نقش اشتیاق در جریان اصلی و رفتارهای رادیکال : نگاهی به فعالیت های زیست محیطی

The dualistic model of passion proposes that individuals can have two distinct types of passion toward an activity, a harmonious passion (HP) or an obsessive passion (OP), that lead to more or less adaptive outcomes, respectively. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the differential role of passion toward the environmental cause in mainstream and radical activist behaviors. Three studies were conducted with participants actively engaged in the environmental cause. In Study 1 (n = 106), path analysis results revealed that both HP and OP were associated with the endorsement of mainstream behaviors whereas only OP was related to the endorsement of radical behaviors. Study 2 (n = 123) replicated this pattern of results by looking at the extent to which participants were willing to engage in mainstream and radical behaviors in a hypothetical scenario depicting a real-life situation. Finally, path analysis results in Study 3 (n = 169) underscored the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between passion and activist behaviors. Overall, the present findings highlight the importance of distinguishing HP from OP for an important cause such as that of the environment.

Nowadays, one of the most talked-about causes is the environmental cause. Students in environment programs, as well as workers and volunteers in environmental organizations, are actively involved in this cause to help the population change for the better. However, while some activists use peaceful and moderate means to achieve their ends, others are more radical. Why? What makes an environmental activist cross the line of social norms to engage in radical behaviors? We posit that passion is a key concept in the explanation of the phenomenon of environmental radicalism. In line with the dualistic model of passion proposed by Vallerand et al. (2003), the purpose of the present research was to look at the concept of passion in the environmental field in order to determine its relevance in predicting mainstream and radical behaviors as pertains to the environmental cause.