Why Passion May Need to Be Developed, Not Found

In a recent LinkedIn post, Daniel Pink discusses research suggesting that people who expect passion to be discovered may lose interest more quickly when an activity becomes difficult. Pink is reporting the findings of psychologists Paul O’Keefe, Carol Dweck and Greg Walton; this article covers his post and their research rather than presenting Pink as its author.

“people who believe passions are found rather than developed expect a real one to bring boundless motivation.”

The expectation of effortless motivation

According to Daniel Pink, the researchers examined beliefs about whether interests are uncovered as fixed passions or cultivated over time. In Pink’s summary, the “found” view carries an expectation that a genuine passion should supply sustained motivation. That expectation can shape how someone interprets the ordinary friction of learning or pursuing something new.

Pink points to the study’s final experiment, where participants encountered difficulty in a new interest. He reports that interest faded faster among those who had been nudged toward the belief that passions are found. The post does not describe the experiment’s methods or specify the size of this difference, so the finding is best understood here as Pink’s concise account of the published study.

“when a new interest got difficult, it faded faster for people nudged toward that belief.”

Difficulty as part of developing an interest

As Daniel Pink’s post frames the result, a person who expects boundless motivation may interpret a lull or challenge as evidence that an interest is not “the one.” By contrast, the idea that interests can be developed leaves room for motivation to fluctuate while skills and commitment grow. Pink’s account suggests that encountering difficulty does not, by itself, establish that an interest lacks potential.

What the post means for career advice

Pink connects the research to career advice and motivation through the post’s hashtags, though he does not offer a step-by-step prescription. A cautious implication of his summary is that people may benefit from giving a new pursuit time to become engaging, rather than expecting immediate, limitless drive. That is an interpretation of the finding, not a claim that the study proves every interest can become a passion.

A research finding, not a universal rule

Pink identifies the source as O’Keefe, Dweck and Walton’s 2018 paper, “Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it?” in Psychological Science. His post highlights one result and leaves broader questions—such as how the finding applies across different careers or interests—unaddressed. It nevertheless offers a useful challenge to the popular advice to simply “find” a passion: in the research Pink cites, beliefs about how interests work appear to matter when the pursuit becomes hard.

By emphasizing that result, Daniel Pink invites readers to consider whether they expect passion to arrive fully formed or to take shape through continued engagement. The distinction, as his post presents it, may influence whether a difficult stretch feels like a reason to stop or a normal part of developing an interest.