Introduction

Passion for work is receiving a lot of attention these days, and the study of passion for work has increased quickly over the last 10 years, but there is still much to discover (Pollack et al., 2020). Passion for work is ‘a person’s thoughts and feelings that are related to their work skills and motivation, resulting in consistent work intentions and behaviors’s (Perrewe et al., 2014). Employees like to devote more time and energy to goals they care about and are motivated and passionate because passion gives meaning and motivates people to be more creative in their efforts, which makes people feel engaged in activities (Gong et al., 2020). Self-determination theory underlies work passion research (Pathak & Srivastava, 2020). Prior studies have demonstrated that existence describes two work-related passions: harmonious and obsessive passion at the workplace (Yukhymenko-Lescroart & Sharma, 2019). Harmonious work passion refers to the desire to pursue a beloved hobby while balancing work and other aspects of life (Vallerand, 2015). Obsessive work passion often interferes with other areas of life and causes negative emotions (Bayraktar & Jimenez, 2021). Prior studies have linked favourable correlation between harmonious work passion and beneficial outcomes of work such as engagement, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and general health (Bayraktar & Jimenez, 2021). Harmonious work passion enables employees to participate in events and devote their time and energy to them because they see this involvement as an opportunity to meet and engage in new and diverse experiences (Coetzee & Bester, 2019). Participation in these activities matches their needs; they will have a harmonious relationship (Vallerand, 2015). However, research is lacking in showing any positive impacts associated with obsessive work passion. Employees with high obsessive work passion take their responsibilities very seriously and encourage thinking about work even when one is not working, which leads to work stress, which may affect health.

The enhancing result of a happy and passionate work environment forms its association with happy feelings and counteracts negative emotions. Conversely, obsessive work passion is related to negative emotions, thus hindering resilience, while harmonious work passion is not (Curran et al., 2015; Vallerand, 2015). Obsessive work passion was connected with lower degrees of global resilience through passion, emotion and resilience, moderation of negative emotions and, to a lesser extent, large organisations with great ideas (Paquette et al., 2023). Harmonious work passion exhibits high levels of resilience in all areas of life, whereas obsessive work passion shows little or no resilience across the lifespan (Vallerand et al., 2022). Resilience is envisioned as a private asset that helps people adapt to negative or adverse circumstances (Caniels & Baaten, 2018). Positive emotions and resilience in the face of adversity make employees more vibrant and effectively relate to their professional responsibilities, and this type of situation can lead to work engagement and employee satisfaction (Bande et al., 2015). Resilience helps in bouncing back from work stress, which leads to employee well-being (Bogaerts et al., 2021). Employee well-being is widely acknowledged as a critical component in improving employees’ performance in organisations. Several studies have shown that improved job performance and employee well-being are positively correlated. This relationship can be explained by a number of variables that support both a positive work atmosphere and general job satisfaction. The effect of well-being on employee engagement is one important factor. Employee engagement eventually results in better performance since motivated, dedicated and enthusiastic workers are more likely to be engaged (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014). Engaged employees exhibit higher levels of productivity, customer satisfaction and profitability for their organisations (Harter et al., 2002). Additionally, there is a correlation between higher employee well-being and lower absenteeism and turnover rates. De Lange et al.’s (2003) meta-analysis showed that workers with high levels of well-being are more likely to stay with their companies and are less likely to miss work.

Hence, our article aims to find out the following research questions.

RQ1. What is the overall publication trend in work passion research over time?

RQ2. Who are the most influential authors and sources in this field?

RQ3. Which journals, publishers and associations are the most influential in this field?

RQ4. What are the emerging themes and research areas within work passion research?

Rationale of Study

Because it has a tremendous effect on employee performance and organisational outcomes, the idea of work passion has garnered a lot of attention in recent years. For both academics and practitioners, it is essential to comprehend the dynamics of work passion and how it contributes to maximising employee performance. The objective of this research is to present a thorough bibliometric analysis and an organised literature evaluation of the theoretical and significant advancements made in the area between 2000 and 2024. One of the main factors influencing worker performance, job satisfaction and organisational commitment is growing recognition of the importance of work passion. A comprehensive knowledge of its evolution and current status requires the synthesis of the large and dispersed body of research, notwithstanding its significance (Vallerand et al., 2003).

Companies that encourage employee enthusiasm at work are likely to see increased levels of productivity, creativity and employee engagement, all of which can contribute to better organisational performance (Zigarmi et al., 2009). This research attempts to illustrate the ways in which work-related passion affects these results. This research will highlight important ideas, approaches and discoveries that have influenced our comprehension of work passion by bringing together theoretical and substantive contributions made over a 24-year period. According to Vallerand (2010), this is essential for creating new frameworks and tactics that will improve worker performance.

Methodology

In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review (SLR) to provide an overview of the ‘work passion’ domain. First, we performed SLR to gather the data for bibliometric analysis by defining the specific keywords to retrieve the data from the Scopus database. We searched for relevant information by using specific keywords in the Scopus database. Then, we carefully selected papers that matched our criteria, following a structured approach called the PRISMA method. To collect bibliographic information, we accessed the Scopus database and focused on articles published on work passion. We narrowed down our search by selecting specific categories that align with the current needs of the research. Next, we analysed the collected data for bibliometric analysis technique. For bibliometric analysis, we used the biblioshiny software of RStudio and the Bibliometrix package developed by Aria and Cuccurullo (2017). This allowed us to gain valuable insights from the articles related to work passion. Through our analysis, we discovered interesting patterns and trends in work passion research. We identified key authors who have made significant contribution, observed the number of papers published each year and explored the impact of different countries and authors. We also looked at collaborations between countries in this field. Bibliometric analysis will help us to identify the evolution of research themes and gaps that may guide future research scope in this area.

Defining Search Term

In our bibliometric analysis, we employed a range of keywords to ensure a comprehensive search of the literature on work passion. These keywords included ‘work passion’ and ‘passion for work’. By using variations of these keywords, we aimed to capture diverse aspects and perspectives related to work passion. By including these varied keywords, we sought to encompass different terminologies and expressions used in the literature to describe work passion. This approach helps to ensure that our search is inclusive and captures a wide range of relevant studies.

Search Delimiting Criteria

On 13 June 2024, we collected data for this study (Figure 1). The search query included terms such as ‘work passion’ and ‘passion for work’. We included the records spanning the last 24 years, from 2000 to 2024. Initially, the search yielded 347 references. To streamline the results and ensure the inclusion of highly relevant records, we further refined the search based on ‘source types’. We excluded records from irrelevant document types, such as chapters, books, notes and news. Instead, we focused on selected document types like articles, conference papers and reviews. We focused on these categories because our research primarily considers the feasibility of perspective for work passion study. After applying these subject area refinements, the number of records was reduced to 313. Then, we refined the results based on the ‘publication stage’. We eliminated articles, reviews and conference papers that were in the process of publication. This refinement narrowed down the records to 291. Then, we selected only the source types of journal and conference proceedings, which led to the selection of 281 studies. To ensure the understandability of reading and analysis, we have included the papers available in the English language only. After implementing this language filter and all previous refinements, we were left with a final set of 264 documents (Table 1).

Data Retrieval for Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

In the final set, we encountered a pool of 264 research works (Figure 2). To ensure clarity and maintain focus on the most relevant studies, we employed a rigorous process by using the PRISMA approach. First, we carefully analysed the keywords and abstracts of each article and eliminated 176 documents that were not related to this field. Then, the second stage of refining was performed after accessing the full-text papers, and those articles whose objectives did not match our study’s requisites were further eliminated. Some papers were inaccessible and thus eliminated from the study. Finally, we had 176 documents for bibliometric analysis and SLR.

Result and Discussion

Year-Wise Trends and Scientific Productivity

Figure 3 shows the annual production of articles, illustrating the research trend in publications since 2000. The figure clearly demonstrates a consistent growth in the number of publications per year. On average, there is an annual growth rate of 10.4%, indicating a steady increase in research activity. The year 2023 stands out with the highest number of publications, that is, 43 articles. This indicates a peak in research interest and activity during that year. Precisely, 76% of the literature works analysed in this study were published after 2018. Hence, it is evident that the topic of work passion has gained momentum after 2019. The period from 2018 to 2023 became the turning point where the number of publications increased. We collected data in the middle of 2024 and limited our research to only final articles published, which resulted in a decreased graph for the year of 2024 (articles are in process for final publication). Furthermore, a notable growth in the publications can be observed from 2019 to 2023. This may be attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, there was a heightened level of job uncertainty, and employees faced low work passion, which results in decreased performance and emotional and health challenges. These circumstances likely heightened the interest in the research area of work passion.

 

Figure 1. Screenshot of Search Query Used by the Scopus Database to Retrieve Data.

 

Table 1. Bibliographic Data Retrieval Process.

Note: This table presents the steps incorporated to select the documents for bibliometric analysis.

 

Figure 2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for Retrieval of Data for Bibliometric Analysis Using the PRISMA Approach.

 

Figure 3. Annual Productions of Articles Published on Work Passion (WP).

Note: This figure presents the distribution of the shortlisted articles based on the year of publication.

 

Influential Source Analysis

The top 10 most influential journals that have made significant contributions to the field of work passion are shown in Table 2. Frontiers in Psychology is the highest contributor, with 12 publications related to work passion. Its substantial presence in the field indicates its strong commitment to publishing research on this topic. Current Psychology has ranked as the second highest contributor with eight publications. Elsevier is the publisher of 2 journals in the top 10 list, so we can say that Elsevier is the most contributing publisher in this field. The top journals listed in Table 2 exhibit good impact factors. Three of these journals have an impact factor of 5 or above 5, indicating the quality and influence of the selected articles published within these journals. Frontiers in Psychology is the most influential source based on the citations analysis matrix. So, we can say that Frontiers in Psychology is the highly contributing and influential source in the field of work passion.

 

Table 2. Top Influential Journal, Their Influence and Impacts.

Note: This table lists the top 10 journals with the name of the publisher, the number of publications (NP) and the journal impact factor (JIF) as per the Scopus database.

 

Influential Authors Analysis

The information about the most contributing authors on work passion is presented in Table 3. Marina N. Astakhova was the most productive and efficient author because she had the highest production with the highest citations. Dirk De Clercq was the second productive author, having written four documents with high citations. Robert J. Vallerand, with nine publications, is highlighted as the efficient author due to the highest average citation per year among top contributors. This indicated that their work has received a significant number of citations in the publication years. Furthermore, other authors with more than three publications each, demonstrate a notable contribution to the field. It had mentioned that 4 out of these 10 authors are from the United States, which aligns with the observation that the United States is among the most productive countries in the field of work passion.

Influential Document Analysis

Table 4 shows the top 10 documents that have made significant contributions to our topic. Among them, the paper titled ‘On the Role of Passion for Work in Burnout: A Process Model’ written by Robert J. Vallerand in 2010 had the highest number of citations. Drea Zigarmi, Sarah-Genevieve Trepanier and Dirk De Clercq are three authors who wrote documents that received the highest number of documents with good citation counts (Table 4). Robert J. Vallerand is seen as the most contributing and effective author in this field. Figure 4 shows co-authorship network created using biblioshiny.

 

Table 3. Top Influential Authors, Their Impact and Influence.

Note: This table lists the top contributing authors on moonlighting with a high number of publications (NP), their current affiliations and total number of citations (TC).

 

Figure 4. Co-authorship Network Created Using Biblioshiny.

 

Influence and Collaboration Analysis of Affiliations and Countries

Affiliation analysis was conducted to study the contribution of significant universities and regions to our topic. Table 5 shows the top 10 universities based on the number of publications. The University of Quebec in Montreal, located in Canada, is the most influential affiliation, contributing the highest number of publications, that is, 28. Following closely is Florida State University from Florida, with the second-highest number of publications. The overall result of Table 5 indicates that universities in Canada and China have shown significant contributions and have been at the forefront of publishing on this topic.

 

Table 4. Top Influential Articles, Their Authors and Impact.

Note: This table lists the top 10 articles with the highest total citations (TC) and their year of publication and their authors.

 

Most Influential Countries Analysis

Table 6 enlists the top nine countries with the highest number of publications in the field of work passion. China is the top contributing country with the maximum number of publications, that is, 47. The USA is also a highly impactful country, having the highest total citations and a keen interest in single-country publications. Multiple country publications (MCP) indicates collaboration among countries, with China on top, having 14 MCP. The USA and Canada have 4 and 12 MCPs, respectively, but if we compare the ratio with total articles, the USA is ahead of Canada with 35 articles. Australia has shown a keen interest in collaboration, as all 15 of its publications involve collaborations with other countries. India has 10 publications but no collaborations with other countries.

 

Table 5. Top Influential Affiliations, Their Countries and Impact.

Note: This table lists the top 10 affiliations with countries and number of publications.

 

Table 6. Top Influential Countries, Their Impact, Influence and Collaborations.

Note: This table lists the top nine countries with high number of publications (NP) and their single-country publications (SCP), multiple-country publications (MCP), frequency (Freq) and MCP ratio.

 

Content Analysis of Literature

Figure 5 and Figure 6 help in understanding and displaying the geographical distribution and linkages within data is made possible through the use of thematic map analysis in clustering. With references and in-text citations, this is a thorough justification for our thematic map analysis methodology, which frequently centres on the fourth quadrant. The distribution of data over a certain geographic region is visually represented using theme maps. Combining these maps with clustering facilitates the identification of geographical anomalies and trends. Thematic maps, for instance, can be used in epidemiology to display the distribution of illness cases and assist in locating outbreak hotspots and clusters (Koch & Koch, 2005). Thematic maps facilitate the visualisation of cluster formation and outlier detection by displaying the outcomes of clustering algorithms. To understand the clustering findings, one must have this visual depiction and be aware of the underlying geographical or geographic linkages (Anselin, 1995). The data points with positive values on the x-axis and negative values on the y-axis are shown in the fourth quadrant (bottom right) of a standard scatter plot using a Cartesian coordinate system. This might matter in a number of analyses. According to Brockett et al. (1997), in evaluations of financial performance, assets with great potential but poor performance at the moment may be represented by the fourth quadrant, which denotes areas that need development or investment. We performed a content analysis of the literature published from the last 10 years (2000–2024) and identified three clusters based on common themes. These three clusters represented distinct themes and knowledge domains within the literature, providing valuable insights into the intellectual structure and prevailing research trends from 2000 onwards.

 

Figure 5. Thematic Map for Clustering Created Using Biblioshiny.

 

Figure 6. Word Cloud of Authors Keyword Created Using Biblioshiny Software.

 

Cluster 1: Work Passion and its Various Outcomes

Workplace outcomes are greatly influenced by work passion, which is characterised as a strong propensity towards work that people enjoy, value and find meaningful. Harmonious and obsessive passions are two common categories used to categorise work-related enthusiasm. According to Valland et al. (2003), harmonious passion, which is defined by a voluntary involvement in work, has several beneficial effects, including improved performance, greater levels of well-being and job satisfaction. People who have harmonious passions are able to maintain a work–life balance, which lowers the risk of burnout and results in prolonged motivation (Lavigne et al., 2012).

Cluster 2: Influential Analysis of the Role of Work Passion in Entrepreneurship

Because of its profound effect on the sustainability and success of entrepreneurship, the function of work passion in entrepreneurship research has attracted a lot of attention. Entrepreneurial motivation, inventiveness and tenacity are proven to be significantly influenced by work passion, especially harmonious passion (Cardon et al., 2009). According to Ho and Pollack (2014), entrepreneurs that possess a harmonious passion are more likely to exhibit inventive and persistent behaviours, both of which are critical for overcoming obstacles and accomplishing long-term company objectives. With this kind of enthusiasm, business owners may derive intrinsic joy and fulfilment from their job, which improves their resilience and overall performance by creating a favourable psychological state (Fernet et al., 2016). In the high-stress world of entrepreneurship, when burnout is a real possibility, this equilibrium is essential. Building and sustaining social networks, which are essential for gaining access to opportunities and resources, come naturally to entrepreneurs with a harmonious passion (Breugst et al., 2012).

Cluster 3: Importance of the Work Passion for the Role Job

Cluster 3 revolves around the importance of work passion for the role job which showed significant influence of work passion on worker engagement, output and general job satisfaction; work passion is vitally crucial for role jobs. Deep satisfaction and excitement in one’s job are fostered by harmonious passion, which occurs when people work at something they like and find organically stimulating (Vallerand et al., 2003). When workers are passionate about what they do, they are more likely to put in the time and effort necessary to do their jobs well, which boosts productivity and job satisfaction (Zigarmi et al., 2009). According to Baum and Locke (2004), enthusiastic workers also frequently exhibit higher levels of creativity and invention, which are critical traits in today’s fast-paced and cutthroat workplaces. Harmonious passion also helps people avoid burnout and improve their mental health by allowing them to combine their personal and professional lives effectively (Forest et al., 2011).

Future Scope

Through a bibliometric study and comprehensive literature evaluation covering 24 years (2000–2024), the future potential of investigating work passion in boosting employee performance is extensive and complex. With businesses realising more and more how important employee motivation and well-being are to performance, this thorough evaluation offers a solid basis for further study and real-world implementations. Further investigation into the processes by which harmonious and obsessive passions affect different performance indicators in many sectors and work positions is an important subject of future study (Vallerand et al., 2003). By knowing these pathways, treatments that encourage harmonious passion may be more specifically designed to increase productivity and decrease burnout (Forest et al., 2011). Additionally, combining sophisticated bibliometric methodologies with conventional literature review procedures might reveal new patterns and understudied topics in the relationship between job enthusiasm and performance. Furthermore, cross-cultural research offers a broader global view on the issue by shedding light on how cultural settings affect the emergence and consequences of work passion (Ho et al., 2011). Examining how work passion interacts with other psychological concepts like resilience, emotional intelligence and job designing is a crucial area of future research. Through customised development programmes, these interactions can offer a more nuanced knowledge of how to help individuals in achieving maximum performance (Gorgievski et al., 2011). Additionally, in order to evaluate the long-term effects of work passion on career advancement and organisational loyalty and to provide useful information for strategic human resource planning, longitudinal studies are required. In summary, the consolidation of two decades’ worth of theoretical and substantive advancements emphasises the work passion research’s ongoing significance and dynamic character. This thorough analysis fills important knowledge gaps and suggests fresh approaches, making it an invaluable tool for researchers and professionals who want to use work passion to improve worker performance and organisational results.

Conclusion

To sum up, the investigation of work passion using a bibliometric analysis and a comprehensive literature review covering 24 years (2000–2024) highlights how important it is for maximising worker performance. Harmonious passion, defined as intrinsic motivation and a harmonious integration of work and personal life, is shown to be a very effective way to improve overall performance, boost creativity and improve job satisfaction (Forest et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2003). However, obsessive passion, which is characterised by an uncontrollable need to work, frequently leads to unfavourable consequences including stress and work–life conflict, emphasising the need for harmonious passion to be fostered in organisational contexts (Vallerand et al., 2003). Over the past 20 years, a synthesis of theoretical and empirical contributions has highlighted the significance of establishing supportive work environments that are consistent with workers’ beliefs and interests, fostering a passionate and harmonious work environment that promotes both the workers ‘well-being and productivity’ (Ho et al., 2011; Zigarmi et al., 2009). The aforementioned study not only contributes to the current knowledge of work-related passion but also offers practical recommendations for practitioners seeking to improve organisational performance by strategically fostering employee enthusiasm.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Vidhu Vats  https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7684-2348