A systematic review on employee happiness: three-decade review, synthesis and research propositions

Neeraj Dhiman et al.

Journal of Management History2025https://doi.org/10.1108/jmh-01-2024-0005review
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.44

Abstract

Purpose This study presents a systematic review of “employee happiness” research from 1991–2023. In this way, this study aims to critically appraise the existing literature, and synthesize themes, thereby, paving a clearer understanding of the construct, along with providing the future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach By adopting a systematic approach, this study followed scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews for article selection. A total of 57 articles were finally chosen after a careful examination from 110 selected journals. Findings The current study identified three major themes after evaluating the selected literature on Employee happiness: (1) work, family and personal blend, (2) organizational support, and (3) Ebullience sentiment. Amidst an ambiguous usage of several related constructs in employee happiness research, the review provided a clear definition of “employee happiness” along with proposing crucial research directions. Originality/value There is a lack of systematic reviews on employee happiness in the existing literature. Thus, by far, this effort is one of the earliest endeavors that researchers undertook toward understanding employee happiness.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/jmh-01-2024-0005

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@article{neeraj2025,
  title        = {{A systematic review on employee happiness: three-decade review, synthesis and research propositions}},
  author       = {Neeraj Dhiman et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Management History},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/jmh-01-2024-0005},
}

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Evidence weight

0.44

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.32 × 0.4 = 0.13
M · momentum0.57 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.