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Who’s the Happiest and Why? The role of passion and self-regulation in psychological well-being

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Abstract

The present research sought to test the overarching hypothesis that the happiest people, that is, people with the highest level of psychological well-being, are those (1) who experience the highest levels of passion (and especially harmonious passion) in several enjoyable everyday life activities, and (2) who display higher levels of autonomous regulation for less enjoyable activities such as chores and duties. Results of two studies (Study 1, N = 260; Study 2, N = 392) provided support for this hypothesis. Furthermore, results from three additional studies (Study 3, N = 251; Study 4, N = 526; Study 5, N = 255) showed that positive affect represents the key mediating processes between harmonious passion and autonomous regulation on the one hand and psychological well-being on the other. Conversely, negative affect mediated the negative relationship between obsessive passion and controlled regulation and well-being. Finally, Studies 4 and 5 also showed that the autonomous global orientation (Guay et al., 2003) is a major determinant of harmonious passion and autonomous regulation for engaging in chores and duties, whereas the controlled global orientation serves as a determinant of obsessive passion and controlled regulation. This research represents a significant advancement in integrating the perspectives of passion, self-regulation, and affect, contributing to our understanding of how individuals’ engagement in life activities influences their psychological well-being.

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Funding

This research was made possible through grants from the Canada Research Chair program and a team grant from the Fonds de recherché québécois- Santé et culture to the first author.

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  1. Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Comportement Social, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Robert J. Vallerand

  2. Université de Moncton, Moncton, Canada

    Jean-Michel Robichaud

  3. Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

    Sonia Rahimi

  4. Carnegie Mellon University, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar

    Jocelyn J. Bélanger

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Vallerand, R.J., Robichaud, JM., Rahimi, S. et al. Who’s the Happiest and Why? The role of passion and self-regulation in psychological well-being. Motiv Emot (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-024-10069-y

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