Passion Is Linked To Greater Academic Achievement — But In Some Cultures More Than Others

“Passion” is a word that often crops up on job descriptions and in interviews; articles proliferate online explaining how to adequately express your passion to potential employers. On the whole, passionate people — those who have a strong interest in a particular topic, who are confident in themselves and who dedicate themselves to what they’re doing — are thought of in a positive light, and considered likely to achieve their goals.

But when it comes to predicting achievement, how important is passion really? According to a recent paper, passion may matter less in certain cultures — and the fact that passion is often seen as the key to achievement may reflect a “distinctly Western model of motivation”. Continue reading →