Advancements in crossover theory

Abstract

Purpose -The central aim of this paper is to give an overview of theory and research on the crossover of (work-related) wellbeing from employees to their partners at home. In addition, it seeks to discuss studies on the crossover of wellbeing from employees to their colleagues in the workplace. It aims to discuss possible moderators of the crossover effect and delineate a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach -The paper takes the form of a literature review. Findings -The review of the literature shows that strain may spillover from work to home, and consequently influence, the wellbeing of one's partner. Additionally, the paper discusses recent studies documenting that the enthusiasm for one's work may cross over to the partner as well. Furthermore, research has shown that employees influence one another in the workplace. Several conditions may facilitate such crossover, including the frequency of interactions, empathy, susceptibility to contagion, and similarity. The paper outlines a research agenda, and indicates what the gaps in the literature are. Originality/value -The literature review reveals which advancements can be made in crossover theory. One way would be to further validate the spillover-crossover model. This model postulates that job demands lead to work-family conflict, which, in turn, leads to conflict with the partner (social undermining). Thus, job strain (or work engagement) first spills over from work to home, and then crosses over to the partner. This interaction sequence consequently influences the partner's wellbeing.

A Tale of Two Paradigms: The Impact of Psychological Capital and Reinforcing Feedback on Problem Solving and Innovation

“…In other words, positivity can beget more positivity. This can be explained by recognized contagion (Barsade, 2002), spillover (Judge & Illies, 2004), and crossover effects (Bakker, Westman & Van Emmerik, 2009) and is also in line with the existing support for happiness as a process, rather than a destination (Diener & Oishi, 2005;Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005).…”

Enjoying working and learning in vocational education: a multilevel investigation of emotional crossover and contextual moderators

“…Broaden-and-Build Theory, teachers' work In view of the structurally varied conditions of teaching and learning in vocational classrooms, outlined in chapter 3 ("Varied conditions…"), the present study further aims to examine if crossover occurrence or strength depends on either the type of training program (fully school-based or dual, i.e., complementing in-firm training), or on the domain of training (which delineates contents and target groups based on occupational fields). Since crossover theory does not particularly attend to classroom contexts (Bakker et al 2009) and reference studies on our topic are missing, we follow a largely exploratory approach. However, in addition to reported empirical evidence on vocational students' interests and learning motivation, there are also theoretical reasons to examine potentially varying strengths of relationships between teaching characteristics and students' enjoyment under differing contextual conditions of instructional interaction.…”

“…This explanation draws attention to the interplay of emotions experienced by different individuals within a shared social environment (Westman 2006). In principle, emotional crossover denotes a process in which discrete emotions or even complex psychological phenomena such as stress are transmitted from one person to another or to a group via social interaction (Härtel and Page 2009;Bakker et al 2009). Thus, individual emotions systematically affect those of interaction partners, as has been demonstrated for team leaders and team staff (e.g., Sy et al 2005).…”

The relevance of intervention participants’ process appraisal for change in well-being and lean work processes of entire teams

“…Contagion theory of emotions explains how emotions linked to positive or negative events at work can spread to work colleagues (Bakker et al 2009). If the participant appraises the workshop very positively and has high expectancies of its effects, we assumed that the associated positive energy from the workshop activities will spread from the active participants to all members of their team and lead to enhanced affective well-being, and vice versa.…”