Crossover and Spillover of Emotions from Work to Family among Working Couples in their Daily Lives

직장에서 경험한 강한 감정의 전이(spillover)와 교차전이(crossover): 시카고 지역 맞벌이 부부를 중심으로

The link between work life and family life is an essential subject matter in understanding the lives of dual-earner couples. Concepts of spillover and crossover explain the link between work and family. The present study examines both the positive and negative aspects in these processes. The data come from the Sloan Working Families Study conducted by the Alfred P. Sloan Center on Parents, Children, and Work and NORC at the University of Chicago. The Experience Sampling Method employed explores directly the daily life experiences of the participants. The data were analysed using t-test. Both spillover and crossover were found in the lives of dual-earner couples in this study. Men and women brought happy emotions at work to home, but the data provide limited support for spillover of negative emotions. Gender differences were more apparent in examining the process of crossover. Men appear responsive to the positive and negative emotional experiences their spouse brought home while women were found not to be responsive to their spouses' positive emotional experiences at work. Furthermore, the analysis revealed an interesting trend concerning the emotions of working couples in that they generally seem to recover to their average level of emotions once home. This suggests that home can be a respite from strong emotions, a comforting place. By looking closely into the emotions experienced by working parents in their daily lives, this study adds contextual understanding concerning the link between work and family life. The findings on the effects of positive experiences at work invite social work practitioners and researchers to further investigate the phenomena of spillover and crossover processed in greater detail, taking into account this contextual aspect of family life as well as the work life of dual-earner couples.

본 연구는 맞벌이 부부들의 일과 가족생활의 상호작용을 이해하는데 중요한 개념인 전이(spillover)와 교차전이(crossover)에 초점을 맞추어 직장에서 경험한 감정과 퇴근 후 가정에서의 감정 간의 관계의 분석을 통해 이들의 경험을 이해하고자 하였다. 시카고 대학의 Sloan Working Families Study의 연구대상자들을 자료로 경험표집법(Experience Sampling Method)으로 이들의 일상을 탐구하였고 t-검증으로 분석하였다. 분석결과, 긍정적인 감정의 전이는 남녀 모두에게서 발견하였고, 아내의 부정적인 경험이 남편으로 전이하였다. 본 연구에서 발견된 긍정적인 감정의 전이현상은 사회사업 실천가나 연구자가 맞벌이 부부를 연구할 때 일과 가정생활 간의 전이, 교차전이 현상을 일상의 세부적인 요인들을 고려하여 심도있게 관찰, 연구해야 할 필요성이 있음을 시사한다.