Spillover and crossover are distinguished as which?

• A. Spillover occurs when experiences in one domain affect another; crossover occurs when effects pass from one partner to another in a couple.
• B. Spillover is about genetics; crossover about apprenticeships.
• C. They are identical.
• D. They do not relate to work-family research.

Answer: (A)

This item tests how work and family experiences relate within and between people. Spillover is an intrapersonal process: experiences in one domain affect the same person in another domain. For example, stress from work can spill over into the home, making someone irritable or withdrawn with family members. Crossover, on the other hand, is interpersonal: the effects of one person’s experiences spill over to another person, usually a partner, even if the second person didn’t directly experience the source of stress. So a partner’s work-related stress can transfer to the other person through mood, behavior, or shared routines, influencing their well-being.

That distinction lines up with the described option: spillover concerns effects within a person across domains, while crossover concerns effects passing from one person to another in a couple. It’s not about genetics or apprenticeships, it isn’t that the two are identical, and it clearly relates to work-family research.