The spillover-crossover model

To illustrate the gap in the work-family research that this chapter aims to fill, we will provide an example. Imagine an employee who has a poor relationship with her supervisor. This employee will experience some sort of negative strain (like disappointment, negative emotions, mental preoccupation), which will not only be present during working time but most probably also during nonwork time. The employee should be a good actor in order to be able to hide these negative experiences and thus tensed interactions with the partner can arise. Such conflicts and arguments at home can also enhance the experience of negative emotions of the partner as well as disturb his recovery at home. The example illustrates how employees’ experiences at work (e.g. a poor relationship with the supervisor) may spill over to the home domain (in the form of negative strain), which then influence their behaviors at home (e.g. conflicts with the partner), and cross over to their partner’s well-being (i.e., negative emotions and lack of recovery).