With this type of passion, the activity occupies a significant but not overpowering space in the person’s identity and is in harmony with other aspects of the person’s life
Furthermore, Self-determination theory and research has shown that elements from the environment can be internalized in either a controlled or an autonomous fashion (see ; Vallerand et al. 1997). Thus, in line with the above, the DMP proposes that there are two types of passion, obsessive and harmonious, that can be distinguished in terms of how the passionate activity has been internalized into one’s identity.
A controlled internalization originates from intra and/or interpersonal pressure typically because certain contingencies are attached to the activity such as feelings of social acceptance or self-esteem (see Mageau et al. in press), or because the sense of excitement derived from activity engagement is uncontrollable. People with an obsessive passion can thus find themselves in the position of experiencing an uncontrollable urge to partake in the activity they view as important and enjoyable. The passion for the activity comes to control the person. They cannot help but to 
engage in the passionate activity leading to rigid persistence toward the activity. While such rigid persistence may at times lead to some benefits (e.g., improvement on the activity over time), it may also incur some costs, potentially leading to less than optimal functioning within the confines of the passionate activity because of the lack of flexibility that it entails. Such a rigid and defensive style should lead to self-closure from intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences (Aron 1992), to a poor integrative experience during task engagement (Hodgins & Knee 2002), and thus to negative emotional experiences, while reducing the positive affective outcomes that would normally be experienced (Hodgins & Knee 2002).