Inequity in work and intimate relationships: a Spillover-Crossover model

This study among 267 Greek teachers and their partners tested and expanded the recently proposed Spillover-Crossover model (SCM) of well-being. Accordingly, experiences built up at work spill over to the home domain, and then influence the partner. The authors integrated equity theory in the model by formulating hypotheses about exchange in interpersonal relationships. Structural equation modeling analyses supported the spillover hypothesis that teachers who lose their work engagement as a result of an inequitable relationship with their students invest less in the relationship with their partner. In addition, the results supported the crossover hypothesis that teachers' relationship investments, in turn, show a negative relationship with inequity in the intimate relationship as perceived by the partner; and inequity in the intimate relationship contributed to partner depression. The findings are discussed in light of the SCM of well-being.