Exploring psychological well‐being in business and economics arena: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background

Recent events like the global pandemic and geopolitics leading to war bring to bear the evergreen importance of psychological well‐being (PWB) among workers and how it can further influence business growth and performance. Furthermore, the complexity of today's job requirements has created enormous life pressures for individuals, negatively hurting their PWB.

Method

This article took the format of a literature review of existing research work by pursuing the keywords in the SCOPUS database to retrieve the articles published on PWB in the field of business and economics from 1978 to 2022. The data were analyzed to elaborate, interpret and graphically display the results, in particular, authors, sources, documents, and social structure of the existing bibliography. The Bibliometrix R package is used for robust analysis of retrieved data.

Results

The findings showed that the last decade saw a rise in scholarly work on PWB. However, in 2021, its sharp expansion stalled. It further revealed that academics from four countries had a significant role in accessing PWB in the business and economics fields, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The reports also indicate themes such as mental health, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), and depression are emerging themes, whereas niche themes include unemployment, quality of life, and job loss.

Conclusion

This study suggests these new areas be studied in contemporary literature to provide cogent room to improve policy decisions on PWB within the business world.