Navigating Later-Life Transitions: Passion, Control Strategies, and Psychological Functioning Under Perceived Decline

Later-life transitions, such as retirement, present significant developmental milestones that challenge individuals to regulate shifting goals, identities, and resources. This longitudinal study examined the relationship between two forms of passion, harmonious (HP) and obsessive (OP), and psychological functioning during the transition to retirement among 347 tenured university faculty members (M_age = 61.6). Guided by the Dualistic Model of Passion and the Motivational Theory of Lifespan Development, the study tested whether adaptive primary and secondary control strategies mediate the relationship between passion and psychological functioning (well-being and ill-being) and whether these processes are moderated by perceived decline in professional expertise. Results from structural moderation and mediation analyses showed that HP facilitated greater use of secondary control strategies, particularly positive reappraisal, which was linked to enhanced well-being and reduced ill-being. These effects were magnified among individuals who perceived a decline in their expertise, suggesting that HP may foster adaptive flexibility in the face of normative losses. OP was negatively related to self-regulation and unrelated to psychological outcomes. By integrating passion with lifespan models of control, this study highlights how motivational orientation influences self-regulatory processes and psychological functioning across key developmental transitions in adulthood.