This study employs a theoretical and comprehensive framework for investigating the relationship between passion for work, work-family conflict, and emotional exhaustion. Drawing from the dualistic model of passion, we posited that passion could provoke negative feelings, leading to strict determination and inhibiting the attainment of an effective, balanced life. However, there is little empirical evidence to support the dualistic model of passion's notion that passion either can assist employees in balancing their various life responsibilities or impede such a balance. The purposes of this study are threefold: first, to investigate the impact of passion for work on work-family conflict; second, to examine the relationship between work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion; and third, to clarify the mediating process of work-family conflict in the relationship between passion for work and emotional exhaustion. A cross-sectional survey was employed to gather data from Indonesian firefighters (n = 398). PLS-SEM was utilized to test the proposed hypotheses. Our results revealed that obsessive passion negatively affects emotional exhaustion. The underlying reason for this result is due to self-conceptions based on community expectations, receiving help from others to solve problems, and improving well-being even when problems arise. Our results suggest that organizations encourage employees' harmonious development, providing employees with skills necessary to deal with challenging situations and providing a family-supportive policy.
Keywords: emotional exhaustion; firefighters; passion for work; the dualistic model of passion; work–family conflict.