1 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION The Gravitational Pull of Passion: When and How Expressing Passion Elicits Status Conferral and Support from Others Jon M. Jachimowicz Columbia Business School Christopher To New York University Shira Agasi University of Toronto Stéphane Côté University of Toronto Adam D. Galinsky Columbia Business School Data/Code available here: https://osf.io/aku2j/ Acknowledgements Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Academy of Management Conference 2017 and at the Society for the Study of Motivation 2017. Studies 1 and 3a were supported by a grant from the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. J.M.J. acknowledges the German National Academic Merit Foundation for support. The authors thank Ashley Martin for connecting the dots and suggesting the collaboration between the authors. 2 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION Abstract Prior research attributes the positive effects of passion on professional success to intrapersonal characteristics. We propose that interpersonal processes are also critical because observers confer status on and support those who express passion. These interpersonal benefits of expressing passion are, however, contingent on several factors related to the expresser, perceiver, and context. Six studies, including entrepreneurial pitches from Dragons’ Den and two pre- registered experiments, establish three key findings. First, observers conferred status onto and increased their support for individuals who express passion; importantly, expressing passion affected how admired—but not how accepted—someone was. Second, these effects were weaker when passion was expressed in an inappropriate manner/context, and when observers disagreed with the target of expresser’s passion. Third, in competitive contexts, expressing passion became threatening and decreased the support people received from others. These results demonstrate that passion’s effects travel, in part, through the gravitational pull exerted by expressing passion. Keywords: passion, success, admiration, support, competition 3 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION Highlights ● People confer status onto and support people who express passion ● Expressing entrepreneurial pitches with more passion increases funding offers ● We distinguish expressing passion from expressing authenticity and extraversion ● Expressing passion in an inappropriate way or context is less beneficial ● In competitions, expressing passion is perceived as threatening and reduces support 4 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey have reached the highest echelons of success. Their achievements are often attributed to their extraordinary high levels of passion; indeed, popular discourse commonly describes successful individuals as paragons of passion (Branson, 2012; Isaacson, 2011; Winfrey, 2019). Academy Award-winning music composer A.R. Rahman stated this eloquently: “Success comes to those who dedicate everything to their passion in life.” Richard Branson similarly recognized how passion helps people find the right path: “If you find what you are truly passionate about, then finding your career will not be too far away.” These quotes highlight a more general belief: Being passionate for one’s work is a pathway towards professional success. Consistent with this perspective, prior literature on passion predominantly takes an intrapersonal perspective (Jachimowicz, Wihler, Bailey, & Galinsky, 2018), finding that individuals who are passionate for their work attain increased success by exhibiting higher levels of engagement (Vallerand et al., 2003; Zigarmi, Nimon, Houson, Witt, & Diehl, 2009), proactivity (Ho, Wong, & Lee, 2011), cognitive flexibility (Liu, Chen, & Yao, 2011), perseverance (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007), self-efficacy (Baum & Locke, 2004), and job satisfaction (Burke & Fiksenbaum, 2009), as well as reduced levels of stress (Zigarmi et al., 2009). The intrapersonal perspective suggests that the beneficial outcomes of passion stem from inherent characteristics that lie within passionate individuals. This feeds into the widely held belief, exemplified by the quotes above, that successful people have reached their lofty positions because of the passion that percolates inside of them. The current research offers a complementary perspective on why passion may help individuals attain greater success. In contrast to previous research focused on the intrapersonal effects of passion, we take an interpersonal perspective and propose that expressing passion for 5 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION work stirs reactions and behaviors in others that contribute to the success of these individuals. Richard Branson recognized these interpersonal benefits of passion: “When you believe in something, the force of your convictions will spark other people’s interest and motivate them to help you achieve your goals […] Passion, like a smile, is contagious. It rubs off on everyone around you and attracts enthusiastic people into your orbit” (Virgin, 2015). Expressing passion, Branson asserts, exerts a gravitational pull that brings supporters into one’s orbit. The omission of the interpersonal effects of passion in prior research is particularly striking given that many of the beneficial outcomes associated with passion for work, including increased perseverance and job satisfaction and reduced stress, are shaped by interpersonal factors as well as individual characteristics (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977; Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008; Ryan, Mims, & Koestner, 1983). An interpersonal perspective on passion is especially relevant because observers can readily detect passion in others (Cardon, Wincent, Singh, & Drnovsek, 2009; Chen, Yao, & Kotha, 2009). We therefore propose that an interpersonal perspective of passion contributes to a more complete understanding for how passion for work helps people obtain greater success. Our core idea is that others respect and admire individuals who express passion and, as a result, are eager to lend their time and support to them. That is, observers confer status on those who express passion and therefore invest in their success (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). These interpersonal effects of expressing passion are, however, contingent on several factors related to the expresser, perceiver, and context. To explore the interpersonal effects of passion for work, we conducted six studies that capture the contingent effects of this effect of expressing passion on status conferral. We first offer a broad overview of our research program and provide in-depth theory for each idea before reporting the studies that tested each one. 6 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION Conceptualizing Passion and its Expression We draw on a recent conceptualization of passion as “a strong feeling toward a personally important value/preference that sparks intentions and behaviors which express that value/preference” (Jachimowicz et al., 2018, p. 9981). This definition highlights that the experience of passion captures an intense affective state (Chen et al., 2009; Perrewé, Hochwarter, Ferris, McAllister, & Harris, 2014), and emphasizes that the target of one’s passion reflects an attribute that has high personal value or strong appeal to the individual (Chen et al., 2009; Vallerand et al., 2003). This definition also captures that passion leads individuals to desire engaging and interacting with this personally important value/preference, i.e., the target of their passion (Cardon et al., 2009; Perrewé et al., 2014). This conceptualization highlights how passion overlaps and differs from related constructs. For example, both passion and intrinsic motivation—defined as “doing an activity for its inherent satisfaction” (Ryan & Deci, 2000; see also Mossholder, 1980; Rawsthorne & Elliot, 1999; Shalley & Oldham, 1985)—describe a motivational affective state. However, passion and intrinsic motivation differ in the identity-relevance of their target; whereas the target of a person’s intrinsic motivation centers on the enjoyment of a particular task and holds less identity- relevance, the target of a person’s passion reflects a personally important value/preference, and thus holds more identity-relevance (Curran, Hill, Appleton, Vallerand, & Standage, 2015; Jachimowicz et al., 2018). That is, what individuals are passionate for represents an important part of their own identity. Demonstrating the distinction between these constructs, research has found that passion, but not intrinsic motivation, combines with perseverance to increase performance (Jachimowicz et al., 2018). 7 Running Head: THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF PASSION In addition, prior research has found that passion is associated with unique physical manifestations related to outward expressions, including facial expressions, vocal tone, and body language (Chen et al., 2009; Li, Chen, Kotha, & Fisher, 2017). That is, passion is readily observed by others, and its cues serve as a visible indicator of how passionate the expresser is (Curran et al., 2015; Smilor, 1997). After perceiving someone expressing passion for their work, observers are likely to infer that the expresser is passionate for their work (see, for example, Davis, Hmieleski, Webb, & Coombs, 2017; Galbraith, McKinney, DeNoble, & Ehrlich, 2014; Mitteness, Cardon, & Sudek, 2010; Mitteness, Sudek, & Cardon, 2012). We propose that expressions