Connecting attachment to passion: Insights into the four-stage developmental process

The dualistic model of passion distinguishes harmonious passion (flexible, balanced engagement) from obsessive passion (rigid, conflict-prone engagement) but provides limited insight into why individuals develop one versus the other. We propose that adult attachment orientations act as a foundational individual difference, influencing passion development through exploratory behavior and basic psychological need processes (satisfaction and frustration) across the four-stage developmental process of passion: exploration, selection, valuation, and internalization. Four studies tested this model. In a nationally representative U.S. sample (Study 1, N = 1012), securely attached individuals were more likely to report a passion and exhibited higher harmonious passion and lower obsessive passion. Study 2 ( N = 431) replicated these findings and showed secure attachment predicted intrinsic goal pursuit and greater selection of family-related passions. A preregistered cross-sectional study (Study 3, N = 300) indicated secure attachment indirectly predicted both passion types via exploration and needs satisfaction, with needs frustration uniquely predicting obsessive passion. A preregistered longitudinal study (Study 4, N = 229) revealed secure attachment prospectively forecasted increases in harmonious passion through needs satisfaction and decreases in obsessive passion through reduced needs frustration. These findings establish attachment orientation as a robust correlate of passion emergence and quality, and identify needs-based mechanisms that prospectively forecast harmonious versus obsessive internalization.