Revisiting the Happy-Productive Worker Thesis from a Eudaimonic Perspective: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT) is considered the Holy Grail of management research, and it proposes caeteris paribus, happy workers show higher performance than their unhappy counterparts. However, eudaimonic well-being in the relationship between happiness and performance has been understudied. This paper provides a systematized review of empirical evidence in order to make a theoretical contribution to the happy-productive worker thesis from a eudaimonic perspective. Our review covers 105 quantitative studies and 188 relationships between eudaimonic well-being and performance. Results reveal that analyzing the eudaimonic facet of well-being provides general support for the HPWT and a much more comprehensive understanding of how it has been studied. However, some gaps and nuances are identified and discussed, opening up challenging avenues for future empirical research to clarify important questions about the relationship between happiness and performance in organizations.

Sustainable Virtual Teams: Promoting Well-Being through Affect Management Training and Openness to Experience Configurations

“…First, our findings further support the importance of group affect in eudaimonic well-being [4,45], especially in virtual environments [47]. Thus, we respond to the call to study how well-being develops in virtual teams [4], with particular emphasis on the role of TWE as a proxy for eudaimonic well-being [3,4]. Considering the digitalization of work and life [7,120,121], especially since the disruption caused by the COVID-19 health crisis [9], there is a need for sustainable teamwork.…”

“…Sustainable and competitive organizations need to pay attention not only to financial results but also to the social dimensions within the organization [1][2][3]. Among these dimensions, well-being is an essential result in organizational teams because it has been related to team effectiveness [4].…”

“…In brief, working in virtual teams with faultlines could reduce their eudaimonic well-being. Following previous research [3,4], we focus on team work engagement as a proxy for eudaimonic well-being. Team work engagement (TWE) is defined as a "shared, positive, fulfilling, motivational emergent state of work-related well-being" [36] (p. 5) characterized by team vigor, dedication, and absorption [37].…”

Wellbeing and Work Design in Brazilian Teleworkers

“…The latter consists of positive subjective states ( Waterman et al, 2008 ) and for the hedonic approach, wellbeing is an experience of feeling good. This view has two main orientations, the emotional (e.g., emotions and affections) and the cognitive (e.g., satisfaction) ( Peiró et al, 2021 ). For eudaimonism, wellbeing is an experience of fulfillment and purpose, self-realization, the search for meaning in life ( Waterman, 1993 ; Ryff and Keys, 1995 ; Diener, 2000 ; Sonnentag, 2015 ).…”

“…For eudaimonism, wellbeing is an experience of fulfillment and purpose, self-realization, the search for meaning in life ( Waterman, 1993 ; Ryff and Keys, 1995 ; Diener, 2000 ; Sonnentag, 2015 ). In this case, there are two other eudaimonic orientations, one for the present (e.g., engagement in work) and one for future orientation (e.g., meaning of work) ( Peiró et al, 2021 ).…”