【Topic】Mood Spillover and Crossover Among Dual-Earner Couples: A Cell Phone Event Sampling Study.

【Speaker】 Song Zhaoli, Assistant Professor, Department of Management and Organization, School of Business,

National University of Singapore

【Time】2008-5-22 14:00-15:30

【Venue】Room 453, Weilun Building, Tsinghua SEM

【Language】Chinese/ English

【Organizer】Department of HRM & OB

【Backgound Information】

Abstract

In this study, the authors examined affective experiences of dual-earner

couples. More specifically, theauthors explored how momentary moods can

spill over between work and family and cross over from one spouse to

another. Fifty couples used their cell phones to provide reports of

their momentary moods over 8 consecutive days. Results show significant

spillover and crossover effects for both positive and negative moods.

Work orientation moderated negative mood spillover from work to home,

and the presence of children in the family decreased negative mood

crossover between spouses. Crossover was observed when spouses were

physically together and when the time interval between the spouses’

reports was short. With this study, the authors contribute to the work

and family research by examining the nature of mood transfers among

dual-earner couples, including the direction, valence, and moderators of

these transfers across work and family domains. The authors also

contribute to the event sampling methodology by introducing a new method

of using cell phones to collect momentary data.