How Does Dualistic Passion Fuel Academic Thriving? A Joint Moderated-Mediating Model

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The dualistic model of passion distinguishes between harmonious and obsessive passion.
• Understanding the mechanisms linking passion to academic thriving is crucial for student success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mediating role of academic personal best goals in the relationship between dualistic passion and academic thriving.
• To examine the joint moderating effects of threat stress appraisal and academic workload on this relationship.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative study surveying 960 Chinese university students.
• Development and application of a joint moderated-mediating model.

Main Results:

• Both harmonious and obsessive passion positively predicted academic thriving, with harmonious passion showing a stronger effect.
• Academic personal best goals mediated the passion-thriving link.
• Threat stress appraisal and academic workload jointly moderated the direct and mediating pathways, with different patterns for harmonious and obsessive passion.

Conclusions:

• Harmonious passion is more consistently beneficial, especially under low stress/workload.
• Obsessive passion can also contribute to academic thriving, particularly under high stress/workload.
• Findings offer practical implications for fostering academic thriving through passion management in educational settings.