Fostering Passion
A recent study has shown that for parents to instill passion in their children its best to take a hand off approach.
The study focused on what psychologists call autonomy, the basic need to feel like you’re acting based on your own values and desires, not those of others. Controlling parents chip away at their child’s autonomy, by pushing them into a hobby, the researchers say. So when the kid picks up his clarinet it’s not out of a desire to play music, but due to a sense of obligation or a fear of disappointing his parents, according to Mageau.
If their is evidence showing that a more laissez-faire approach to parenting results in greater passion I wonder if the same kind of evidence can extend into state intervention into the individual passion of the citizens. Is one of the problems with extensive state intervention is that it kills off the passions of the citizenry?
Seems likely but then I’m biased against the state.