THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND THE PASSION FOR TEACHING ACTIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

OS PROFESSORES DE EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA E A PAIXÃO PELA ATIVIDADE DOCENTE NO ENSINO SUPERIOR

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to analyze the passion for teacher career and the level of satisfaction with life of Physical Education professionals who work at higher education considering the professional development cycles. The sample were 133 teachers who work in state universities of Paraná (Brazil). The instruments used for the research were the Passion Scale, The Satisfaction with life Scale and a socio demographic questionnaire. For data analysis were used the chi-square test and the logistic regressions binary and multinomial, considering a significance level of 95% (p<0,05). The results showed that most of the teachers were passionate by profession. It was verified that teachers who worked since 20 years or more had more level of harmonious passion (p=0,022). Moreover, was evidenced strong correlation between the Passion Criteria and the Harmonious Passion (r=0,626). In conclusion, the longer the teacher stays in the career more is the harmonious passion for work.

Key-words:
Teacher; Higher education; Profession; Physical Education

RESUMO

O objetivo do estudo foi de analisar a paixão pela carreira docente e o nível de satisfação de vida dos profissionais de Educação Física que atuam no ensino superior considerando os ciclos de desenvolvimento profissional. A amostra foi constituída por 133 professores atuantes em universidades do estado do Paraná (Brasil). Os instrumentos utilizados na pesquisa foram a Escala da Paixão, a Escala de Satisfação com a Vida e o questionário sociodemográfico. Para a análise de dados empregou-se os testes qui-quadrado e regressões logísticas binária e multinomial, considerando o nível de significância de 95% (p<0,05). Os resultados revelaram que a maioria do professores são apaixonados pela profissão. Verificou-se que os professores que atuavam a 20 anos ou mais possuíam maior indice de paixão harmoniosa (p=0,022). Além disso, observou-se forte correlação entre o Critério da Paixão e a Paixão Harmoniosa (r=0,626). Por fim, conclui-se que quanto mais tempo o professor permanece na carreira maior é a paixão harmoniosa pelo trabalho.

Palavras-chave:
Paixão; Professor; Ensino superior; Profissão; Educação Física

Introduction

The numerous changes that have occurred regarding the relationships at work are also seen in the living and working conditions of university professors who currently cope with a precarious and worrying reality^1-5.This is worrisome, since in the last years some reforms have changed the role of the Brazilian universities, making them more competitive, productive, modern and efficient^3,5. Teaching precariousness corresponds to some factors, such as the working day, flexibilization in the contracts, in addition to the requirement for polyvalence considering the activities. These factors lead to both, a poor infrastructure and a strong demand to meet goals and productivity, which can cause health impairment and demotivation^1,5.

When entering their career, the professors realize that there is a gap between what is learned in the undergraduate course and the practice confrontation in the school context⁴. Although adverse conditions make the professors choose to leave the profession, those who remain committed to their career feel deep and genuine love for their work.⁶

The aspects associated with the life history of the professors can be understood by the professional development cycles^7-9, which establish different phases of the profession⁸. In fact, the professional career reveals increasing advance and retrocession along its trajectory⁸. Under this perspective, Gonçalves⁹ states that understanding teacher training throughout life is currently necessary, based on the personal and professional development in view of the constant challenges the professors have to cope with.

Research on the professional development cycle has been carried out since the 1990s. Specifically in the area of Physical Education, such studies were more evident in the 2000s^10,11. The results showed that, regardless of the cycle the professionals are engaged in, they constantly search for their improvement and the construction of a professional identity¹⁰.

The teaching career is configured as a process that begins during the initial education and remains throughout the professional life. Several studies revealed negative aspects of the profession and, notably in the field of Physical Education, the publications of studies concerned with the quality of life and health of the professors were in evidence¹⁰. Other investigations showed dissatisfaction of the professors with salary, the number of students per class, working conditions, beliefs and expectations^11-13.

The lack of studies under a positive perspective of the teaching career indicates the research continuity, especially studies that shall reveal factors that might interfere and make work and the teaching life more motivating and exciting. The social support network is seen as a fundamental and strong influence on life satisfaction¹⁴.

Throughout the teaching career, challenging experiences and constant struggle concerned with emotional and professional aspects to make work more pleasurable and happy are evident. However, it is understood that happiness and life satisfaction are only achieved through the character nourished by personal strength that makes the individuals overcome obstacles and achieve goals previously established¹⁵.

Therefore, it is suggested that the passion acquired by the professors throughout their professional practice shall be the answer to make them remain in the profession. In fact, passion provides continuous energy that makes these professionals engaged in activities when coping with obstacles. In this sense, the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP)¹⁶ makes evident the strong tendency of performing the self-defined activity that one strongly loves and values, in which time and energy are invested. These activities become so self-determining that they represent central characteristics of the person’s identity¹⁷.

According to the DMP, the activities individuals enjoy will be internalized into their identity as they are highly valued and become meaningful in their life. Moreover, this model proposes that there are two types of passion, that is, the obsessive and the harmonious ones, in addition to the passion criterion. Obsessive passion results from a controlled internalization, which originates from either the intra or interpersonal pressure linked to passionate activities that usually propitiate an uncontrollable desire to participate in actions that are considered important and enjoyable. People with obsessive passion may be subjected to experiences of conflict and some negative affective and cognitive effects with other activities of their personal life^17,18.

On the other hand, harmonious passion results from autonomous internalization, according to which the individual accepts the activity freely. It comes from intrinsic and integrative motivation; will and personal desire are experienced, and there is not an uncontrollable desire to be engaged in activities. The person remains in control of the activity and in harmony with the other aspects of his/her life. Regarding the harmonious passion, the accomplishment of the activities happens safely and with high self-esteem; the individual has self-control during and after accomplishing such activities, which provides positive effects, such as life satisfaction, flexible behavior and the feeling of happiness. Flexible behavior makes the person be able to adapt to reality when he/she is prevented from carrying out a passionate activity, focusing energy on other tasks¹⁶. Finally, the passion criterion works to assess the degree of involvement, love and perception in the sense of facing the activity as a passion¹⁷.

Therefore, based on the aspects related to the teaching career and DMP, the present study aimed at assessing both, the passion for teaching and the life satisfaction levels by considering the professional development cycles of the Physical Education professors who work in higher education.

Methods

This is an exploratory descriptive study with a cross-sectional design. For selecting the sample, it was established that the professors should work in Higher Education Institutions that had been offering the Physical Education course for 20 years or longer, so that a comparison between the cycles of professional development in all the phases could be carried out. In addition, only institutions that offered strict sensu undergraduate and graduate courses were investigated. Regarding the criteria to include the subjects of the research, it was established that only the professors with training in the area of Physical Education and who had not taken a time off the classroom could participate in the sample.

Out of the 48 institutions that offer Physical Education courses in Paraná, only four institutions met the criteria previously established, that is, the following universities: Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Universidade Federal do Paraná and Universidade Norte do Paraná. It is noteworthy that all of them agreed to participate in the study.

At the time of the investigation, 178 professors had an institutional link with the universities selected. However, 27 professors did not participate in the research due to these reasons: they had taken a time off because of illness (4 professors); they were attending graduate studies (12 professors); they had administrative functions in other sectors of the university (2 professors) and they were not found in the institutions at the time of research (9 professors). Therefore, 151 professors were invited to fill in the research form. It is worth mentioning that 14 instruments did not return, and 4 of them were canceled for being incorrectly filled in. Thus, the sample consisted of 133 professors.

The teaching career was established based on the model of professional development cycles proposed by Farias and Nascimento¹⁰, which includes the following phases: 1 to 4 years of teaching (Entrance); 5 to 9 years (Consolidation of Professional Skills); 10 to 19 years (Affirmation and Diversification); 20 to 27 years (Reconstruction); 28 to 38 years old (Maturity).

Due to the particularities of the population investigated in the present study, the model by Farias and Nascimento¹⁰ was adapted, that is, up to 9 years of teaching (Entrance and Consolidation), 10 to 19 years (Affirmation and Diversification) and 20 years or longer (Reconstruction and Maturity).

For data collection, in addition to a sociodemographic questionnaire to characterize the sample, the Passion towards Work Scale¹⁹ and the Satisfaction with Life Scale²⁰ were used. The sociodemographic questionnaire assessed the following variables: sex, marital status, vital cycles, level of professional performance, and the fact of having graduation, master's degree and doctorate.

In order to assess passion, the Passion towards Work Scale was validated for the Portuguese language by Prates¹⁹, which consists of 14 items that assess obsessive passion, harmonious passion and the passion criterion. The responses were evaluated by using a seven-point Likert scale that embraces from ‘I fully disagree’ (1) to ‘I strongly agree’ (7). For categorizing the responses, passion was considered at two specific levels: appropriate and inappropriate passion. Regarding the dimensions referred to as harmonious passion and passion criterion, the mean scores should have values equal to or higher than 5.5 in order to show the appropriate passion; the values below 5.5 were considered inappropriate. On the other hand, in order to show the appropriate passion according to the obsessive passion dimension, the mean should achieve a maximum score of 3.49, and the values equal to or higher than 3.5 were considered inappropriate.

In order to diagnose the life satisfaction level of the professors, the Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for the Brazilian population by Gouveia et al.²⁰ was used. The participants answered the five-item questionnaire that assessed the cognitive component of subjective well-being on a 7-point scale, according to the extreme responses ‘I fully disagree’ (1) and ‘I strongly agree’ (7). The cutoff points for the total sum of the scale responses were adapted from Diener et al.²¹ as it follows: extremely satisfied (31 to 35 points); satisfied (26 to 30 points); not very satisfied (5 to 25 points).

Considering the data collection, the researchers initially made previous contact with the coordinators of the Physical Education courses of the universities participating in the research, so as to explain the purposes and procedures to be used during the research. After obtaining the authorization from the coordinators of the courses, the project was submitted and approved by the Standing Committee of Ethical Research with Humans (Opinion N^o. 865.510/2014).

Regarding the data analysis, the chi-squared test was used to evaluate the professional development cycles according to the sociodemographic data, the Passion towards Work Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. In addition, the detailed analyzes of the binary and multinomial logistic regressions (OR - Odds Ratio; 95% CI: 95% Confidence Interval) were used to assess the odds ratios of the variables of the Passion towards Work Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, respectively. It should be emphasized that the detailed analyzes were carried out only when the chi-squared test analyzes were significantly associated with the construction of passion and life satisfaction.

Spearman's correlation test was used to evaluate the correlations among the dualistic model of passion, life satisfaction, age and work time, that is, the period of time the professors have been working as such professionals. Cut-off points were adapted from Mitra and Lankford²² to characterize the correlation indices, that is, a very weak correlation at indices between 0.00 and 0.19; a weak correlation at indices between 0.20 and 0.39; a moderate correlation at indices between 0.40 and 0.59; a strong correlation at indices between 0.60 and 0.79; and a very strong correlation at indices between 0.80 and 1.00. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the significance level adopted in the statistical analyzes was of 95.0% (p≤0.05).

Results

According to the evaluation of the sociodemographic variables by considering the work time of the professors investigated it was seen that the life cycles (p <0.001), graduation period (p <0.001), master's degree (p <0.001) and doctorate 0.001) showed significant differences (Table 1).

Table 1
Association between the sociodemographic variables of the Physical Education professors and work time in higher education

Sociodemographic variables	Work time				p*
	Up to 9 Years	10 to 19 Years	20 years or +	Total
Sex
Male	23 (63,9%)	25 (56,8%)	28 (52,8%)	76 (57,1%)	0,585
Female	13 (36,1%)	19 (43,2%)	25 (47,2%)	57 (42,9%)
Marital Status
Common-law Marriage	21 (58,3%)	35 (79,5%)	35 (66,0%)	91 (68,4%)	0,113
Without a Common-law Marriage	15 (41,7%)	09 (20,5%)	18 (34,0%)	42 (31,6%)
Life Cycles
Up to 39 Years	34 (94,4%)	11 (25,0%)	00 (0,0%)	45 (33,8%)	<0,001
40 to 49 Years	02 (5,6%)	29 (65,9%)	10 (18,9%)	41 (30,8%)
50 Years or +	00 (0,0%)	04 (9,1%)	43 (81,1%)	47 (35,3%)
Performance Level
Undergraduate Studies	23 (63,9%)	25 (56,8%)	29 (54,7%)	77 (57,9%)	0,680
Undergraduate and Graduate Studies	13 (36,1%)	19 (43,2%)	24 (45,3%)	56 (42,1%)
Conclusion of the Undergraduate Studies
Up to the 1980s	01 (2,8%)	13 (29,5%)	51 (96,2%)	65 (48,9%)	<0,001
The 1990s	02 (5,6%)	25 (56,8%)	02 (3,8%)	29 (21,8%)
The 2000s	33 (91,7%)	06 (13,6%)	00 (0,0%)	39 (29,3%)
Conclusion of the Master’s degree
Up to the 1990s	00 (0,0%)	10 (25,0%)	33 (63,5%)	43 (33,6%)	<0,001
The 2000s	20 (55,6%)	28 (70,0%)	14 (26,9%)	62 (48,4%)
The 2010s	16 (44,4%)	02 (5,0%)	05 (9,6%)	23 (18,0%)
Conclusion of the Doctorate Studies
Attended it	02 (13,3%)	23 (65,7%)	34 (85,0%)	59 (65,6%)	<0,001
Did not attend it	13 (86,7%)	12 (34,3%)	06 (15,0%)	31 (34,4%)

• Note: ^*Probability estimated by the chi-squared test
• Source: The authors

The results of the analysis between work time and the sociodemographic variables that showed a significant association made it possible to characterize the groups of professors as it follows:

• Up to 9 years of teaching: the majority of the professors had a maximum age of 39 years (94.4%); they had concluded the undergraduate course (91.7%) and the master's degree in the 2000s (55.6%); however, they had not attended the doctorate studies (86.7%).

• Between 10 and 19 years of teaching: the majority of the professors were between 40 and 49 years old (65.9%); they had concluded the undergraduate course in the 1990s (56.8%), obtained the master's degree in the 2000s (70,0%) and had attended the doctorate studies (65.7%).

• 20 years of teaching or longer: the majority of the professors were 50 years old or over (81.1%); they had undergone their graduation in Physical Education until the 1980s (96.2%); they had obtained the master’s degree in the 1990s (63.5%) and concluded the doctorate studies (85.0%).

When assessing passion, most professors showed an appropriate classification in what refers to passion for teaching. It is noteworthy that every ten faculty member, five showed appropriate passion for obsessive passion, and six of them for harmonious passion. When considering the passion criterion, it was found that 75.2% of the professors declared to be passionate about the profession (Table 2).

Table 2
Association between passion and work time of the Physical Education professors in higher education

Work time	Passion towards Work Scale		p*
	Appropriate Passion	Inappropriate Passion
Obsessive Passion
Up to 9 Years	19 (52,8%)	17 (47,2%)	0,982
10 to 19 Years	24 (54,5%)	20 (45,5%)
20 Years or +	28 (52,8%)	25 (47,2%)
Total	71 (53,4%)	62 (46,6%)
Harmonious Passion
Up to 9 Years	17 (47,2%)	19 (52,8%)	0,022*
10 to 19 Years	26 (59,1%)	18 (40,9%)
20 Years or +	40 (75,5%)	13 (24,5%)
Total	83 (62,4%)	50 (37,6%)
Passion Criterion
Up to 9 Years	26 (72,2%)	10 (27,8%)	0,859
10 to 19 Years	33 (75,0%)	11 (25,0%)
20 Years or +	41 (77,4%)	12 (22,6%)
Total	100 (75,2%)	33 (24,8%)

• Note: ^*Probability estimated by the chi-squared test
• Source: The authors

Regarding the relationship between passion and work time (Table 2), only the harmonious passion showed a significant association with work time (p = 0.022), and the detailed analysis showed that the professors who had been working for 20 years or longer (OR = 3.44, 95% CI: 1.39-8.50) in higher education had a 3.44 times greater chance of having appropriate harmonious passion compared to the professors who had been teaching for up to 9 years.

When assessing life satisfaction (Table 3), the study showed that most professors are satisfied (41.4%) and extremely satisfied (38.3%) with life. However, there was no significant association between life satisfaction and work time in higher education.

Table 3
Association between life satisfaction and work time of the Physical Education professors in higher education

Work Time	Satisfaction with Life Scale			p*
	Not very Satisfied	Satisfied	Extremely Satisfied
Up to 9 Years	08 (22,2%)	17 (47,2%)	11 (30,6%)	0,183
10 to 19 Years	13 (29,5%)	15 (34,1%)	16 (36,4%)
20 Years ou +	06 (11,3%)	23 (43,4%)	24 (45,3%)
Total	27 (20,3%)	55 (41,4%)	51 (38,3%)

• Note: *Probability estimated by the chi-squared test
• Source: The authors

When assessing the correlation among age, work time in higher education, passion and life satisfaction (Table 4), a very strong correlation was seen between age and work time in higher education (r = 0.918). The results showed a strong correlation between the passion criterion and harmonious passion (r = 0.626), in addition to a moderate correlation between life satisfaction and harmonious passion (r = 0.472). Moreover, the results showed a weak correlation between harmonious passion (r = 0.235) and life satisfaction (r = 0.201) with age, as well as a weak correlation between the harmonious passion and work time in higher education (r = 0.228). Also, obsessive passion had a weak correlation with both, the passion criterion (r = 0.365) and harmonious passion (r = 0.370).

Table 4
Correlations among age, work time in higher education, passion and life satisfaction

Variables	Age	WTHE	OP	HP	PC	LS
Age	1,00
WTHE	0,918**	1,00
OP	-0,007	-0,029	1,00
HP	0,235**	0,228**	0,370**	1,00
PC	-0,017	-0,027	0,349**	0,626**	1,00
LS	0,201*	0,207*	0,077	0,472**	0,365**	1,00

• Note: WTHE: Work Time in Higher Education; OP: Obsessive Passion; HP: Harmonious Passion; PC: Passion Criterion; LS: Life Satisfaction; *p<0,05; **p<0,01
• Source: The authors

Discussion

When assessing the profile of the professors, it was seen that those at the age between 25 and 39 had less experience regarding higher education. It is worth mentioning that from the age of 30 on, life ceases to be a situation of experiences, and it becomes responsibility. It is time for starting in the job market, establishing oneself as a professional and planning the future⁷. On the other hand, the professors who are entering the career might cope with the real shock of the professional situation, that is, the conflict between ideals and reality, in addition to the difficulties to lead with students^8,10, among other factors.

Moreover, Sikes⁷ and Farias and Nascimento¹⁰ emphasize that up to 33 years of age it is the moment when the individuals can evaluate and decide to either remain in the professional career they have chosen or abandon it. Several professionals leave their careers due to disappointment; they often search for peer support to solve everyday problems. However, those who decide to remain, explore new alternatives related to the teaching-learning process, expand their knowledge and, after a few years in the profession, they start undertaking more challenging functions and feel competent in what concerns their performance¹⁰. Their anxiety in the sense of reaching new ranks within the institution, and getting support from the peers is evident; they feel happy with recognition, but the lack of prestige might cause dissatisfaction at work⁷.

It is known that stability in the career comes when the professor has been working as such a professional for at least five years. At this time, meeting the definitive commitment to profession and stability is possible, which means that the person has chosen to be a professor⁸. In this phase this professional begins to feel safe and relaxed due to greater experience, competence and confidence; moreover, he/she better understands the limits of what is tolerated and enforced^8,10. Thus, establishing oneself in the profession and being valued by society is fundamental for the professor⁷.

At the moment the professors reach the age of 40, they usually go through a successful period regarding the career, since peer recognition has been achieved, besides the fact that they have reached new ranks within the institution. However, these professors usually have little contact with the students due to the accumulation of other functions. In this phase, the professors have already been working in higher education for at least 10 years, thus, they are in the period of diversification⁷. Huberman⁸ explains that the professors begin a process of change in what concerns evaluation, that is, they use new teaching materials, different ways of teaching the contents, among others. They are more motivated, dynamic and dedicated to their pedagogical activities. However, in some cases such a motivation may be directed to reaching new ranks and searching for professional prestige. On the other hand, the professors who are motivated by their work have new stimuli, ideas, commitments, and challenges, in addition to being more involved in collective activities; they diversify their teaching activity not to fall into the routine and maintain enthusiasm for the profession.

Farias and Nascimento¹⁰ emphasize that at this stage there is the search for professional recognition, obtainment of higher academic degrees, occupation of administrative ranks, insertion into research groups and the struggle for the valorization and enlargement of professional rights. A similar result was evidenced in the present study, that is, 70% of the professors who were in this period of their career had concluded their master's degree in the decade of 2000, and 65.7% had finished the doctorate.

The third group in their 50s or over is preparing for retirement, a period when the professors realize that even with morale rising, their energies and enthusiasm for work have been declining. It is time to look into the future and search for enthusiasm again⁷. It is emphasized that this last cycle is the phase of reconstruction and professional maturity. It is understood that the accumulation of knowledge achieved in the career leads to the positive consolidation of the trajectory of the professors, which reveals their professional identity. These cycles precede the moment of retirement, and they are characterized by the moment of professional fulfillment^9,10 In this phase, most professors have their own identity built during a permanent education process, which is strongly related to the social context lived.

Based on the data shown, it is assumed that the 1980s constituted the period when there was the largest number of professors trained in the area of ​​Physical Education. However, it was in the 2000s that most professors achieved the titles of master and doctor. The fact of having obtained the doctoral and master's degrees in this period is closely related to the increase in the number of Stricto Sensu Graduate Programs in Physical Education in Brazil²³.

Education at graduate level is essential for teaching in higher education; however, it takes years of dedication to work and study so that such a qualification is achieved. This strong inclination to perform a particular activity is related to the passion for a self-defined cause and ideology, which makes the individuals or groups intensively dedicate themselves to a specific, motivated and valued activity; these are the motivating factors basically proposed concerning their goals in life^24,25.

However, Rip, Vallerand and Lafrenière²⁶ mention that either harmonious or obsessive passion are the foundations for the commitment to obtain academic degrees and to professionally work in higher education, which might direct the professors to differentiated motivational processes that result in divergent social consequences. Considering harmonious passion, the barriers are overcome in a peaceful, motivating, safe and pressure-free manner. During this learning process that expands their knowledge, the professors learn from mistakes; they are open to new experiences and the passionate activity is integrated with their identity. Regarding obsessive passion, the professors feel pressured, insecure and unstable to achieve each goal. Ideology, coupled with the valorization of academic productivity, which is necessary for the professional qualification of the work groups of professors, can affect their personal and professional identity throughout their career.

Based on the fact that the professors showed an appropriate harmonious and obsessive passion for work, one can suggest that they autonomously and freely internalized and integrated the teaching activity into their identity because they are more related to the fact of enjoying and being interested in their practice^18,27-29. By being in harmony with other aspects of their personal life, a more active involvement occurs, that is, the professors control the activity they love doing, relatively free of conflicts, which provides adaptive outcomes, including flexible activity flow, positive emotions and high performance²⁹. Therefore, the daily profession practice is compatible with other activities of their personal life.

The passion for teaching showed by most professors is important for the performance of their profession. Being passionate about teaching is not only expressing enthusiasm for the activity, but also representing it according to principles and values, and performing it with affection, commitment and hope in order to achieve its effectiveness³⁰. Therefore, the fact that these professors are passionate about what they do is considered a fundamental factor in order to provide their activities with positive results, which involves not only teaching with quality, but it also motivates the production of new research, participation in extension projects, in addition to improving the relationships among the work groups, which generates efficiency in the performance of their functions.

The association between work time and harmonious passion is corroborated by the research carried out by Carbonneau et al.⁶, which showed that harmonious passion can make a significant difference in the professors’ life, increasing job satisfaction and reducing the risks of feeling exhausted over time. The study concluded that harmoniously participating in an activity that is fundamental for life contributes to personal well-being.

It is likely that at the time the professors chose their profession, they were satisfied with their personal lives and had very well defined plans of what they would like to do in the future. Since they were passionate about their professional career, they showed high levels of personal life satisfaction. According to Bardagi and Hutz,³¹ the commitment to career and exploratory behavior of the professors by planning what they intended to do in the future, constitute fundamental elements and are significantly related to personal life satisfaction. Thus, the more organized the professors are in their professional life, the greater will their life satisfaction be.

This relationship between personal and professional life is also supported by a strong correlation between the passion criterion and harmonious passion. Such a result means that at certain times the professors can deal more easily with success, overcome failures, and learn from difficulties. As they have shown that they are able to fully concentrate on the activities they do outside the work environment, they do not have an uncontrollable desire to perform the passionate activity, that is, teaching¹⁸.

Life satisfaction is explained by the condition of having harmonious passion for work. In this sense, the professors have high levels of positive affection, confidence and safety for developing professional activities, which leads to positive results. Similar results were evidenced by Lafrenière, Vallerand and Sedikides³² who found a positive association between harmonious passion, self-valorization and life satisfaction in general.

Harmony between work and personal life activities enable the professors to perform other important tasks and experience positive emotions in their life in general¹⁸. The confidence shown by the professors is important; Nunes, Hutz and Giacomoni³³ found high correlations between confidence and positive affection on people and life satisfaction, which means that the professors analyze more positively the intentions of their counterparts in relation to them, that is, they do not believe that other people may harm them, which leads to greater empathy with others regarding their social relationships.

The results of the present study showed that there is a correlation between harmonious passion and life satisfaction with age. It can be inferred that as people grow older, the level of personal and professional life satisfaction will naturally change. However, in other studies carried out with 18-64-year-old men and women, life satisfaction was not related to age³⁴. These results showed that the age and period of time the professors have been professionally working at the university do not seem to be variables that directly interfere in their personal life satisfaction.

On the other hand, when obsessive passion is a strong characteristic of the professors, it excessively involves their identities, which causes personal conflicts with other elements that are part of their personal life. This factor is important, since it interferes with their professional performance and makes the professors reflect about their engagement with the professional activities in relation to other fundamental ones for their personal life. However, self-valorization is related to the well-being of the individuals who have an obsessive passion for work^18,32,34.

Conclusions

The results showed a high prevalence of passion for teaching. The presence of passion towards work suggests that it can play an important role, since passion provides the professors with broad support in the sense that they make an effort to achieve higher levels of knowledge and academic qualifications.

A strong correlation was found between harmonious passion and life satisfaction. This makes evident that the harmonious passion, according to which the professors become freely, autonomously and flexibly engaged in the work environment is fundamental to maintain high levels of personal life satisfaction.

Work time showed an association only with harmonious passion, which means that the longer the professors work as such professionals, the more they increase their levels of harmonious passion towards work. Therefore, the professors who remain in their profession for years tend to build their personal and professional identities mainly based on love for teaching. Their professional trajectory points to different challenges and their exercise demands involvement and commitment to quality.

Finally, the Physical Education professionals assessed in the present study, who work in higher education, showed appropriate harmonious and obsessive passions regarding their profession, since they also invest outside of their work environment due to other interests in life. The results show how much passion interferes in the professional career, and also in the aspects related to the performance and autonomous dedication towards work. As passion is appropriate, it can be inferred that the quality of the teaching results also depends on the type of passion professors acquire.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  29 Apr 2019
• Date of issue
  2019

History

• Received
  24 Sept 2017
• Reviewed
  05 Aug 2018
• Accepted
  08 Sept 2018