Designing a model of organizational happiness antecedents with a hybrid approach

Emamgholizadeh, Saeid; Movaghar, Morteza; Kazemi, Zahra

doi:10.22034/jmep.2025.509176.1486

Designing a model of organizational happiness antecedents with a hybrid approach

Document Type : Original Article (Qualitative)

Authors

Saeid Emamgholizadeh ¹

morteza movaghar ²

zahra kazemi ²

¹ Department of Management, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of North, Mazandaran, Iran

² Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Mazandaran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/jmep.2025.509176.1486

Abstract

Abstract
The present study aims to design a model of organizational happiness antecedents with a hybrid approach. The method of this research is a fundamental and applicable research in terms of purpose and an exploratory research in terms of purpose, of the type of hybrid research. This research was conducted using bibliometric network analysis of existing research literature published between 1969 and 2022 and the meta-synthesis strategy. A comprehensive review of 204 articles helped to identify the performance of scientific actors such as the most appropriate authors and the most appropriate sources. In addition, co-authorship and co-occurrence analysis using VOSviewer software suggested a conceptual and rational network. In the meta-synthesis method, domestic and foreign articles were first collected by determining keywords related to happiness. After reviewing the articles for relevance, 72 articles were selected from 120 articles for review. The factors that constitute organizational happiness and the factors that affect organizational happiness that were introduced in these articles were extracted. Based on the extracted results, the most important dimensions that constitute organizational happiness include physical, psychological, spiritual, and mental dimensions. The common factors were categorized into categories, and finally, the pattern of antecedents of organizational happiness was drawn.
Introduction
Today, healthy organizations are organizations that pay attention to the mental and physical health of employees as much as they pay attention to work and productivity (Fani et al., 2013). The most important factor in mental health is happiness. Paying attention to the happiness of employees in the organization and providing conditions for employee happiness is an effective and reliable way to achieve employee mental health (Malekzadeh & Rahnama, 2016). Dutton & Edmund (2007) showed in their research that happiness in an organization is created when employees use their abilities and talents to achieve their job goals (Andersson, 2008). In their study, they showed that happiness, on the one hand, promotes positive emotions of employees and on the other hand, leads to a decrease in negative emotions, and as a result, leads to improved productivity. Happiness at work causes a positive attitude towards the organization and in this regard leads to organizational efficiency and effectiveness (Tosten et al., 2018). Happy employees work with power, produce value with higher quality, attract greater satisfaction from their supervisors, and have less burnout, absenteeism, and turnover than their other colleagues with lower levels of happiness. Therefore, happy employees are more productive employees and contribute to organizational success (Layous, 2019). Happy employees are also more flexible and easily digest challenges and work skills, and have greater self-efficacy (Kawalya et al., 2019). Identifying the determinants of happiness in the workplace is of great importance for increasing the level of happiness in the organization. Researchers consider happiness as a psychological well-being as a set of the presence of positive emotional experience and the absence of emotional experience and life satisfaction (Wu, 2020). The present study helps improve employee happiness by providing a systematic and detailed approach to identify research gaps that bridge practical and research efforts in the field of organizational happiness. The main purpose of this study is analyze the bibliometrics of articles indexed in the Scopus database on the concepts under study at first, and then present a model of organizational happiness antecedents. Therefore, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: What is the model of organizational happiness antecedents with a hybrid approach?
Theoretical Framework
Organizational Happiness
Happiness has occupied the minds of thinkers for thousands of years. However, in recent years, there have been attempts to systematize its measurement and study methods (Okulicz-Kozaryn, 2016). Happiness is an attitude that helps people to be resilient in the face of difficult events in the face of indifference, hopelessness, and depression (Ali, 2014). The idea of organizational happiness is derived from psychological and economic studies. It is often considered synonymous with "well-being" and is defined as a state characterized by a high level of life satisfaction, a high level of positive emotions, and fewer negative emotions (Fitriana et al. 2022(.
Anderson & Kim (2025) in a study titled "The Relationship Between Environmental Sustainability Practices and Organizational Happiness" examined 78 multinational companies. The results of this study showed that organizations with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability report 33% higher organizational happiness. The study also showed that this relationship is stronger among Generation Z and Millennial employees. The researchers found that a sense of purpose and alignment of personal values with organizational values are important mediating variables in this relationship.
Santos & Martinez (2025) examined the two-way relationship between organizational happiness and innovation in 54 technology startups in a study titled “The Bidirectional Relationship between Organizational Happiness and Innovation in 54 Technology Startups.” The study found that organizational happiness was associated with innovation indicators (number of new ideas, speed of implementation, and success of new products) with a correlation coefficient of 0.72. The researchers also found that this relationship is bidirectional: more innovative organizations report more happiness, and organizations with higher happiness are more innovative. This study emphasizes the importance of creating a culture that encourages both happiness and innovation.
Research Methodology
This research is fundamental and applicable in terms of purpose, and an exploratory research in terms of purpose, of the type of mixed research. It was conducted using bibliometric network analysis of existing research literature published between 1969 and 2022 and a meta-synthesis strategy. A comprehensive review of 204 articles helped to identify the performance of scientific actors such as the most appropriate authors and the most appropriate sources.
Research findings
Co-authorship and co-occurrence analysis using VOSviewer software suggested a conceptual and rational network. In the meta-synthesis method, domestic and foreign articles were first collected by determining keywords related to happiness. After reviewing the articles for relevance, 72 articles were selected from 120 articles for review. The factors that constitute organizational happiness and the factors affecting organizational happiness that were introduced in these articles were extracted. Based on the extracted results, the most important dimensions of organizational happiness include physical, psychological, spiritual and mental dimensions. The common factors were categorized into categories and finally a model of organizational happiness antecedents was drawn.
Conclusion
The present study aimed to design a model of organizational happiness antecedents with a mixed approach. These findings are consistent with the results of Singh & Banerjee (2022), Pol et al. (2019), Gyeltshen & Beri (2019), Srivastavas et al. (2022), Kumar & Dhiman (2020), Ferreira et al. (2018), Sheikhi Fini & Ambal (2017), and Amelia et al. (2015). In comparison to recent research, Morales & Johnson (2024) also emphasized the importance of organizational factors, but they focused on the role of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in shaping organizational factors affecting happiness, which is not addressed in the present model. Also, Chen et al. (2023) showed that organizational flexibility in hybrid work environments can have a significant impact on organizational happiness, which is consistent with the importance of flexibility in the present model.
According to the results of the study, the following suggestions were made:
Improving employee morale and creating mental happiness using positive psychology: This suggestion directly refers to the “mental” dimension of organizational happiness and ways to improve it.
Encouraging and appreciating the organization’s efforts to improve the organization’s physical environment: This suggestion is related to the “physical” dimension of organizational happiness and the need to improve the physical conditions of the workplace.

Keywords

Organizational happiness

bibliometric analysis

conceptual network

work ethic

spirituality

Subjects

management

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