ABSTRACT
Emotion is one of the hallmarks of sports. It is present in a variety of forms and for all participants, from athletes to coaches to referees. But what are its determinants? In this chapter, we posit and present empirical evidence on the role of passion as a key determinant of emotions in sports. First, we present the predominant theoretical model of passion, the dualistic model of passion, which distinguishes between two passion types: harmonious passion (HP), entailing a strong form of motivation that remains in sync with other self-aspects and components of a person’s life, and obsessive passion (OP), involving a rigid and uncontrollable form of motivation that comes to overpower a person’s sense of self. We then review research that shows that HP toward sport is typically associated with positive emotions, whereas OP is most often related to negative emotions. These findings have been obtained in a number of situations and with diverse populations within sport (e.g. athletes, fans, referees). Finally, we discuss some applied implications and directions for future research.
