This study explores the crossover mechanisms of emotions and experiences between leaders and followers, with particular focus on how gender shapes these dynamics within leader-follower pairs. Drawing on Westman's (2001) crossover model, we conducted an exploratory vignette study with 190 working professionals and MBA students. Through qualitative analysis of participants' responses to a single open-ended question following scenarios depicting positive and negative leader-follower interactions, we found support for all three of Westman's proposed crossover mechanisms, with indirect crossover emerging as the dominant pathway. The study revealed multiple indirect crossover mechanisms, including general affect and discrete emotions, perceptions of leader support, and work attitudes. Gender differences were observed, with female dyads showing stronger responses to positive scenarios and male dyads demonstrating slightly more intense reactions to negative scenarios. The findings contribute to crossover and leadership theory by illuminating how leader influence operates through the transmission of emotions and experiences beyond traditional behavioral mechanisms. Our results suggest that organizations should expand leadership development programs to include awareness and management of emotional crossover processes while accounting for gender-specific dynamics. The study provides a foundation for future research on gender dynamics and boundary conditions in leader-follower crossover processes.

How intertwined are expatriates with their families? And what makes some expatriates better than others at leveraging positive or compensating for negative influences from their family life? Drawing on conservation of resources, crossover and spillover theories, we examine when partner family role adjustment influences expatriates’ family experiences, and how and when these experiences translate into expatriate work role engagement. Using data from 105 expatriate–partner dyads at two time points, we establish the key personal resource of general self-efficacy as a boundary condition for crossover and spillover. We find that expatriates with high self-efficacy experience no crossover between partner family role adjustment and expatriate family role adjustment, and positive spillover between their family role engagement and their work role engagement. By contrast, expatriates with low self-efficacy experience strong crossover between partner family role adjustment and expatriate family role adjustment, and negative spillover between their family role engagement and work role engagement. Our results suggest that the way in which the family domain influences expatriate work role engagement depends on general self-efficacy. We contribute to conservation of resources, crossover and spillover theories, and the work–family interface during expatriation. Our results also pinpoint organizational interventions to improve expatriates’ work role engagement.

Purpose The goals of this review are to identify key theories, constructs and themes in the international business travel (IBT) literature and to propose a model based on findings, theories and constructs drawn from adjacent research literature. Design/methodology/approach The authors reviewed the business travel (BT) literature to identify conceptual and empirical articles on IBT published from 1990 to 2022. Only 53 publications were suitable for review. The authors reviewed them using an open coding system. Findings The IBT literature is dispersed across several disciplines that use different methods, focus on different aspects of travel and emphasize different positive and negative outcomes that IBT engenders. The publications employed a diverse range of methods, including review and conceptual (11), quantitative (28) and qualitative methods (14). The samples were diverse in country, age, marital status and tenure. Many publications were descriptive and exploratory. The few that based their research on theory focused on two stress theories: Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory. Research limitations/implications Experimental and longitudinal designs are needed to reduce the causal ambiguity of this body of mostly correlational and cross-sectional research. The authors discuss the impact of emerging advances in virtual global communication technology on the future of IBT. Practical implications More research is needed on positive aspects of IBT. Human resource (HR) people should be aware of these issues and are encouraged to decrease the deleterious aspects of the international trips and increase the positive ones. Social implications Increasing well-being of international business travelers is important for the travelers, their families and the organization. Originality/value This is the first IBT review focused on the theoretical underpinnings of research in the field. The authors offer a model for IBT and introduce adjustment and performance as important constructs in IBT research. The authors encompass crossover theory to add the reciprocal impact of travelers and spouses and label IBT a “double-edge sword” because it arouses both positive and negative outcomes.

PurposeThe goals of this review are to identify key theories, constructs and themes in the international business travel (IBT) literature and to propose a model based on findings, theories and constructs drawn from adjacent research literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the business travel (BT) literature to identify conceptual and empirical articles on IBT published from 1990 to 2022. Only 53 publications were suitable for review. The authors reviewed them using an open coding system.FindingsThe IBT literature is dispersed across several disciplines that use different methods, focus on different aspects of travel and emphasize different positive and negative outcomes that IBT engenders. The publications employed a diverse range of methods, including review and conceptual (11), quantitative (28) and qualitative methods (14). The samples were diverse in country, age, marital status and tenure. Many publications were descriptive and exploratory. The few that based their research on theory focused on two stress theories: Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory.Research limitations/implicationsExperimental and longitudinal designs are needed to reduce the causal ambiguity of this body of mostly correlational and cross-sectional research. The authors discuss the impact of emerging advances in virtual global communication technology on the future of IBT.Practical implicationsMore research is needed on positive aspects of IBT. Human resource (HR) people should be aware of these issues and are encouraged to decrease the deleterious aspects of the international trips and increase the positive ones.Social implicationsIncreasing well-being of international business travelers is important for the travelers, their families and the organization.Originality/valueThis is the first IBT review focused on the theoretical underpinnings of research in the field. The authors offer a model for IBT and introduce adjustment and performance as important constructs in IBT research. The authors encompass crossover theory to add the reciprocal impact of travelers and spouses and label IBT a “double-edge sword” because it arouses both positive and negative outcomes.

“Means efficacy” complements self-efficacy. It refers to one’s belief in the usefulness of external resources or tools that may be useful for performance. Research has confirmed the hypothesis that enhancing means efficacy boosts performance. Course efficacy is students’ belief in the usefulness of a course. Two pilot studies and three field experiments tested the means efficacy-performance hypothesis casting university courses as the means. The manipulation check validated the experimental treatment in only one pilot and there was no evidence that the treatment contributed to performance. Explanations of these results and ideas for future research are suggested.

This chapter describes the interpersonal transfer process of stress, emotions, and experiences, known as crossover. It defines and differentiates between spillover and crossover and discusses the three main theoretical explanations of the crossover process. It also explains how the crossover process includes the transfer of both positive and negative emotions and experiences, and how recent work has demonstrated the transmission of resources (e.g., self-esteem and social support), between spouses. The chapter also discusses the impact of culture and gender on the crossover process. Finally, it reviews emerging research assessing how crossover operates between team members and how team leaders “affect” their team members via crossover (and vice versa).

Drawing on crossover, spillover and conservation of resources theories, we investigate the dynamics of how experiences in the family domain influence the work sphere in the context of expatriation. Specifically, we conceptualize how partner family role adjustment predicts expatriate work role engagement through crossover and spillover. We also examine whether some expatriates are better than others at buffering potentially negative or leveraging potentially positive influences from their families. Using data from multiple sources and different time points, we establish that the personal resource of general self-efficacy is a boundary condition for both crossover and spillover. We find that the crossover of partner family role adjustment to expatriate family role adjustment is weaker when expatriate general self-efficacy is high. Meanwhile, when general self-efficacy is high, there is positive spillover from expatriate family role engagement to the attention dimension of their work role engagement, and when self-efficacy is low, negative spillover occurs. Our results suggest that the way in which the family domain influences expatriate work role engagement is largely dependent on general self-efficacy. We contribute to the literatures on expatriation and the work-family interface.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of cultural intelligence (CQ), idiocentrism-allocentrism and organizational culture on work engagement in a multinational organization from the perspective of conservation of resources theory.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consisted of 219 employees of a multinational company (MNC). Partial least squares–structural equation modeling was used to test the research model.FindingsThe results suggest that CQ is positively related to work engagement and that this relationship is moderated by employees’ idiocentrism-allocentrism, as well as by the adaptability dimension of organizational culture.Research limitations/implicationsGreater generalizability of the findings could be achieved with a more geographically dispersed sample. Other cultural dimensions, as well as personal and organizational characteristics, should be considered in order to more clearly ascertain the relationships between these variables.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that CQ is a powerful tool for developing employee engagement within MNCs. Furthermore, a highly adaptive organizational culture and consideration of employees’ cultural values are important in order to enhance the effect of CQ on engagement.Originality/valueThis study identifies relevant resources that can aid in managing a diverse workforce and increasing employee engagement in companies that operate across national borders.

Although the original model of expatriate adjustment proposed by Black and colleagues has received substantial empirical support, it has come under increased academic scrutiny, due to both the conceptual overlap among its dimensions and its limited applicability for global professionals who interact with individuals from diverse cultures. Drawing on role theory, we conceptualize and develop a multidimensional scale of the work- and family-role adjustment of global professionals. We assess this scale through five interlocking studies using data from a total of 1231 corporate and self-initiated expatriates, international business travelers, and global domestics. After confirming the scale’s dimensionality, we provide evidence for convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity. We also demonstrate differences in levels of adjustment and in relationships between work and family demands and resources and their respective forms of adjustment across various types of global professionals. We contribute to international business research, and the organizational behavior and work–family literatures, by offering a theoretically based scale that assesses adjustment to both work and family roles for a wide range of global employees. Our scale further lends itself as a diagnostic tool during the selection, training, and support of global professionals and their families.

Conservation of resources (COR) theory was originally introduced as a framework for understanding and predicting the consequences of major and traumatic stress, but following the work of Hobfoll and Shirom (1993), COR theory has been adopted to understanding and predicting work-related stress and both the stress and resilience that occur within work settings and work culture. COR theory underscores the critical role of resource possession, lack, loss and gain and depicts personal, social and material resources co-travelling in resource caravans, rather than piecemeal. We briefly review the principles of COR theory and integrate it in the crossover model, which provides a key mechanism for multi-person exchange of emotions, experiences and resources. Understanding the impact of resource reservoirs, resource passageways and crossover provides a framework for research and intervention promoting resilience to employees as well as to organizations. It emphasizes that the creation and maintenance of resource caravan passageways promote resource gain climates through resource crossover processes.

We conducted five interlocking studies to develop and validate a family role performance scale that can be used across cultures. In Study 1, we generated scale items based on interviews with individuals representing various family and work structures in the United States and Israel. In Study 2, we surveyed both US and Israeli participants to assess measurement equivalence, dimensionality, and reliability. In Study 3, we refined the items and repeated the exploratory analyses. In Studies 4 and 5, with samples from the United States and Europe, we confirmed the scale dimensionality and established convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. We contribute to the work-family literature by providing a valid instrument for assessing performance within the family domain.

In this chapter, we discuss the impact of business trips on travelers and their families from the perspective of respite, thus embedding business trips in stress theories. We begin by reviewing the literature on respite and recovery. Focusing on the role of travelers’ resources, we relate the phenomenon of business trips to conservation of resources (COR) and job demands-resource (JD-R) theories. We then discuss the negative and positive characteristics and outcomes of business trips. We offer evidence from interviews with business travelers regarding the special characteristics and consequences of business trips. We summarize by addressing the question of whether business trips are a special kind of respite.

PurposeFocusing on the positive aspects of business trips, the current study aims to examine the antecedents of vigor and the crossover of vigor from business travelers to their spouses.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consisted of 275 business travelers and their working spouses. The business travelers were required to travel abroad several times a year within the framework of their jobs. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe study finds that demands on the travelers (number of trips) and their resources (trip control and their business trips satisfaction) were positively related to travelers' vigor. Furthermore, as hypothesized, travelers' vigor crossed over to spouses' vigor.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this paper are the use of a cross‐sectional self‐report survey. Its implications are that it showed that positive feelings may cross over between partners. Further research should focus on additional positive outcomes.Originality/valueThis is the first study that set out to investigate crossover relating to business travels and one of the few that focused on and found confirmation of crossover of positive experiences.

The present chapter, which embeds business travel and crossover research, examines the effects of business trips, which are all ever increasing feature of globalization, on personal well-being and the family domain. In contrast to past research with its focus on the negative psychological and physical consequences of the stress of business traveling, the focus of this chapter is oil the positive repercussions. Thus, the current study examined the antecedents of engagement(1) (vigor) and the crossover of engagement (vigor) from business travelers to their spouses and vice versa in a sample consisting of 275 business travelers and their working spouses. The business travelers (21% of them females) were required to travel abroad several times a year within the framework of their jobs.

An intervention based on conservation of resources theory was conducted in an organization installing new information technology (IT) to enhance participants' psychological resources and thereby reduce anticipated stress and facilitate adjustment to the new IT. Before installation, 218 IT users in 25 units participated in 5 days of technical training; only the randomly assigned experimental group also participated in a "resource workshop." All participants filled out questionnaires before the workshop, 2 weeks later, and 2 months after the IT installation. ANOVA detected a significant increase in users' means efficacy in the experimental group and a decline in the control group. The new IT caused the control users more dissatisfaction and exhaustion, whereas the experimental users were spared these increases in strain, as predicted. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.