Table 2. Research methodological designs...

Table 2.

Research methodological designs

Article code	Approach	Type and design	Data collection techniques	Instruments or scales used	Sample size and type	Data analysis	Validity/reported reliability
1	Qualitative	Systematic review of the literature	Systematic search and screening of databases (Scopus and Web of Science) using inclusion and exclusion criteria; document analysis	N/A	19 articles selected from a total of more than 300 initial records	Frequency analysis	N/A
2	Quantitative	Descriptive, causal and hypothetical-deductive cross-sectional	Closed questionnaire	Emotional salary scale by Quintero-Arango and Betancur-Arias (2018), work happiness scale by Ramirez-Garcia et al. (2019), organisational justice scale by Patlán Pérez et al. (2014)	502 workers in the education sector in Costa Rica (49% private and 51% public). Non-probability sample for convenience	Modelling of structural equations PLS-SEM with Smart-PLS4 and SPSS-AMOS 23; reliability analysis (Cronbach, KMO, AVE and CR), discriminant validity and bootstrapping (10,000 SAMPLES, 99%)	Cronbach’s alpha = α50.98 (p50.01). KMO = 0.951 (5% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.731–0.860), Barlett’s test of sphericity is a p 5 0.000 (approx. Chi-square 5 41,562.512; Gl 5 1,540 Sig 5 0.000)
3	Quantitative	Cross-sectional correlational	Online questionnaire	The Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ), initially developed by Lluch Canut (2003), was translated and validated for the Portuguese population by Sequeira and Carvalho (2009). The happiness at work scale developed by Dutschke et al. (2024, 2015)	1,768 workers (59.9% women and 40.1% men), non-probabilistic (snowball sampling)	Descriptive and correlational analysis (Pearson), ANOVA, T-test, hierarchical multiple linear regression and IBM SPSS V28 software	Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ) Cronbach’s alpha 0.92, happiness at work scale Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92
4	Quantitative	Non-experimental cross-sectional study	Structured questionnaire (five-point Likert scale) administered digitally	Digital innovation adapted from Paladino (Six items), culture of innovation: Santos-Vijande (three items), creativity: Zhou and George (12 items), happiness at work: Ramirez-Garcia (11 items)	Non-probability convenience sampling: 208 employees (commerce, industry, services and education)	Measures of central tendency, asymmetry and kurtosis; exploratory factor analysis; and structural equations	High reliability: α > 0.90; composite reliability > 0.7; AVE > 0.5; discriminant validity
5	Quantitative	Exploratory and descriptive	Semi-structured face-to-face interviews	Interview script prepared by the authors	12 employees of B2C companies in Portugal (intentional non-probability sample)	Content analysis with Nvivo Plus 11	N/A
6	Quantitative	Cross-sectional, non-experimental, descriptive and correlational	Self-administered questionnaire	Shorted happiness at work scale (SHAW) (Salas-Vallina et al., 2018), nine items, seven-point Likert scale, α = 0.867. Impact event scale-revised (IES-R) (Matos et al., 2011, Portuguese version), 22 items, five-point Likert scale, α = 0.928. Sociodemographic and professional questionnaire designed by the authors	n = 113 nurses (90 from a specialty hospital and 23 from a primary care unit) (convenience sampling)	Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, student’s t-test and Mann–Whitney test (Software: SPSS V.25)	SHAW: α = 0.631–0.867 (adequate internal consistency). IES-R: α = 0.798–0.928 (high reliability)
7	Quantitative	Positivist, explanatory, transactional, and non-experimental	Structured Likert-type questionnaire (five points)	Questionnaire on quality of work life, job satisfaction and workplace happiness, adapted from Spector (1994) and applied in Mendoza-Ocasal et al. (2022). The instrument comprises 53 items on quality of work life, 25 items on workplace happiness and seven items on job satisfaction	302 employees at a university in Barranquilla (Colombia): 47% professors, 36% administrative assistants, 12% general services and 5% department heads. Simple random sampling	Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. SPSS software v.27.0	Cronbach’s α = 0.895; content validation by three experts
8	Mixed	Mixed sequential exploratory design, consisting of an initial qualitative phase (narrative analysis) and a subsequent quantitative phase (automated sentiment analysis)	In-depth and semi-structured interviews	Happy level (HL) indicator was developed by the authors	16 participants (middle managers) from 53 companies in Brazil contributed a total of 167 work experiences. Intentional sampling	Manual coding processes calculate the happiness level using data generated by a function of the NVivo Plus software, calculate the happiness level using data generated by the LIWC software configured with the Brazilian Portuguese dictionary. Calculate the happiness level using data generated by Polyglot. Calculation of the happiness level by counting lexical polarity. Analysis of concordance between manual and automated methods	Triangulation, member checking, process auditing, thick description, theoretical saturation and standardised interview protocols
9	Quantitative	Descriptive bibliometric study	Documentary review of scientific articles in the Scopus, SciELO and Web of Science databases, applying search equations and thematic filters	N/A	421 articles in Scopus, 138 in SciElo and 183 in WoS (census sample, all results from the search equation)	Comprehensive scientific mapping analysis of scientific literature (Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software)	N/A
10	Mixed	Integrative literature review (bibliometric + reflective qualitative analysis). Combines bibliometric techniques with in-depth analysis and logical reasoning	Document search in the Scopus database, using the title, abstract and keyword fields	N/A	412 documents	A co-word analysis was used together with the SciMat programme and the construction of strategic diagrams (centrality and density)	N/A
11	Quantitative	Non-experimental cross-sectional design	Online questionnaire	Happiness at work scale (Feitor and Borges, 2022) – five ítems. Work-related stress scale (Inoue et al., 2014) – eight ítems. Turnover intention scale (Bothma and Roodt, 2013) – six ítems	414 employees, 51.69% were employed in public institutions, while 48.31% worked in the private sector. Non-probability sampling	Analysis of central tendency measures, covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) and multigroup analysis (MGA)	α Cronbach: 0.871 (happiness), 0.857 (Stress), 0.940 (turnover). CR > 0.77, AVE > 0.54, HTMT < 0.85. Goodness of fit: CFI = 0.962, RMSEA = 0.075, SRMR = 0.052. Convergent validity, discriminant validity and factor invariance confirmed
12	Quantitative	Descriptive, randomised and exploratory	Structured online survey	The Baumgarth brand orientation scale was used for this purpose (Baumgarth, 2010; Baumgarth et al., 2013), Happiness management construct — five ítems adaptados de Ruiz-Rodríguez et al. (2023) and Núñez-Barriopedro et al. (2019), medidos en escala Likert de 1 a 5 puntos	The sample comprises 216 people with the profile of managers of small- and medium-sized companies in Andalusia. random sample without replacement	Structural equation modelling. SPSS 27 statistical software	α Cronbach: 0.915 (happiness management); convergent and discriminant validity confirmed CR > 0.9, AVE between 0.65 and 0.90
13	Quantitative	Bibliometric study	Systematic review of scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database	N/A	106 records found that include the term happiness management	Bibliometric analysis using indicators of production, citation, collaboration, keyword co-occurrence and temporal evolution; use of network maps	N/A
14	Quantitative	Non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational and causal	Structured survey administered to university professors via digital questionnaire	Job satisfaction: Ramirez-Garcia et al. (2019) scale (ten items). Affective commitment: Meyer et al. (1991) was used, only in its “affective” dimension (six items). Organisational justice: evaluated using a scale developed by Niehoff and Moorman (1993) (15 items). Job satisfaction: (1993) scale (15 items). Job satisfaction: the Veray-Alicea (2016) scale (five items). Intention to rotate: three items from the Mobley et al. (1978) scale	392 teachers from public and private universities in Mexico; non-probability sampling	Correlational analysis, exploratory factor analysis, causal correlation analysis and structural equations	High reliability reported (Cronbach’s α between 0.882 and 0.963; IFC > 0.86). Convergent validity (AVE > 0.5) and discriminant validity confirmed (Fornell-Larcker criterion)
15	Quantitative	Descriptive	Web scraping a través de la versión Octoparse 8	N/A	138,764 reviews of 136 companies in the period between 2021 and 2023. The sample selection was based on specific criteria to ensure a robust and representative data set. Only companies with more than 10,000 employees were included	Semantic network analysis	N/A

Article code	Approach	Type and design	Data collection techniques	Instruments or scales used	Sample size and type	Data analysis	Validity/reported reliability
1	Qualitative	Systematic review of the literature	Systematic search and screening of databases (Scopus and Web of Science) using inclusion and exclusion criteria; document analysis	N/A	19 articles selected from a total of more than 300 initial records	Frequency analysis	N/A
2	Quantitative	Descriptive, causal and hypothetical-deductive cross-sectional	Closed questionnaire	Emotional salary scale by Quintero-Arango and Betancur-Arias (2018), work happiness scale by Ramirez-Garcia et al. (2019), organisational justice scale by Patlán Pérez et al. (2014)	502 workers in the education sector in Costa Rica (49% private and 51% public). Non-probability sample for convenience	Modelling of structural equations PLS-SEM with Smart-PLS4 and SPSS-AMOS 23; reliability analysis (Cronbach, KMO, AVE and CR), discriminant validity and bootstrapping (10,000 SAMPLES, 99%)	Cronbach’s alpha = α50.98 (p50.01). KMO = 0.951 (5% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.731–0.860), Barlett’s test of sphericity is a p 5 0.000 (approx. Chi-square 5 41,562.512; Gl 5 1,540 Sig 5 0.000)
3	Quantitative	Cross-sectional correlational	Online questionnaire	The Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ), initially developed by Lluch Canut (2003), was translated and validated for the Portuguese population by Sequeira and Carvalho (2009). The happiness at work scale developed by Dutschke et al. (2024, 2015)	1,768 workers (59.9% women and 40.1% men), non-probabilistic (snowball sampling)	Descriptive and correlational analysis (Pearson), ANOVA, T-test, hierarchical multiple linear regression and IBM SPSS V28 software	Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ) Cronbach’s alpha 0.92, happiness at work scale Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92
4	Quantitative	Non-experimental cross-sectional study	Structured questionnaire (five-point Likert scale) administered digitally	Digital innovation adapted from Paladino (Six items), culture of innovation: Santos-Vijande (three items), creativity: Zhou and George (12 items), happiness at work: Ramirez-Garcia (11 items)	Non-probability convenience sampling: 208 employees (commerce, industry, services and education)	Measures of central tendency, asymmetry and kurtosis; exploratory factor analysis; and structural equations	High reliability: α > 0.90; composite reliability > 0.7; AVE > 0.5; discriminant validity
5	Quantitative	Exploratory and descriptive	Semi-structured face-to-face interviews	Interview script prepared by the authors	12 employees of B2C companies in Portugal (intentional non-probability sample)	Content analysis with Nvivo Plus 11	N/A
6	Quantitative	Cross-sectional, non-experimental, descriptive and correlational	Self-administered questionnaire	Shorted happiness at work scale (SHAW) (Salas-Vallina et al., 2018), nine items, seven-point Likert scale, α = 0.867. Impact event scale-revised (IES-R) (Matos et al., 2011, Portuguese version), 22 items, five-point Likert scale, α = 0.928. Sociodemographic and professional questionnaire designed by the authors	n = 113 nurses (90 from a specialty hospital and 23 from a primary care unit) (convenience sampling)	Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, student’s t-test and Mann–Whitney test (Software: SPSS V.25)	SHAW: α = 0.631–0.867 (adequate internal consistency). IES-R: α = 0.798–0.928 (high reliability)
7	Quantitative	Positivist, explanatory, transactional, and non-experimental	Structured Likert-type questionnaire (five points)	Questionnaire on quality of work life, job satisfaction and workplace happiness, adapted from Spector (1994) and applied in Mendoza-Ocasal et al. (2022). The instrument comprises 53 items on quality of work life, 25 items on workplace happiness and seven items on job satisfaction	302 employees at a university in Barranquilla (Colombia): 47% professors, 36% administrative assistants, 12% general services and 5% department heads. Simple random sampling	Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. SPSS software v.27.0	Cronbach’s α = 0.895; content validation by three experts
8	Mixed	Mixed sequential exploratory design, consisting of an initial qualitative phase (narrative analysis) and a subsequent quantitative phase (automated sentiment analysis)	In-depth and semi-structured interviews	Happy level (HL) indicator was developed by the authors	16 participants (middle managers) from 53 companies in Brazil contributed a total of 167 work experiences. Intentional sampling	Manual coding processes calculate the happiness level using data generated by a function of the NVivo Plus software, calculate the happiness level using data generated by the LIWC software configured with the Brazilian Portuguese dictionary. Calculate the happiness level using data generated by Polyglot. Calculation of the happiness level by counting lexical polarity. Analysis of concordance between manual and automated methods	Triangulation, member checking, process auditing, thick description, theoretical saturation and standardised interview protocols
9	Quantitative	Descriptive bibliometric study	Documentary review of scientific articles in the Scopus, SciELO and Web of Science databases, applying search equations and thematic filters	N/A	421 articles in Scopus, 138 in SciElo and 183 in WoS (census sample, all results from the search equation)	Comprehensive scientific mapping analysis of scientific literature (Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software)	N/A
10	Mixed	Integrative literature review (bibliometric + reflective qualitative analysis). Combines bibliometric techniques with in-depth analysis and logical reasoning	Document search in the Scopus database, using the title, abstract and keyword fields	N/A	412 documents	A co-word analysis was used together with the SciMat programme and the construction of strategic diagrams (centrality and density)	N/A
11	Quantitative	Non-experimental cross-sectional design	Online questionnaire	Happiness at work scale (Feitor and Borges, 2022) – five ítems. Work-related stress scale (Inoue et al., 2014) – eight ítems. Turnover intention scale (Bothma and Roodt, 2013) – six ítems	414 employees, 51.69% were employed in public institutions, while 48.31% worked in the private sector. Non-probability sampling	Analysis of central tendency measures, covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) and multigroup analysis (MGA)	α Cronbach: 0.871 (happiness), 0.857 (Stress), 0.940 (turnover). CR > 0.77, AVE > 0.54, HTMT < 0.85. Goodness of fit: CFI = 0.962, RMSEA = 0.075, SRMR = 0.052. Convergent validity, discriminant validity and factor invariance confirmed
12	Quantitative	Descriptive, randomised and exploratory	Structured online survey	The Baumgarth brand orientation scale was used for this purpose (Baumgarth, 2010; Baumgarth et al., 2013), Happiness management construct — five ítems adaptados de Ruiz-Rodríguez et al. (2023) and Núñez-Barriopedro et al. (2019), medidos en escala Likert de 1 a 5 puntos	The sample comprises 216 people with the profile of managers of small- and medium-sized companies in Andalusia. random sample without replacement	Structural equation modelling. SPSS 27 statistical software	α Cronbach: 0.915 (happiness management); convergent and discriminant validity confirmed CR > 0.9, AVE between 0.65 and 0.90
13	Quantitative	Bibliometric study	Systematic review of scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database	N/A	106 records found that include the term happiness management	Bibliometric analysis using indicators of production, citation, collaboration, keyword co-occurrence and temporal evolution; use of network maps	N/A
14	Quantitative	Non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational and causal	Structured survey administered to university professors via digital questionnaire	Job satisfaction: Ramirez-Garcia et al. (2019) scale (ten items). Affective commitment: Meyer et al. (1991) was used, only in its “affective” dimension (six items). Organisational justice: evaluated using a scale developed by Niehoff and Moorman (1993) (15 items). Job satisfaction: (1993) scale (15 items). Job satisfaction: the Veray-Alicea (2016) scale (five items). Intention to rotate: three items from the Mobley et al. (1978) scale	392 teachers from public and private universities in Mexico; non-probability sampling	Correlational analysis, exploratory factor analysis, causal correlation analysis and structural equations	High reliability reported (Cronbach’s α between 0.882 and 0.963; IFC > 0.86). Convergent validity (AVE > 0.5) and discriminant validity confirmed (Fornell-Larcker criterion)
15	Quantitative	Descriptive	Web scraping a través de la versión Octoparse 8	N/A	138,764 reviews of 136 companies in the period between 2021 and 2023. The sample selection was based on specific criteria to ensure a robust and representative data set. Only companies with more than 10,000 employees were included	Semantic network analysis	N/A

Note(s):

HTMT= Heterotrait–monotrait ratio (of Correlations); CFI = Comparative fit index; RMSEA = Root mean square error of approximation; SRMR = Standardized root mean square residual; ANOVA = Analysis of variance; KMO = Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure (of sampling adequacy); AVE = Average variance extracted and CR = Composite reliability

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