Bottom-Up Spillover

Abstract

Social psychological strategies to enhance subjective well being are captured by four inter-domain processes. To reiterate, these are: 1. Bottom-up spillover, 2. Top-down spillover, 3. Horizontal spillover, and 4. Compensation. In this chapter, I will concentrate on helping the reader understand the process commonly known as bottom-up spillover and how it is used as a strategy to enhance subjective well being. After discussing the bottom-up spillover principle, I will describe the psychological mechanics of how bottom-up spillover occurs using the cognitive algebraic rule referred to as the compensatory decision rule. 14. WHAT IS BOTTOM-UP SPILWVER? To remind the reader what bottom-up spillover is, here is another definition. Bottom-up spillover is the spillover of affect from subordinate life domains to superordinate ones, specifically from life domains such as leisure, family, job, and health to overall life. That is, feelings within a given life space within the overall hierarchy of life experiences spill vertically from bottom to top. The bottom-up spillover strategy is graphically shown in figures 5 and 6. The top portion of the figure (Figure 5) shows a person who is moderately satisfied with life (overall life satisfaction is shaded in grey-the darker the shade the greater the dissatisfaction and, conversely, the lighter the box the greater the satisfaction). The bottom portion of the figure (Figure 6) shows this moderate level of overall satisfaction has changed. Now the person is experiencing a high level of life satisfaction (the overall life satisfaction box is not shaded). Why? The increase in overall life satisfaction is due to the bottom-up spillover. This spillover is coming from essentially two life domains, namely the family and work domains. That is, positive affect travels from the life domains of family and work and spills over to the most superordinate domain of overall life. Doing so, it causes the person to enhance his subjective well being (change from moderate to high satisfaction with overall life). Note that the individual is not happy with his leisure life, but he did not allow his negative affect from leisure life to spillover to M. J. Sirgy, The Psychology of Quality of Life