How finding passion damages motivation
Scientific litsketch on boosting motivation
Believing that your personal interests can change and develop over time rather than believing that you were born with certain interests that do not change over time can increase your grit when you face difficulties in the pursuit of your interests (O’keefe, Dweck and Walton, 2018).
In an experiment, people were randomly divided into two groups. Group One read an article that explained that we can develop our own interests that can change over time. The emphasis was that we can develop our own passion that we choose to pursue. Group Two read an article that explained that we are born with certain interests that are stable over time. The emphasis was that we need to find our hidden passion that we were born with. Next, both groups watched a video on black holes, and only the people who found black holes to be fascinating and important were asked to continue with the experiment.
Finally, both groups were given a very challenging technical article about black holes, and were asked whether they thought that black holes are fascinating and important. Group One with the belief that passion can be developed remained highly interested about black holes even after reading a very difficult article. Group Two lost their interest in black holes after reading the difficult article.
If you believe that you need to find your interests and passion that are hidden within you and that interests are fixed rather than malleable, you tend to believe that you will have limitless motivation and strength to do anything if only there is passion. With this belief, when a difficulty strikes, you are more likely lose interest, thinking that this may not have been your “real” passion. But if you believe that you can develop interests of your own choice, you are more able to protect your passion when you face a difficulty.
To improve grit, don’t find your passion but rather develop your passion.
O’Keefe, Paul A., Carol S. Dweck, and Gregory M. Walton. "Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it?." Psychological Science 29, no. 10 (2018): 1653-1664.