Towards defining ambition: how and when it leads to extreme behavior

The present dissertation is structured in 7 chapters. Chapter 1 provides a review of the literature regarding ambition and proposes a new conceptualization of this construct. Chapter 2 presents a review on the evidence regarding extreme behavior. Chapter 3 displays the aims of the present dissertation and the studies that were conducted to fulfil those aims. Chapter 4 concerns the first, correlational, study which aimed to test the mediating role of ambition in the relationship between inspiration and extremism. Chapter 5 concerns the second, longitudinal, study, aimed to investigate the relationship between ambition and extreme behavior. Chapter 6 contains correlational results from two samples in which we tested the hypothesis that ambition leads to extremism via obsessive but not via harmonious passion. Chapter 7 contains results from two samples in which we tested the hypothesis that relative deprivation can moderate the relationship between ambition and extreme behavior – in one sample this prediction was tested through a correlational design; in the other sample, the same prediction was tested through an experimental design. In conclusion, the General The present dissertation is structured in 7 chapters. Chapter 1 provides a review of the literature regarding ambition and proposes a new conceptualization of this construct. Chapter 2 presents a review on the evidence regarding extreme behavior. Chapter 3 displays the aims of the present dissertation and the studies that were conducted to fulfil those aims. Chapter 4 concerns the first, correlational, study which aimed to test the mediating role of ambition in the relationship between inspiration and extremism. Chapter 5 concerns the second, longitudinal, study, aimed to investigate the relationship between ambition and extreme behavior. Chapter 6 contains correlational results from two samples in which we tested the hypothesis that ambition leads to extremism via obsessive but not via harmonious passion. Chapter 7 contains results from two samples in which we tested the hypothesis that relative deprivation can moderate the relationship between ambition and extreme behavior – in one sample this prediction was tested through a correlational design; in the other sample, the same prediction was tested through an experimental design. In conclusion, the General discussion offers a summary of the findings embodied in the dissertation, along with their limits and theoretical and practical implications.