Understanding Job Satisfaction and Its Influences in Nigerian Government Firms: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Job satisfaction is seen as a critical factor in employee performance. This article focuses on a thorough review of the literature to identify the numerous elements that influence job satisfaction and assess their relative importance in shaping employee performance in government-owned firms. The existing literature conceptualizations of job satisfaction are diverse, reflecting the broadness of critical perspectives on the subject. Job satisfaction is conceptualized in various ways in the existing literature, emphasizing the intricacy of key views on the subject. A systematic literature review entailed the following steps: (a) identifying databases and a set of publications; (b) selecting articles and creating a database; and (c) doing bibliometric analysis, content analysis, and verifying the relevance of results to future study. The review included publications from 2013 through 2023 and encompassed psychology, sociology, economics, and management science. Examining existing theoretical writings and practical tests reveals psychological and methodological flaws. Despite countless critical attempts to define exactly what constitutes job satisfaction, no clear and obvious definition has emerged. Similarly, there is a lack of crucial consensus among academics about what factors contribute to job satisfaction, resulting in diverse research methodologies. However, despite the growing popularity of job satisfaction studies, several of these characteristics have yet to be thoroughly investigated, and some research has produced inconsistent conclusions regarding the intensity of specific elements’ influence on job satisfaction. Hence, this study meets that demand by doing a thorough review of the literature and showing the direction of recent research.