Harmonious and Obsessive Passion, Competence, and Self-worth

Naydanova, E., & Beal, B. D. 2016. Harmonious and obsessive passion, competence, and self-worth: A study of high school students in the U.S. and Russia. Computers in Human Behavior, 64 (2016): 88-93. [PDF, journal]

Abstract:

This study uses a dualistic model of passion to examine the relationships between Internet passion and perceptions of competence and general self-worth among high school students in the U.S. and Russia. Indirect relationships between harmonious and obsessive Internet passion and general self-worth, and the mediating roles of cognitive and social competence were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The majority of the findings were identical in both the U.S. and Russian samples. Harmonious Internet passion was found to be positively related to cognitive and social competence, and general self-worth, while obsessive Internet passion was negatively related to the three constructs. Culture-specific findings include the mediating role of social competence on the relationship between harmonious and obsessive Internet passion and general self-worth in the U.S., but not in Russia. This research contributes to the ongoing debate about whether excessive Internet use is good or bad by demonstrating that it can be both depending on the type of passion involved. This study provides direction for high school administrators and parents about how to effectively capitalize on the benefits of Internet use by encouraging harmonious passion and discouraging obsessive passion.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.