Discrete emotional crossover in the workplace: the role of affect intensity Charmine E.J. Ha ¨rtel and Kathryn M. Page Department of Management, Monash University, Clayton, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical and practical insight into the process of crossover with the proposition that affect intensity is an important explanatory mechanism of crossover. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides an empirical and conceptual overview of the construct of crossover, and addresses key gaps in the literature by proposing a process of discrete emotional crossover. It is proposed that individual differences in affect intensity may moderate and/or explain the crossover of discrete emotions in the workplace. Findings – This paper responds to the call of various researchers within the crossover field by putting forth a unique explanation for the occurrence of crossover. This explanation draws significantly on emotions theory and research. Originality/value – This paper is unique in its presentation of affect intensity as a moderator of the crossover process and in its discussion of the crossover of discrete emotions such as joy and fear rather than the crossover of emotional or psychological states. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Affective psychology, Employee behaviour Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction Empirical and theoretical research into the study of crossover at work represents an important example of the increasing attention being paid to the role of emotions in the workplace (Brief and Weiss, 2002). The renewed interest of organizational scholars in emotions was perhaps incited by Weiss and Cropanzano’s (1996) seminal work on the concept of affective events. This pivotal publication was intended to “encourage organizational researchers to pay closer attention to the way work is experienced, the way time is psychologically structured, the way life naturally ebbs and flows at work” (Weiss and Beal, 2005, p. 7). Although there has been intensive research on individuals’ emotions in the workplace over the last decade, there is a surprising lack of attention to the interplay between individuals’ emotional experiences. It is this phenomenon of crossover, where individuals’ experiences at work are interwoven with the experiences of those they interact with, which is of central concern to us in this paper. Crossover, as originally conceived, referred to the process by which “a psychological strain experienced by one person affects the level of strain of another The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0268-3946.htm The authors would like to acknowledge the helpful feedback provided by Professor Arnold Bakker, and two anonymous reviewers on earlier versions of this paper. They would also like to thank Professor Randy J. Larsen who provided them with important conceptual advice around the notion of affective intensity. Discrete emotional crossover 237 Received June 2007 Revised January 2008, June 2008, July 2008 Accepted October 2008 Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol. 24 No. 3, 2009 pp. 237-253 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-3946 DOI 10.1108/02683940910939322