Work, stress, and relationships: The crossover process model

Abstract

Objective:Psychological crossover is the interpersonal transfer of stress. Details of how this transfer actually occurs are scarce,causing difficulties for advancement of crossover research. Crossover research has also suffered from a sampling bias, tradition-ally assessing the extent to which a husband’s work stressors are transferred to his wife. Clearly, with the advent of both dual-income and dual-career partners, this research sampling method requires updating. The research reported here directlyaddresses these two issues and reports on an original model mapping the crossover process.Method:The research adopted aqualitative method of enquiry in order to explore the crossover process afresh. Dyadic interviews were conducted with 16 dual-earner couples who were both employed full time.Results:Template analysis of the transcribed data revealed the existence ofboth negative (e.g., strain) and positive (e.g., well-being) crossover experiences between the couples. These crossover experi-ences followed afive-step process: (1) work event experienced; (2) impact of work event; (3) transfer of impact to partner;(4) impact on partner’s well-being and work performance; and (5) dyadic outcomes.Conclusions:This research advances recentdiscussions of the crossover process by supporting thefive-step Crossover Process Model. Thefindings support the occurrenceof both negative and positive crossover of emotions, although negative work stressors were found to be the most commonlyexperienced initiator of crossover. Importantly, this research demonstrated that neither the gender of the initiating partner northe gender of the recipient partner significantly influenced the crossover process.