What Affects Perceived Job Stress? Influence of Work Passion and Goal Orientation

The dualistic model of passion theorizes that passion is multidimensional, consisting of both harmonious passion and obsessive passion. Similarly, theories regarding goal orientation assert that goal orientation is a multifaceted construct, consisting of a learning goal orientation, prove performance goal orientation, and avoid performance goal orientation. Specifically, this study aimed to determine if the combination of an employee’s work goal orientation and passion for work is predictive of the amount of job stress he or she perceives. Data from individuals (N=116) employed full-time were collected through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. Only obsessive work passion was found to be positively related to perceived job stress. Similarly, only obsessive work passion was a significant predictor of perceived job stress both when prove performance goal orientation was held constant and when avoid performance goal orientation was held constant. Each dimension of work domain goal orientation was not significantly related to either type of passion, nor were they related to or predictive of perceived job stress. Limitations and implications are also discussed