motivation). Given the same amount (or quantity) of motivation,
the quality of motivation makes a drastic difference in terms of the
outcomes that will be experienced. The research is clear on this
issue: the highest quality of motivational processes is inherent in
intrinsic motivation and identified regulation (see Deci & Ryan,
2000; Vallerand, 2007) and in harmonious passion (see Vallerand,
2010).
A third and final conclusion that stems from our research is that
we now know that motivational processes are multidetermined.
Indeed, as highlighted by the hierarchical model, motivation re-
sponds to the influence of the task, the person, and the social
environment. We need to determine how these three types of
determinants combine in influencing motivational processes. Fur-
thermore, although we have learned quite a bit about how the
social environment affects motivational processes over the past 30
years, we know very little about how motivated people influence
their environment. If we take the dialectical person⫺environment
interaction seriously, such research is necessary (see Pelletier &
Vallerand, 1996).
In sum, the past 30 years have been particularly exciting (if not
passionate) in the field of human motivation. I would like to
sincerely thank both close collaborators and scientists at other labs
for their important contribution to the field as well as the social and
personality psychology community for consistently supporting our
work. To give but two examples, without the continued theoretical
exchanges with Ed Deci or the support from Mark Zanna and the
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology series where we have
published two key chapters, our work would not have had the same
content or impact on the field, and I am deeply grateful. Continued
interactions with friends, colleagues, and students represent a part
49
THE DONALD O. HEBB AWARD
of academia that I particularly cherish. When I started my personal
scientific journey, I initially had three major goals: to propose and
test solid theoretical frameworks leading to a better understanding
of motivational processes; to conduct motivation research on
meaningful phenomena (at least in part) in real-life settings; and
finally to train future scientists in this area. A look back on the past
30 years reveals that although we have not reached the destination
just yet, some progress has been made. With increased knowledge,
a refined methodological arsenal, and an increasing number of
outstanding young and motivated researchers in the field, I per-
sonally feel that we are on the right path to gain further insights
into those processes that contribute to a meaningful life. I just can’t
wait for the next 30 years!
Re´sume´
Dans la pre´sente allocution, je propose un aperc¸u de la recherche
sur les processus motivationnels qu’a effectue´e mon e´quipe de
chercheurs au cours des 30 dernie`res anne´es. Cette recherche
souscrit a` une perspective organismique de la motivation chez
l’eˆtre humain, selon laquelle l’individu est un agent actif cherchant
a`re´aliser son potentiel. Quatre approches de recherche sont
pre´sente´es brie`vement : a) le roˆle des facteurs sociaux dans la
motivation intrinse`que; b) les facteurs de´terminants et les re´sultats
des processus motivationnels dans des situations re´elles; c) une
perspective inte´grative sur le roˆle de la personnalite´, de la taˆche et
des facteurs sociaux dans les processus motivationnels et les
re´sultats (le mode`le hie´rarchique de la motivation intrinse`que et
extrinse`que); d) une nouvelle perspective sur la passion pour les
activite´s de la vie (le mode`le dualiste de la passion). Les princi-
pales e´tudes sont mises en relief et des conclusions sont pre´sente´es.
Mots-cle´s : passion, motivation, the´orie de l’autode´termination,
psychologie positive.
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Received September 30, 2011
Revision received October 24, 2011
Accepted October 24, 2011 䡲
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