'Finding your passion' isn't a great advice, developing it is better: Stanford psychologists

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There are two leading theories of an individual's interest in anything—fixed and growth—the former refers to the idea that people are born for a certain job and they just need to discover that, on the other hand, the latter refers to the idea that passion needs to be developed.

A series of studies by Stanford psychologists have discovered many problems with the fixed interest theory. The highlight of the problems is that the fixed interest theory perpetuates the misconception that you can only be passionate about—and thus successful in—one thing.

“This belief may imply that the number of interests one can have is limited and, thus, that once people have found their interest(s) there is little reason to explore other areas,” the paper published in Psychological Science reads.

The paper argues that the belief in fixed theory makes people motivated once the passion is found but does not prepare them for difficulties in the way to achieve the goal, something which growth theory of interest can help with.

“The idea that interests are inherent may imply that a strong and deeply internalized interest—a passion—provides constant motivation and inspiration; thus engaging in the interest should come relatively easily, with minimal difficulty or frustration. On the other hand, if interests are developed, then having a strong interest in one area does not preclude developing interests elsewhere,” the paper further reads.

“Moreover, the belief that interests are developed, not revealed fully formed, implies that this development may sometimes be difficult. If so, a growth theory of interest may help sustain interest in the face of frustration or difficulty.”

In one of the study, out of total five, the participants read articles on multiple topics, however, those who had a fixed interest were less keen to reading articles on topics outside their area of interest.

Similarly, in one study, most students after watching a popular science video about black holes were fascinated. Then they read a challenging scientific article about the same topic, which caused students’ interest to drop. This drop, however, was greater for students in the fixed-theory condition than the growth-theory condition.

Notwithstanding the study, there are people like Bill Gates who believe in fixed interest theory and have succeeded spectacularly. Similarly, there are people who followed the growth theory and contributed to changing the world.