Inherent or context-dependent? Untangling the dynamic nature of work passion from a latent growth modeling approach

Abstract

While work passion is widely pursued by both employees and their organizations, the development of passion remains largely unexplored. This gap in extant literature has motivated the present study, as a part of which the dynamic nature of work passion is investigated in order to ascertain: (1) whether and why work passion may exhibit an inherently dynamic over time; (2) whether the dynamics of passion are context-dependent (i.e., based on the external circumstances) and whether the influence of contextual factor(s) is also dynamic; and (3) whether any changes in work passion can be identified over a period of a few weeks. To accomplish these aims, based on the self-determination theory, we first examined two forms of passion (i.e., obsessive and harmonious passion) in terms of their potential temporal dynamics. In addition, we posited that unmet expectations, denoting a self-concept gap between one's expectations and work realities, was a pertinent contextual factor, in line with the theoretical frameworks of ideal self versus reflected self. Using the data from a four-wave longitudinal survey conducted over a three-month period involving 365 employees, a series of latent growth modeling tests were performed. Our findings show that unmet expectations influence the initial status and subsequent changes in both forms of passion, albeit in opposite directions. However, the inherent dynamic nature of either form of passion was not supported by our results. The theoretical and practical implications were discussed accordingly.