Struck or Protected by Career Shocks During the Pandemic?: A Dualistic Passion Perspective

Abstract

Negative career shocks spark sensemaking and can provoke feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals have faced such jarring work events; however, we need a better understanding of how different individuals may have been emotionally affected by these changes. We extend the dualistic theory of passion to explain these responses. We suggest that obsessive passion (OP) creates a rigid engagement with work activities in which work consumes one’s identity and conflicts with other important activities, creating a sense of hopelessness. Under fear of job loss and workload reduction during covid, the effect of OP on hopelessness intensifies. In comparison, harmonious passion (HP) creates flexible task engagement in which work becomes a balanced part of one’s identity and supports basic needs of autonomy, competence, relatedness, supporting a more positive outlook. Under fear of job loss, but not workload reduction, HP provides an even greater buffer against hopelessness. Our application of the dualistic model of passion and results has important implications for theory, practice, and future research.