My Boss’ Passion Matters as Much as My Own: The Interpersonal Dynamics of Passion are a Critical Driver of Performance Evaluations

Abstract

Companies often celebrate employees who successfully pursue their passion. Academic research suggests that these positive evaluations occur because of the passion percolating inside the employee. We propose that supervisors are also a key piece of this puzzle: Supervisors who are more successful in their own pursuit of passion place more value on passion in their performance evaluations. This produces an interpersonal dynamic whereby employees who are more successful in pursuing their passion may receive higher performance ratings when their supervisors are also more successful in pursuing their passion. We provide support for this core hypothesis across a crowd-sourced study with a heterogeneous sample (N=106 subordinatesupervisor dyads), a field study with a financial services company (N=321 subordinatesupervisor dyads), and a laboratory experiment (N=205) that offers both causal and mediating evidence. Crucially, we demonstrate that this interpersonal dynamic is specific to passion and does not apply to less observable motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation). These results demonstrate that supervisors who successfully pursue their passion may overvalue passion relative to other valuable attributes, leading to potential bias. They also give a new perspective on managing upwards: Employees may further their own careers by helping their supervisors pursue their passion.