Engage means to attract and retain an interest in something ("Engage"). Has our digital age, with unprecedented access to information, altered our ability to engage with the world? Have we lost the ability to discern what we value most? As increasingly sophisticated algorithms compete for our attention, deciding where to direct our engagement may be more difficult than ever.

The role of passion in engagement offers a way. According to Robert Vallerand, passion can "fuel motivation, enhance well-being, and provide meaning in everyday life" ("Les Passions" 756). Importantly, it is what kind of passion we cultivate. In the dualistic model of passion presented by Vallerand, passion takes two forms ("From Motivation" 47). Western individualism often encourages obsessive passion based on a "controlled internalization of the activity into one’s identity" (“Les Passions” 757). However, by tying passion to conditions such as interpersonal or intrapersonal acceptance and the desire to control outcomes, obsessive passion can come to exert control over the individual (“Les Passions” 757). It is “regulated by motivational processes indicative of self-protection” (Stenseng et al. 1118), and when driven by expectations beyond a person’s control, obsessive passion can lead to conflict.

However, the second form, harmonious passion, develops when an individual freely chooses to pursue an activity, resulting in the "autonomous internalization of the activity into the person's identity" ("Les Passions" 757). Engaging through harmonious passion can cultivate a more relaxed experience, a flexible mental state, increased persistence, and better integration of the activity into one's identity over time ("Les Passions" 757).

Research by Frode Stenseng et al. supports this perspective. By analyzing data concerning recreational athletes using structural equation modeling, Stenseng and his colleagues demonstrated that harmonious passion increased belongingness among athletes, resulting in positive emotions, suggesting a strong link between belonging and well-being. Obsessive passion, while producing positive emotions, demonstrated no connection with belongingness. Those subjects who pursued sports via harmonious passion felt more connected to their teammates and fulfilled overall than those who engaged obsessively (Stenseng et al. 1120).

Why are we compelled to pursue our passions one way over another? In "The 'What' and 'Why' of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior," Deci and Ryan explain self-determination theory (SDT), the idea that human motivation depends on the intrinsic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness that serve to align the self both internally and within the larger social structure (227). Social contexts supporting these basic needs maintained intrinsic motivation, increased extrinsic motivation through an increased sense of autonomy, and strengthened life aspirations in subjects. These needs "specify the conditions under which people can most fully realize their human potentials" (Deci and Ryan 263).

We should also keep our shared experiences fun. In "A Liberating-Engagement Theory of Consumer Fun," Travis Tae Oh and Michel Tuan Pham explain that fun requires both hedonic engagement (active immersion in a pleasurable experience) and a sense of liberation from internalized restrictions and stressors (52). Unlike happiness, which is often tied to particular circumstances or outcomes, fun arises from the experience itself and thrives without expectations. "In fact, the active application of skills in the pursuit of specific goals can be detrimental to the experience of fun" (Oh and Pham 52).

While visiting a Toys R Us in Bangkok, I asked a man in the neighboring checkout line whether it would be appropriate for a foreigner like me to participate in the upcoming Songkran Festival, Thailand’s New Year celebration (and a multi-day, citywide water fight). Eyeing the water pistol I was about to purchase, he replied, “Not with a little gun like that. You’re going to need something a lot bigger!” We both laughed, and I stepped out of line to scour the shelves for the biggest one I could find.

Engagement with the world matters—not just how we engage, but how we learn to recognize the types of engagement we choose between. Understanding what form passion is taking in our engagement can help us recognize when it becomes inclusive and collaborative rather than isolated and detrimental to our well-being. Cultivating the ability to recognize when our psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are being supported can help us choose environments that encourage healthier engagement. Recognizing whether we are actually having fun in the present moment can also help us understand what forms of engagement work best for each of us. In a world increasingly designed for algorithmic capture, cultivating this awareness may offer a robust, deeply human alternative.

Works Cited

Deci, Edward L., and Richard M. Ryan. "The 'What' and 'Why' of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior." Psychological Inquiry, vol. 11, no. 4, 2000, pp. 227–68, https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01.

“Engage.” Cambridge Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/engage. Accessed 19 Oct. 2024.

Oh, Travis Tae, and Michel Tuan Pham. “A Liberating-Engagement Theory of Consumer Fun.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 49, no. 1, 2022, pp. 46–73, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab051.

Stenseng, Frode, et al. "Positive Emotions in Recreational Sport Activities: The Role of Passion and Belongingness." Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 16, no. 5, 2015, pp. 1117–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9547-y.

Vallerand, Robert J. “From Motivation to Passion: In Search of the Motivational Processes Involved in a Meaningful Life.” Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, vol. 53, no. 1, 2012, pp. 42–52, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026377.

Vallerand, Robert J., et al. “Les Passions de l’Âme: On Obsessive and Harmonious Passion.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 85, no. 4, 2003, pp. 756–67, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.4.756.

Pictured above
Walker, Coire: Photograph of Songkran Festival celebration, Sala Daeng, Bangkok, Thailand. 13 Apr. 2023. Author's personal collection.