Obsessive and harmonious passion in physically active Spanish and Hungarian men and women: A brief report on cultural and gender differences.

Abstract

Increased research on passion in exercise calls for direct examination of possible moderating variables, such as culture and gender, that could influence the interpretation of the research results. This study using a nation by gender between-participants design, examined differences in obsessive- and harmonious passion in Spanish and Hungarian physically active individuals. Participants (n = 1002) completed the Passion Scale, reported their gender, age and weekly hours of physical activity. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that the experiencing of physical activity-related obsessive- and harmonious passion differed between the 2 countries and Hungarian women scored significantly higher on harmonious and obsessive passion than Spanish women. However, Hungarian men only scored significantly higher on obsessive passion, but not harmonious passion compared to Spanish men. These results suggest that gender and cultural differences are likely to affect the interpretation and generalisation of research on passion and exercise.