Psychological Capital, Systems Thinking, and Sustainable Work Behaviors: A Bibliometric Analysis of Intellectual Structure and Research Trends

Abstract

This study undertakes a bibliometric analyze to explore the relationship between the concepts of psychological capital, systems thinking and sustainable work behaviors, each of which had been subject to extensive research in isolation but were previously linked together only at a theoretical level. A Scopus search for the relevant keywords resulted in 318 publications found in the database over the twenty-year period prior to the study. These items were subjected to analysis using the Bibliometric R Package to identify trends in publications, authors, journals, institutions, countries, keywords, and themes. It was found that this field of research has seen a substantial increase in interest, with the number of publications increasing by 23.71% per year on average after 2020. The journals sustainability (Switzerland) and Frontiers in Psychology were found to be the most common, with 30.74% of all articles published in them. The majority of articles addressed topics related to sustainable development, human behavior, and psychology. Nevertheless, the concepts of systems thinking and psychological capital were not detected as separate keywords, clusters, or themes in any of the analyzed items. By demonstrating that research into the psychological and systemic aspects of sustainable work behaviors is a relatively recent development with significant room for further studies, this bibliometric analyze lays the groundwork for future research, including an empirical study into the impact of these factors on the performance of a commercial bank.