literature review example homelessness

Experiencing Homelessness: A Review of Recent Literature

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• Sociology Compass 6(1)

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Homelessness and Public Health: A Focus on Strategies and Solutions

David a. sleet.

1 School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA; moc.liamg@teelsadivad

2 Veritas Management, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30324, USA

Louis Hugo Francescutti

3 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

4 Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

5 Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, AB T5H 3V9, Canada

On any given night, hundreds of thousands of people are homeless in the United States and Canada. Globally, the problem is many times worse, making homelessness a global public health and environmental problem. The facts [ 1 ] are staggering:

• On a single night in January 2020, 580,466 people (about 18 out of every 10,000 people) experienced homelessness across the United States—a 2.2% increase from 2019.
• While 61% percent of the homeless were staying in sheltered locations, the remainder—more than 226,000 people—were in unsheltered locations on the street, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not suitable for human habitation.
• Homelessness has increased in the last four consecutive years.
• The increase in unsheltered homelessness is driven largely by increases in California.
• In 2020, 171,575 people in families with children experienced homelessness on a single night.
• A total of 3598 homeless people were children under the age of 18 without an adult present.
• Veterans comprised 8% of all homeless adults (over 46,000 veterans struggle with homelessness).
• People of color are significantly over-represented among those experiencing homelessness.

A layman’s definition of homelessness is usually “a person that has no permanent home”. However, many scholars have divided the broad group of people characterized as homeless into three (or more) categories:

• - People without a place to reside;
• - People in persistent poverty, forced to move constantly, and who are homeless for even brief periods of time;
• - People who have lost their housing due to personal, social, or environmental circumstances.

While this definition refers specifically to homeless individuals, it is equally applicable to homeless families.

Homelessness is closely connected to declines in physical and mental health. Homeless persons experience high rates of health problems such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and Hepatitis A infections, alcohol and drug addiction, mental illness, tuberculosis, and other serious conditions. The health problems facing homeless persons result from various factors, including a lack of housing, racism and discrimination, barriers to health care, a lack of access to adequate food and protection, limited resources for social services, and an inadequate public health infrastructure. Legal and policy interventions have often been used to attempt to address homelessness, although not always from a public health perspective.

In health care, for example, if someone experiencing homelessness comes to an emergency department for medical aid, once treated, the only alternative is to release the patient back onto the street. This creates an endless cycle of emergency department visits, increasing costs and expending resources in the health care system.

Recent work [ 2 ] has emphasized the important role of public health, the health care system, and health care providers in homelessness prevention. In this Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH), we have brought together researchers, practitioners, and community organizers to articulate the public health problem of homelessness and identify clear strategies to reduce homelessness and provide more adequate health care and housing for this population. We also explore solutions for important subpopulations, including adults, families with children, adolescents, women, transitional aged youth, and those suffering from mental illness, PTSD, alcohol dependency, mental illness, adverse childhood experiences, and chronic homelessness.

We address many of these issues in the context of public health and explore the public health implications and potential solutions to homelessness, focusing on contemporary and emerging research and innovative strategies, and highlighting best practices to address homelessness among key populations. The papers in this Special Issue attempt to answer several questions related to homelessness and public health, such as:

• What is the extent of homelessness and why do people become homeless?
• What are the public health and health services implications of homelessness?
• What role does housing play as a precursor to and potential solution for homelessness?
• What public health and health care interventions are being employed, and what effectiveness is being achieved?
• What long-term strategies can be developed to prevent homelessness?

The 13 research papers and one commentary in this Special Issue are summarized as follows:

• Conceptualizing an Interdisciplinary Collective Impact Approach to Examine and Intervene in the Chronic Cycle of Homelessness. This study by Abdel–Samad et al. [ 3 ] focuses on a novel, interdisciplinary academic–practice partnership model for addressing the problem of homelessness. Whereas singular disciplinary approaches may fall short in substantially reducing homelessness, this approach draws from a collective impact model that integrates discipline-specific approaches through mutually reinforcing activities and shared metrics. The paper describes what is necessary for capacity-building at the institution and community levels, the complementary strengths and contributions of each discipline in the model, and future implementation goals to address homelessness in the Southern California region using a cross-disciplinary approach.
• Mental Illness and Youth-Onset Homelessness: A Retrospective Study among Adults Experiencing Homelessness . Iwundu et al. [ 4 ] conducted a retrospective study and evaluated the association between the timing of homelessness onset (youth versus adult) and mental illness. The results indicated that mental illness (as a reason for current homelessness) and severe mental illness comorbidities were each associated with increased odds of youth-onset homelessness, providing a basis for agencies that serve at-risk youth in order to address mental health precursors to youth homelessness.
• Well-Being without a Roof: Examining Well-Being among Unhoused Individuals Using Mixed Methods and Propensity Score Matching. Ahuja et al. [ 5 ] found that the mean overall well-being score of unhoused participants was significantly lower than that of matched housed participants, with unhoused participants reporting lower mean scores for social connectedness, lifestyle and daily practices, stress and resilience, emotions, physical health, and finances. The unhoused participants had a statistically significantly higher mean score for spirituality and religiosity than their matched housed counterparts. The qualitative interviews highlighted spirituality and religion as a coping mechanism for the unhoused.
• Combatting Homelessness in Canada: Applying Lessons Learned from Six Tiny Villages to the Edmonton Bridge Healing Program. Authors Wong et al. [ 6 ] discuss the Bridge Healing Program in Edmonton, Alberta, a novel approach to combatting homelessness by using hospital emergency departments (ED) as a gateway to temporary housing. The program provides residents with immediate temporary housing before transitioning them to permanent homes. The paper discusses effective strategies that underlie the Tiny Villages concept by analyzing six case studies and applying the lessons learned to improving the Bridge Healing Program and reducing repeat ED visits and ED lengths of stay among homeless individuals.
• Change in Housing Status among Homeless and Formerly Homeless Individuals in Quebec, Canada: A Profile Study. Kaltsidis et al. [ 7 ] used a cluster analysis to develop a typology of the housing status change for 270 currently or formerly homeless individuals who were residing in shelters and temporary or permanent housing. The findings suggest that the maintenance or improvement in the housing status requires the availability of suitable types and frequencies of service use (enabling factors) that are well-adapted to the complexity of health problems (needs factors) among homeless individuals. Specific interventions, such as outreach programs and case management, are prioritized as necessary services, especially for individuals at a higher risk of returning to homelessness.
• Urban Stress Indirectly Influences Psychological Symptoms through Its Association with Distress Tolerance and Perceived Social Support among Adults Experiencing Homelessness. To investigate the simultaneous impact of intrapersonal characteristics (distress tolerance) and interpersonal characteristics (social support) and their association with homelessness, Hernandez et al. [ 8 ] recruited homeless adults from six homeless shelters in Oklahoma City who self-reported urban life stress, distress tolerance, social support, major depressive disorder, and PTSD symptoms. Based on the resulting associations, their findings stress the importance of implementing interventions aimed at increasing social support for homeless persons, something that may also increase skill development for distress tolerance and indirectly lead to a reduction in depression and PTSD.
• “I Felt Safe”: The Role of the Rapid Rehousing Program in Supporting the Security of Families Experiencing Homelessness in Salt Lake County, Utah. Garcia and Kim [ 9 ] describe their research into The Road Home (TRH) program, which provides services to homeless individuals and families. TRH is known for their emergency shelters and also administers the Rapid Rehousing Program (RRHP), designed to help homeless families transition back into stable housing. After collecting qualitative data from focus groups with participants and families, landlords, case managers, and service providers, they make recommendations for program improvements that can increase the residential security of families experiencing homelessness.
• “It’s Just a Band-Aid on Something No One Really Wants to See or Acknowledge”: A Photovoice Study with Transitional Aged Youth Experiencing Homelessness to Examine the Roots of San Diego’s 2016–2018 Hepatitis A Outbreak. In this study, Felner et al. [ 10 ] examined the experiences and needs of transitional aged youth (TAY) aged 18–24 experiencing homelessness who may have been uniquely affected by an unprecedented outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV). The findings documented a stigmatization of TAY, interventions that failed to address root causes of the outbreak, and interactions with housing- and social support-related resources that limited rather than supported economic and social mobility. The findings have implications for understanding how media and public discourse, public health interventions, and the availability and delivery of resources can contribute to and perpetuate stigma and health inequities faced by TAY experiencing homelessness.
• Predictors of Overnight and Emergency Treatment among Homeless Adults. Iwundu et al. [ 11 ] aimed to identify the sociodemographic predictors associated with overnight and emergency hospital treatment among a sample of homeless adults. Participants were recruited from a shelter in Dallas, Texas and were predominantly uninsured, low-income men and women from various social and ethnic groups. In logistic regression models, gender emerged as the only predictor of overnight treatment in a hospital and treatment in an emergency department. Women were more likely than men to be treated overnight and use emergency care. The authors concluded that interventions and policies targeted toward homeless women’s primary health care needs would reduce health care costs.
• Association of Problematic Alcohol Use and Food Insecurity among Homeless Men and Women. In a study on alcohol use and food insecurity among homeless men and women, Reitzel et al. [ 12 ] investigated the link between problematic alcohol use and food insecurity among homeless adults in Oklahoma. Problematic alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Quantity and Frequency Questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Food insecurity was measured with the USDA Food Security Scale-Short Form. The results indicated that heavy drinking and probable alcohol dependence/abuse were each associated with increased odds of food insecurity. The results question whether alcohol may take precedence over eating or food purchases among this population of homeless individuals.
• Exploring Tiny Homes as an Affordable Housing Strategy to Ameliorate Homelessness: A Case Study of the Dwellings in Tallahassee, FL. “Tiny Homes” is an emerging strategy to combat homelessness, and Jackson et al. [ 13 ] raise a number of questions about the intentions, efficacy, and policy feasibility of this strategy. The paper seeks to understand the strategies used by stakeholders to plan, design, and implement a “Tiny Homes” strategy, and to assess their effectiveness. Using a case study, they examined how the community was planned, the experiences of residents, and the constraints to success. Their findings highlighted how funding constraints and NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard-ism) stymied stakeholder efforts to achieve equity and affordability, resulting in the inability to achieve project aims to develop affordable housing that served homeless populations.
• Predictors of Emergency Department Use among Individuals with Current or Previous Experience of Homelessness. The study by Gabet et al. [ 14 ] assessed the contributions of predisposing, enabling, and needs factors in predicting emergency department (ED) use among 270 individuals with a current or previous experience of homelessness. Participants were recruited from types of housing in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) and were interviewed about their ED use at baseline and again 12 months later. The findings revealed two needs factors associated with ED use: having a substance use disorder and low perceived physical health. Two enabling factors—the use of ambulatory specialized services and stigma—were also related to ED use. ED use was not associated with the type of housing. The authors suggest that improvements are needed to manage substance use disorders and the physical health of homeless individuals in order to reduce ED use.
• Being at the Bottom Rung of the Ladder in an Unequal Society: A Qualitative Analysis of Stories of People without a Home. The Mabhala and Yohannes article [ 15 ] examines the stories of homeless people and their perceptions of their social status using interviews in three centers for homeless people in Cheshire, in the English Northwest. Education, employment, and health were three domains that provided a theoretical explanation for the reasons that led to their homelessness. Participants catalogued their adverse childhood experiences, which they believe limited their capacity to meaningfully engage with social institutions for social goods, such as education, social services, and institutions of employment. They conclude that, although not all people who are poorly educated, in poor health, and unemployed end up being homeless, a combination of these together with multiple adverse childhood experiences may weaken resilience and contribute to homelessness.
• Commentary: Investing in Public Health Infrastructure to Address the Complexities of Homelessness. In a final commentary, Allegrante and Sleet [ 16 ] introduce the notion that investments in public health infrastructure are needed to address the complexities of homelessness, including the continued threats posed by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and its variants. The lack of affordable housing, widespread unemployment, poverty, addiction and mental illness, which all contribute to the risk of homelessness, would be well-served by improving the fundamental public health infrastructure. They argue that homelessness is exacerbated by system-wide infrastructure failures at the municipal, state and federal governments and from the neglect to invest in public infrastructure, including a modern public health system.

In conclusion, shelter is a basic human need. Thus far, we have an inadequate understanding of all the medical and nonmedical, public health, and infrastructural influences that drive homelessness and why so many people are living without adequate shelter. Housing is one of the most critical factors in addressing homelessness and one of the best-researched social determinants of health. Several articles here focus on innovative approaches to providing temporary or permanent housing for those who need it, and it is well known that selected housing interventions can improve health and decrease health care costs. From that perspective, some professionals in the field contend that housing equates to health [ 17 ] and that improved housing options for homeless individuals and families would advance population-level health.

Many of the articles in this Special Issue [ 18 ] focus on specific aspects of life, quality of life, and co-morbidities related to behavioral and social variables influencing homelessness. Explored in detail are factors such as lack of housing, distress, wellness, emergency department use, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction, poverty, low educational attainment, inadequate health care and social services, adverse childhood experiences, ongoing infections, unemployment, and public health infrastructure. In addition to highlighting the impact these factors can have on the likelihood that someone would become homeless, many of the articles also provide recommendations for relevant policies, practices, and interventions that could help reduce homelessness and improve overall well-being.

The intersection of environmental, behavioral, and social factors, in addition to the lack of an adequate infrastructure, must also be considered when studying the determinants of homelessness and designing appropriate interventions. Our ultimate goal in producing this Special Issue of IJERPH is to encourage the development of better evidence to inform public health, social services, and medical care policies and practices that will result in better health for homeless populations.

Acknowledgments

We thank the authors and reviewers for their commitment to preparing and editing these manuscripts and for adding to the knowledge base of this important public health problem.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Traumatic Stress and Homelessness: A Review of the Literature for Practitioners

• Original Paper
• Published: 22 November 2021
• Volume 50 , pages 218–230, ( 2022 )

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• Brenda Wiewel   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4640-9920 1 &
• Laura Hernandez   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9115-7593 2  

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A growing body of evidence connects traumatic stress and homelessness, which illustrates the importance of trauma and-resiliency-informed care (TIC) to appropriately serve persons experiencing homelessness (PEH). This paper reviews the literature on traumatic stress, including the biology of trauma as well as psychosocial, environmental, and systemic factors. These areas of knowledge constitute necessary elements when designing systems of care for PEH in order to provide effective services, avoid re-traumatization, and create healing environments to foster resilience. The authors identify trauma-specific evidence-based therapies, and comprehensive programmatic approaches that stem from established trauma-informed core values. Practical applications of the reviewed literature are utilized to demonstrate how organizations can adopt a trauma and resiliency-informed approach, based on both the reviewed literature as well as the authors’ collective clinical experience. A key takeaway is an emerging consensus that service providers must consider trauma when designing and offering services to persons with a history of homelessness. The authors offer recommendations for future pathways to create outcome measurement tools for social service providers based on the theory of self-efficacy and using concrete, quantifiable variables.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Gary Painter and the staff of the Homeless Research Policy Institute at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California for useful feedback on an early version of this paper. We also acknowledge a manuscript review provided by Melissa Singh, EdD, LCSW, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

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Wiewel, B., Hernandez, L. Traumatic Stress and Homelessness: A Review of the Literature for Practitioners. Clin Soc Work J 50 , 218–230 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00824-w

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Literature Review on Homelessness, Essay Example

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Introduction

This brief literature review focuses on the contemporary body of knowledge on women and homelessness in the City of Calgary. Of interest are the factors that amplify homelessness among the women in Calgary as well as the characteristic features of the homeless women in this Canadian city, given that women and children are the most affected social groups in terms of homelessness (Rahder, 2006).

City of Calgary and Homelessness

The grasslands city of Calgary is ranks as the largest city in Canada’s Province of Alberta, and is located to the south of Alberta. Calgary is nested at the prairie foothills, about 80 km east of the Canadian Rockies. While homelessness has increased in complexity across Canada in recent years, there are several historically known hotspots such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and more importantly, Calgary (Hulchanski, 2009). The rising levels of homelessness in Calgary have prompted many scholars and researchers to inspect the problem anew, given that the traditional solutions don’t seem to be working (Hulchanski, 2009).

One way that new researchers are seeking to establish lasting solutions for the Calgary homelessness problem is by profiling the homeless and those most prompt to homelessness (women and children), in an attempt to know those factors that cause and amplify the problem. If the causative factors are established, then it is assumed that the solutions can be modelled to adequately mitigate those causes and solve the homelessness problem (Hulchanski, 2009). Among such studies are those that approach the problem from the demographic survey perspective are exemplified by the 2006 report dubbed, Count of Homeless Persons in Calgary, which constituted a survey conducted by the City Council of the City of Calgary, the Community and Neighbourhood Services as well as Social Research Unit (City Council of Calgary, 2006).

While more of a census than an interpretative study, the initiative provided immensely useful data for further research and planning initiatives, given that it profiled the homeless and the factors that pushed them to the street (City Council of Calgary, 2006). There have been similar surveys cum census in 1994 and 1996 in the City of Calgary (City Council of Calgary, 2006).   The weakness with such profiling attempts is that they only accumulate the numbers of homeless in one night, those in various agencies and on the street, which might not include all the homeless people. Further, it tends to be more of a counting activity than a profiling attempt, and the data can have numerous flows.

The single most informative group of studies for this paper are those that profile homeless women characteristics. Such a study was conducted by Walsh, Rutherford and Kuzmak (2009). The scholars based in the University of Calgary  Conducted a participatory and community-based study to profile and explore the characteristics of homeless women in the City of Calgary and their perceptions using qualitative interviews, creative writing, digital storytelling, photovoice, and even design Charrette, as the methods of research in a way that helped characterize the perceptions of these women in such themes as the affective, physical and external environment factors that the women perceived as ideal homes (Walsh, Rutherford& Kuzmak, 2009). In a similar study, Padgett Hawkins, Abrams & Davis (2006) also established that these factors exist even in the streets where the homeless women try to escape from reality through drug abuse. In most cases, these women were found to give their ideal homes perception the qualities they had lacked in their homes and the factors that pushed them to the streets (Walsh, Rutherford& Kuzmak, 2009).

Scott (2007) conducted a similar profiling study of homeless women in Calvary and conquered in defining these conditions deemed to have pushed the women to the streets to include low paying jobs, unaffordable housing costs, having more children than their income can maintain, being single parents, being of a particular race or races, being victims of domestic violence, being physically and or mentally disabled or having no access to available social programs (Walsh, Rutherford& Kuzmak, 2009). These were thus qualified as factors that drive these women into the streets, or the characteristic features of the homeless women already in the streets currently (Walsh, Rutherford& Kuzmak, 2009).

Besides surveys, several conferences and workshops have been held to deliberate on the homelessness issue in Calvary (Hulchanski, 2009). Hulchanski has published such his keynote address in a 2009 conference at the University of Calgary, addressing the growing home: housing and homelessness in Canada at large, with Calgary as the case study (Hulchanski, 2009). According to the address, homelessness is a sign of social inequity and ailing social welfare programs and it mostly affects women of the lowest ladders of the society (Hulchanski, 2009). The problem however requires concerted efforts of all stakeholders, most of whom are never present in such forums. The findings of such forums are rarely, if ever, practical, since they are more theoretical and scholarly than they are representative of the real scenarios in the streets (Novac, Brown & Bourbonnais, 1996).

This kind of studies and forums are closely related to those that seek ways of resolving the homelessness problem. In September 2004 for instance, the City of Calgary published a Community Services Report on Community and Protective Services, which constituted the city’s homelessness strategy/policy (Black, 2004). This was a survey of the public and their opinion not only of what the City Council should do to help the homeless, but also of whether it was important to help them (Black, 2004). The objective of the study was to formulate an endorsement framework for the Council defining strategies that should be adopted in addressing the Calvary homelessness (Black, 2004).

Another similar study profiled homeless women in shelters in terms of Absolute and relative poverty and established that the homeless women in Calgary are extremely poor and needy of assistance (City of Calgary, Community and Neighbourhood Services, Social Research Unit. (2008). The problem with these kinds of studies is that they do not have a full appreciation of the problem, its causes, its implications and its requirements. Basing strategy on surveyed public opinion might be popular but not sufficient to address such an entrenched problem as Calvary’s homelessness (Scott, 2007).

It is encouraging that researchers are currently changing tact and seeking to establish lasting solutions for the Calgary homelessness problem. As discussed above, studies that base their findings on public opinion, those that come up with scholarly and theoretical but impractical recommendations or diagnosis, are not an effective way to study the Calvary City homelessness problem and neither can they help solve it since they have failed to do so in the last three decades. The only research strategy that promises to work will be those that profile homeless women and the factors that prompt the women to homelessness, in an attempt to know those factors that cause and amplify the homelessness problem. Importantly, the characteristics of women in the streets display that there is a group of the population that is most susceptible to homelessness, namely women who are physically disabled, minority races, those with no skills and thus in very low paying jobs, single parents, women victims of domestic violence as well as drug addicts and mentally ill women.

Black, K. (2004). Homelessness Strategy/Policy. Community Services Report to the S.P.C. on Community and Protective Services 1 September 2004 . Retrieved 1/10/10. From http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/cns/homelessness/cc_homelessness_strategy-04.pdf

City Council of Calgary (2006). Count of Homeless Persons in Calgary . Homeless Resource Center . The City of Calgary, Community and Neighbourhood Services, Social Research Unit. Retrieved 1/10/10. Form http://homelessness.samhsa.gov/%28S%28oihtmev3a4sk0z45mlztnl55%29%29/Resource/2006-Count-of-Homeless-Persons-in-Calgary-46668.aspx

City of Calgary, Community and Neighbourhood Services, Social Research Unit. (2008). Absolute and relative homelessness: A case study of the Calgary women’s emergency shelter using ETHOS criteria (research summary No. 08). Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Community and Neighbourhood Services, Social Research Unit.

Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. Conference keynote address, February 18, 2009. Calgary: University of Calgary.

Laird, G. (2007). Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox. A Report for the Sheldon Chummier Foundation for Ethics in Leadership . Retrieved 1/10/10. From http://www.chumirethicsfoundation.ca/files/pdf/SHELTER.pdf

Padgett, D., Hawkins, R., Abrams, C. & Davis, A. (2006). In their own words: Trauma and substance abuse in the lives of formerly homeless women with serious mental illness. Psychological Assessment . Vol. 76 (1). pp. 461-467.

Rahder, B. (2006). The crisis of women’s homelessness in Canada: Summary of the CERA report. Women and Environments . Vol. 70/71 (2). pp. 38-39.

Scott, S. (2007). All our sisters: Stories of homeless women in Canada. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.

Walsh, C., Rutherford, G., & Kuzmak, N. (2009). Characteristics of home: Perspectives of women who are homeless. The Qualitative Report . Vol. 14 (2). pp. 299-317. Retrieved on 1/10/10. From <http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR14-2 /walsh.pdf>

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Writing a Literature Review

A literature review, which provides an overview of the scholarship on a topic, is typically part of a larger research project. In standard research articles, the literature review is usually found after the introduction and before the methodology. In some disciplines, a literature review is the introduction. Although literature reviews are most often part of a larger research project, they can be standalone documents.

The Purpose of a Literature Review

Generally, there are two overarching purposes of a literature review:

• To provide a critical overview of the relevant published research on a topic.
• To justify the need for a research project by indicating a research gap(s).

Literature reviews do not merely summarize the scholarship; instead, they help the researcher enrich and analyze a set of themes related to the topic.

Planning the Literature Review

A helpful way to think of a literature review is as a narrative. The themes and sub-themes are different story lines, and the research gap(s), which often comes at the end, is the finale or outcome of the research story.

As an intermediary step between researching and writing a literature review, it can be helpful to write an annotated bibliography of your sources. You can then develop themes and sub-themes of your research topic into categories, which will help organize the scholarship you have gathered

To illustrate this notion of themes, consider the following example: Imagine you are undertaking a research project on how green spaces in a school environment affect the mental health of adolescents. Mental health could be the overarching topic of this research with “adolescents” and “green environments” as the two main themes. Under the theme of adolescents, the sub-theme of “school environment” could be discussed. You can lead the reader through research on the mental health of adolescents in a school environment before transitioning to research on the effects of green spaces on mental health. This would set up the research gap, namely that there is a lack of research on how green space in school environments affects the mental health of adolescents.

The Structure of a Literature Review

1. Set the context by introducing your topic

• What is your research topic?
• Why is this research topic important?
• What are your main themes?

2. Develop each theme of your research

• What are the relevant sub-themes? What key studies/sources will you discuss under each theme and sub-theme?

3. Reveal a research gap or gaps

• What knowledge are we currently lacking that is relevant to your research study?
• What previous studies/sources can help you frame this research gap?

Some Writing Considerations

Topic sentences.

As with other academic writing genres, clear topic sentences are important for literature reviews. This is especially the case when transitioning between themes and sub-themes. For example, consider the following topic sentence:

In addition to data gathered from GPS collars, surveys can provide additional data on the impacts of ecological corridors on wildlife movement.

The transition phrase “In addition to data gathered from GPS collars” signals to the reader that we are moving away from GPS collars to another sub-theme that impacts ecological corridors.

Using sources

Literature reviews use sources in different ways.

It is common, when discussing broad research trends, to have general statements supported with multiple sources. For example:

Numerous researchers have recognized that critical thinking includes both abilities and dispositions (Ennis, 1996; Facione et al., 1994; Perkins et al., 1993).

It is also common to focus on a single source. For example:

Alexander et al. (2000) conducted a series of road surveys along the TransCanada Highway in BC to determine the impact of transportation corridors on wildlife habitat use. The study found that wildlife movement in natural areas was continuous and species movement was complex. However, these findings were not consistent along the TransCanada Highway as movement was restricted for all species.

Finally, to help your reader process information, be intentional when including author names in the text. If the reader does not need to know the author’s name, then it is better to focus on the idea. For example:

Previous research has found that social anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse tend to co-occur (Ross, 1995).

There is no standard in terms of how many sources are required for a literature review. It depends on the research topic and the length of the literature review.

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What are the contrasting types of proactivity that manifest at work? A systematic literature review, content analysis, and future directions

European Journal of Management Studies

ISSN : 2183-4172

Article publication date: 26 August 2024

• Supplementary Material

This study summarizes widely dispersed literature on proactivity at work in its many different forms and highlights contrasts between the various themes in detail.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on systematic literature review of proactivity at work using 1708 peer reviewed articles published between 1969 and 2021 using R and Vos viewer software; a content analysis of the 100 most cited articles in proactivity research; and synthesis and integrative literature review to develop future research directions.

This study uncovers many interesting facets of knowledge, including proactivity-related themes that have emerged over 50 years of research, time-related publication trends, top journals, top authors, and the most commonly used keywords. The content analysis of the 100 most-cited articles revealed findings such as the role of each proactivity theme impacting academic discussions to date. For example, quantitative research appears to be more prevalent among the most cited articles compared to different types of qualitative research. Finally, future research directions building on our findings are provided.

Originality/value

To our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to contrast different types of proactivity at work as opposed to extant literature, which is either driven by the proactivity phenomenon or focuses on similarities rather than on contrasting aspects of the various forms of proactivity at work. Hence, the significance of this research extends beyond theoretical considerations and incorporates valuable practical elements.

• Citation-based systematic review
• Job crafting
• Proactivity
• Proactive behaviors

Ahmed, R. , Al-Riyami, S. , Ahmad, N. and Bibi, A. (2024), "What are the contrasting types of proactivity that manifest at work? A systematic literature review, content analysis, and future directions", European Journal of Management Studies , Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJMS-09-2023-0064

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Rawia Ahmed, Said Al-Riyami, Nisar Ahmad and Aqsa Bibi

Published in European Journal of Management Studies . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence maybe seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

The last 50 years, and particularly recent ones, have witnessed an upsurge in scholarly interest in different types of proactivity (e.g. job crafting, feedback seeking, proactive personality, voice) in work settings as showcased by the growing number of publications on this topic ( Crant et al ., 2016 ; Davidson and van Dyne, 2016 ; Parker and Bindl, 2016 ; Parker and Collins, 2010 ). Given the fast-changing environments in which organizations currently operate and need to respond to ( Slatten et al ., 2013 ), proactive behaviors by employees are instrumental to the success of organizations. Such employees challenge the status quo and initiate needed changes in turbulent circumstances.

Despite the increase in scholarly work on proactivity at work ( Grant and Ashford, 2008 ; Parker et al ., 2010 ; Tornau and Frese, 2013 ; Wanberg and Kammeyer-Mueller, 2000 ), further scholarly work may be impeded if interested organizational psychology and management scholars fail to make effective use of prior evidence regarding this phenomenon ( Rousseau et al ., 2008 ). We concur with Rousseau et al . (2008 , p. 477) that “a systematic review of the full body of evidence is the key first step in formulating a science-based conclusion” that will benefit organizational behavior scholars and practitioners alike. In response, in this review of 1,708 peer-reviewed articles drawn from 408 journal articles published between 1969 and 2021, we contribute to the proactivity literature by implementing a citation-based systematic literature review (SLR) as an objective tool to map the scientific structure of the different forms of proactivity at work ( Acedo and Casillas, 2005 ) while avoiding potential biases that naturally arise along with traditional narrative reviews ( Hodgkinson and Ford, 2014 ; Zupic and Čater, 2015 ). In doing so, we point out many insightful findings regarding intellectual work on proactivity while contrasting different forms of proactivity, a dual endeavor that to our knowledge has been the object of no prior attempts.

Second, we use content analysis as a research tool to critically analyze the 100 most influential articles on proactivity in work settings. We then synthesize the findings of the SLR and content analysis of the sample articles together with discussions in Parker and Bindl (2016) as a theoretical framework in an integrative manner ( Torraco, 2016 ) to present provocative future research directions for research and practice while avoiding the pitfalls detailed by Hodgkinson and Ford (2015) .

Using the three tools, we seek to answer the following research questions: (1) What scientific structures and dynamics of different forms of proactivity at work have been identified thus far? (2) What major organizational content domains have been tapped by proactivity research scholars over the last 50 years, and what are their dynamics? and (3) What provocative future directions should guide academic and practitioner-oriented interests as well as policy makers for proactivity to effect aspired changes in academia and in organizations?

Theoretically, we respond to current calls by researchers (see, for example, Vogt et al ., 2021 ; Jiang et al ., 2023 ) by synthesizing the dispersed literature on different themes within proactivity at work and presenting our findings in a novel manner by contrasting these themes. Second, by contrasting themes within proactivity at work, we suggest innovative and thought-provoking future research directions to support ongoing scholarly discussions on this significant phenomenon in its different forms.

Practically, this work provides managers with a summary of the many forms of proactive employee behaviors and traits they can capitalize on at work in order to effect changes in their organization. This summary will be invaluable to managers given the competing demands on their time ( Bruch and Ghoshal, 2002 ). Moreover, the study pinpoints several research-informed organizational factors that may help (or impede) employees' proactive behaviors in the workplace.

The article is structured as follows: We first present the research methodology adopted to gather our data for the systematic analysis. We then present the findings of the SLR analysis followed by those of the content analysis of the 100 most-cited articles. Lastly, we present synthesized future research directions we infer from the above results.

2. Literature review

Proactivity, generally defined as “self-initiated and future-focused action to change oneself or the situation” ( Parker et al ., 2019 , p. 221) can manifest as a behavior in many forms in organizations ( Parker and Bindl, 2016 ; Parker and Collins, 2010 ). In addition, some organizational actors show a tendency to initiate change in their work environment, thus providing evidence of a proactive personality ( Crant et al ., 2016 ). Parker and Collins (2010) classify proactive behaviors into three major categories: (1) person-environment fit behaviors (or behaviors targeting a better fit between a person and their work environment); (2) proactive work behaviors (or behaviors aimed at improving the internal work environment); and (3) proactive strategic behaviors (or behaviors aimed at making the organization better fit the external environment).

Our study focuses on the first two categories, including the following prominent proactive work behaviors: (1) feedback seeking (making efforts “toward determining the correctness and adequacy of behavior for attaining valued end states;” Ashford, 1986 , p. 466); (2) job crafting (the inauguration of change in one's job) ( Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001 ); (3) taking charge (making efforts to enact change at work; Morrison and Phelps, 1999 ); (4) voice (a tendency to “express future-focused change oriented ideas to create envisioned future outcomes;” Davidson and van Dyne, 2016 , p. 472); and (5) personal initiative (demonstrating a “self-starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required;” Frese et al ., 1996 , p. 38). However, we exclude strategic behaviors as our study targets organizational actors and their fit to their environment rather than the organization's fit to the external environment exemplified in the strategic behaviors category. Our study also extends conversations about the proactive behaviors enumerated by Parker and Bindl (2016) as we build on our findings to suggest future directions. Finally, we extend the scope of our study to encompass the proactive personality of organizational actors, defined as individuals' inclination to effect change in their surroundings ( Bateman and Crant, 1993 ) given its relevance and importance in shaping organizational outcomes.

It is important to point out that proactivity is linked to myriad positive individual and organizational outcomes readily traceable to it. Examples include superior job performance ( Wu and Parker, 2011 ), innovation ( Parker and Bindl, 2016 ), creativity ( Binnewies et al ., 2007 ), career success ( Seibert et al ., 1999 ), job and career satisfaction ( Wu and Parker, 2011 ), and individuals' health ( Wolsink et al ., 2019 ).

3. Methodology

A systematic literature review begins with a well-defined article search criterion and proceeds through several stages of quality and relevance testing in order to identify all relevant articles. Based on the chosen sample, a citation analysis is performed to provide a bird's eye view of the subject area. The main goal of the systematic literature review is to conduct a thorough content analysis in order to provide a detailed snapshot of the literature. This section describes our selection process, citation analysis, and content analysis.

3.1 Selection process

Choosing the database for document search is the initial step. Many options were available, including Web of Science (WoS), Scopus (SC), ScienceDirect (SD), Business Source Complete (BSC), and ProQuest (PQ), among others. Each of these data sources has its pros and cons. For instance, WoS and SC have strict requirements for a journal to be listed, with WoS having the strictest of the two. However, full texts cannot be searched in either of these databases. In contrast, journals appearing in SD, BSC, and ProQuest are listed based on each journal's subscriptions. Thus, they allow the researcher to search the full text of the subscribed articles. However, the main difficulty with these databases is that they do not provide the citation information needed for the purpose of conducting our study. For example, journals listed in SC have a broader coverage compared to WoS, while Scopus is recognized as the most suitable database for conducting a citation analysis (see, for example, Geetha and Kothainayaki, 2019 ; Sainaghi et al ., 2020 ; Celik et al ., 2023 ; Arici et al ., 2023 ). In response, we selected the SC database, which includes approximately 24,000 journals.

TITLE-ABS-KEY (“proactivity” OR “proactive behavior*” OR “taking charge” OR “voice behavior*” OR “personal initiative*” OR “job craft*” OR “employee voice” OR “moral voice” OR “feedback seeking”)

The search was carried out in November 2020. These keywords were selected following an extensive discussion among the co-authors, all of whom are active in the field. This search resulted in 4,712 documents. (The flow chart of the selection process is shown in Figure 1 .) Following the Scopus subject classification, the subject area was then restricted to Business, Management and Accounting , and Psychology . This cut the number of documents to 2,815. Next, the search was restricted to journal articles after we removed books, book chapters, conference proceedings, notes, conference papers, and errata in order to focus on peer-reviewed papers. As a result, 355 articles were removed, leaving us with 2,460 articles. Finally, 74 non-English-language articles were also removed, leaving us with 2,386 articles.

Our 2,386 articles were then manually skimmed by two co-authors focusing on titles and abstracts to ensure that the sample only contained relevant articles. Topics falling outside of the scope of the study (i.e. relating to macro- as opposed to micro-level proactivity) were excluded, as were studies that used non-organizational actors (i.e. students). Similarly, articles related to topics outside the management and organizational psychology realms (e.g. marketing, education) were also excluded. This critical step resulted in removing 634 articles that survived our search but were deemed irrelevant.

To ensure that no important articles were left out, the list of articles was compared with reference lists of six prominent articles published at different times and focusing on different types of proactivity (see Figure 1 ). In total, we compared 671 articles from this reference list with our sample. This important step identified 36 missing articles, which were then added to the sample. The final sample thus consisted of 1,708 articles published in 408 journals published from 1969 to 2021. This yielded 3,225 author-supplied keywords and 3,204 different authors and included 171 single-authored documents. The average number of authors per article was 2.91.

3.2 Citation analysis

Citation (or bibliometric) analysis has become an extremely useful tool for systematically examining a large body of literature, inferring trends over time, and comparing the relative impact of the most prolific authors, top journals, and most frequently cited papers. Furthermore, it provides an overall picture of the literature, which is highly beneficial to researchers planning to embark on their own studies in that area ( Ahmad et al ., 2020 ; Fiaz et al ., 2023 ; Hussain et al ., 2023a , b ). Our own analysis was carried out using Bibliometrix, a comprehensive statistical tool based on the R language ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ). In addition, numerous additional software programs have been developed in order to perform bibliometric analysis ( Asatullaeva et al ., 2021 ; Anwar et al ., 2021 ).

3.3 Content analysis

Content analysis is a quantitative method designed to obtain crucial information from selected literature. Content analysis relates to extracting primary findings from published articles, the methodology employed, the date range, and the data sources, to name some examples. The technique is useful for studying goals as even open-ended data in each paper can be thoroughly examined, sorted, and assessed using this process. Content analysis is used to better analyze and interpret phenomena or events as it allows these phenomena to be reduced to well-defined categories ( Harwood and Garry, 2003 ). Traditionally used in media science, content analysis is currently gaining traction in the physical and social sciences as well. Further, through systematic analysis using measurable metrics and visually representative data, salient features of problems raised in the literature can be elucidated and research gaps identified. Taking advantage of this potential, we performed a content analysis of the most impactful 100 articles based on their average annual citation count. We coded our 100 articles in terms of: (1) type and role of proactive behavior in the study in question (i.e. antecedent, mediator, outcome); (2) antecedents and outcomes of proactive behaviors, if any; (3) theory and methodology used (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods); (4) sample type and size; (5) country in which the study was conducted; and (6) major findings. Our analysis of the most impactful 100 articles thus helped us identify gaps in the literature and offer implications for future research and practice.

4. Results of systematic literature review

4.1 types of proactivity.

To analyze the 1,708 articles, we categorized them into themes known in the proactivity literature. Figure 2 shows 598 studies of Voice, 336 of Proactive Behavior, 302 of Job Crafting, 164 of Feedback Seeking, 84 of Personal Initiative, 67 of Proactive Personality, and 157 of some of these themes in combination across various themes (see Chiaburu et al ., 2006 on proactive personality and feedback seeking) ( Figure 3 ). Notably, Voice was examined in approximately 35% of included studies, indicating a substantial emphasis on this particular phenomenon. Other themes such as Proactive Behavior, Job Crafting, Feedback Seeking, Personal Initiative, Proactive Personality, and Others were assessed in 20%, 18%, 9%, 5%, 4%, and 9% of included studies, respectively.

The examination of the 100 most-cited articles within the field of proactivity studies ( Figure 3b ) further supports the prevailing pattern observed in Figure 3 , wherein Voice emerges as the most extensively investigated construct, with themes such as Proactive Behavior, Job Crafting, Feedback Seeking, Personal Initiative, Proactive Personality, and the combination of the different proactivity types being explored to a lesser extent.

4.2 Time-related publication trends

To examine publication trends, we partitioned 53 years of published research into 16 distinct time periods. Although the selection of these periods may be considered somewhat arbitrary, using three-year intervals enabled us to derive insights regarding overarching patterns pertaining to each category of proactivity research. Figure 4 shows the total number of publications and their trends from 1967 to 2020. Initially, the number of publications was lower due to the fact that proactivity was yet not established as a distinct field. From 1967 to 1996, only 35 articles were published, which shows basal growth in publications. This time period of research on proactivity can be seen as the infancy period , reflecting the fact that the significance of the proactivity topic was just beginning to draw scholars' attention. From 1997 to 2008, a steady development period saw the publication curve increase gradually, thus capturing growing awareness of the importance of the topic across diverse academic fields. After 2008, a sharp growth curve in publications can be seen. From 2009 to 2020, the take off period saw the fastest growth. Among proactivity types, Voice has been the top trend since the start of publication, showing steady growth leading to a doubling in publications after 2008, followed by Proactive Behavior and Job Crafting. Around 2000, publications showed an increasing trend for all other proactivity types that paralleled Voice. In this respect, the most interesting finding relates to Job Crafting, a label first introduced by Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001) . In comparison to other proactivity types, Job Crafting lagged behind at first, with only one article published in 2001 but 188 articles in the period 2018–2020. This surge in interest in Job Crafting by number of publications is followed closely by Voice, which also saw a high number of publications during that period. In brief, Job Crafting was the most researched topic in recent years and is expected to keep growing in the future. Other topics, including Feedback Seeking, Personal Initiative, and Proactive Personality also showed increasing trends but at a more gradual pace compared to Voice, Proactive Behavior, and Job Crafting, as shown in Figure 4 .

4.3 Top journals

Upon comprehensive examination, the 1,708 publications included in this study revealed a total of 408 distinct journals. Table 1 presents the top three journals with the highest productivity for each type of proactivity. It is noteworthy that a significant proportion of these journals hold esteemed rankings, such as the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) ranking of A*, A, and the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) rating. These rankings are indicative of the journals' high standing within the domains of business and management and psychology research and of their substantial contributions to the realm of proactivity. It is also noteworthy that the Journal of Applied Psychology has an interest in all types of proactivity.

4.4 Top authors

Based on our dataset, 3,204 authors across our 1,708 publications were selected for this study, with an average of 2.91 authors per article affiliated with 1,473 organizations and spread across 71 countries. Table 2 presents the top three authors based on citations for each type of proactivity research. These prolific authors have made major contributions to the field of proactivity by publishing and propagating their research in leading international journals (See Table 2 ). Overall, Arnold B. Bakker is the most prolific author with the most citations (4,198) and an h-index of 196 and topping the Job Crafting category.

4.5 Most frequent authors' keywords

Figure 5 presents a word cloud that graphically depicts the most frequently occurring authors' keywords found in articles focusing on Voice, Proactive Behavior, Feedback Seeking, Job Crafting, Personal Initiative, and Proactive Personality. A word cloud was used here to determine the conceptual structure of a field using word co-occurrences in a bibliographic collection and highlighting the nexus of the main theme with the emerging subfields of the study ( Köseoglu and Parnell, 2020 ). This analysis helps us identify relationships between different concepts or areas of research, thus providing a deeper understanding of interrelationships between identified keywords. In terms of visibility, the word cloud displays words in various sizes according to the number of times they appear. Though the placement of words is somewhat random, predominating words are placed in the middle so that they are more visible given their larger size. For example, Voice is connected with Prohibitive and Promotive Voice, Job Satisfaction, Ethical Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Leader Member Exchange (LMX), and Psychological Safety, while Proactive Behavior showed a strong connection with Self-efficacy, Work engagement, Psychological Empowerment, Transformational Leadership, and Innovation (among prominent examples). This concurs with the findings of Bakker et al. (2012) , which also showed a strong connection between Job Crafting and Work Engagement.

Table 3 presents the frequency distribution of authors' keywords, categorizing them according to the type of proactivity they represent. The most frequently occurring keyword was Job Crafting, with a count of 233, followed by Employee Voice, with a count of 177. Notably, all six types of proactivity identified in the study exhibit a common underlying theme, encompassing Leadership, Work Engagement, Self-efficacy, Job Performance, Innovation, and Creativity. This observation highlights the interconnectedness between these concepts and the overarching notion of proactivity. Of particular significance are the keywords Work Engagement and Self-efficacy, which demonstrate a robust association with all types of proactivity.

4.6 Authors' country or region of affiliation

A synoptic overview of the most prolific authors shows that a majority of them are affiliated to the US, China, the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong, respectively. Total numbers of authors from each country and their collaborating authors' countries are shown in Table 4 . This shows that top research countries are developed countries, including collaborations, which indicates that research funding agencies may need to collaborate more with developing countries, especially in South Asia and Africa. In terms of regional affiliations of authors, Table 5 shows that the East Asia and Pacific region ranks high in publications followed by North America.

5. Results of content analysis of 100 most-cited articles

This section presents a quantitative approach to generating a valuable source of knowledge from the extensive and diverse data extracted from the 100 most-cited articles based on average citations per year. The full list of top 100 most-cited articles is reported in appendix A1. In this approach, the data are meticulously explored, categorized, and evaluated using the pivot fields function in Excel to show various aspects of the different types of proactivity, including mediators, moderators, theories, data type, sample size, etc. Content analysis serves as a method for examining various forms of data, including visual and verbal data, allowing for the systematic categorization of phenomena or events. This categorization facilitates enhanced analysis and interpretation of the data. Content analysis is a research technique used in making replicable and valid inferences from data in their context ( Krippendorff, 2018 ) in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables. This study used content analysis to classify and summarize the 100 most-cited articles.

5.1 Research design

Following a comprehensive examination of the 100 most-cited articles in the field, we determined that a majority of research designs employed in these publications rely on quantitative methods, as illustrated in Figure 6 . Surveys and experiments are the most commonly used quantitative methods in proactivity research. In a few studies, researchers employed a mixed-methods approach depending on their research questions, data availability, and the nature of their study. Specifically, 61% of papers used a quantitative approach, while only 4% relied on qualitative methods. Furthermore, 12% of the papers were conceptual studies, 9% consisted of meta-analyses, 7% constituted literature review papers, 5% were methodological in nature, and 2% presented a mixed design incorporating multiple research approaches. This comprehensive analysis highlights the prevalence of quantitative research methods and provides insights into the diverse research designs employed within this domain.

5.2 Types of proactivity

Figure 7 depicts the distribution of various proactivity types in the 100 most-cited papers. This yields similar results to the findings extracted from the analysis of 1,708 studies in the field of proactivity. The majority of articles focused on the concept of Voice (30%) while Proactive Behavior accounted for 24%, Job Crafting for 22%, Proactive Personality for 4%, Feedback Seeking for 2%, Personal Initiative for 1%, and other themes.

5.3 Role of proactive behaviors: antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators

This section analyzes the role of each type of proactivity as antecedent, outcome, mediator, or moderator in the 100 most-cited publications (see Table 6 ). The analysis revealed intriguing patterns in the role of each theme within the proactivity domain. Voice, a prominent proactive behavior, was predominantly researched as an outcome. On the other hand, Job Crafting exhibited a multifaceted nature, being studied as an outcome, antecedent, and mediator. However, the absence of its use as a moderator suggests that its impact may be context-dependent, requiring exploration in future research.

Notably, the overarching finding of our analysis, which is shown in Table 6 , reveals limited investigation of proactive behaviors as antecedents, mediators, or moderators. Proactive behaviors were primarily examined as outcomes in the highly cited 100 papers, suggesting a research focus on understanding them as consequences rather than their roles as underlying mechanisms or contextual factors driving behaviors. However, out of the other themes, Personal Initiative emerged as a notable exception, with studies highlighting its direct relationship as an antecedent leading to desired outcomes.

The findings above indicate the need for more balanced investigations of proactive behaviors across these different roles, thus expanding our understanding of their dynamics and implications. By delving deeper into the antecedents, mediators, and moderators of proactive behaviors, researchers can provide valuable insights for organizations aiming to foster a proactive work environment and enhance employee well-being and performance. Future research should aim to elucidate proactivity as underlying mechanisms or contextual factors, thus enabling a deeper understanding of their impact on individuals and organizations. Additionally, our results emphasize the importance of recognizing and promoting personal initiative as a catalyst for fostering proactive behaviors and driving positive outcomes.

6. Discussion, limitations, and future research directions

In this study, we aimed to answer three research questions in connection with different types of proactivity at work. This work was motivated by the proliferation of academic work on the phenomenon of proactivity, leading to a focused approach to contrasting the different types of proactivity prevailing in organizations in order to highlight current knowledge as well as gaps in that knowledge of each type of proactivity. Given that this issue has not yet been addressed in the management literature, our study contributes to bridging this intriguing gap.

In responding to the first question, we used the SLR to identify the various structures of proactivity types of interest to this study. We adopted this objective method to offer an unbiased view of current knowledge of proactivity to interested scholars and practitioners. To address our second research question, we used content analysis of the most impactful work in the domain of proactivity to complement the results of the SLR analysis. We detailed all relevant results and highlighted the contrast between the various proactivity types. To respond to our third question, we followed the recommendations of Wickert et al . (2020) in building up this section while also following Tsang and Ellsaesser (2011) in posing questions for future research that contrast the various forms of proactive behaviors. Table 7 suggests future directions and sample questions inferred from the results of both the SLR and the content analysis in this study. To further relate these future directions to current discussions in the literature, the structure of the table was inspired by and extends that in Parker and Bindl (2016) .

Researchers interested in this domain as well as those with an interdisciplinary focus will find our study especially valuable as it updates our understanding of this important domain. Our work should also inspire future discussions of gaps in that understanding, especially as the objectivity of the methods applied in this work excludes the possibility of bias. Meanwhile, novice researchers will be able to use this work as a starting point for their understanding of the literature in this domain, especially if they are interested in one subdomain or type of proactivity relative to other types. Finally, managers who use evidence-based approaches will find the results of this work helpful, particularly to the domains mostly affected by proactivity at work. For example, managers can review the main leadership styles associated with different types of employee proactivity at work. Further, our work draws attention to organizational cultural values typically associated with specific types of proactive behaviors at work.

The primary limitation of our study lies in the number of studies and themes we reviewed. Although, as specified earlier, the large amount of literature summarized here comes with many strengths and contributions, the large number of published studies does not allow us to create a conceptual framework inclusive of antecedents, moderators, and outcomes of the entire set of papers (see, for example, Bilro et al ., 2023 ; Kim et al ., 2023 ). We therefore encourage scholars interested in proactivity research to address this limitation in their future studies and to present reviews specific to each theme within proactivity.

To conclude, our work acts as a starting point in encouraging further scholarly discussions that can enlighten academics and practitioners alike by comparing and contrasting different types of proactive behavior and personality at work.

Article selection flowchart (PRISMA)

Key themes in proactivity studies

Distribution of types of proactivity studies

Publications trends of proactivity studies

Research design of 100 most cited papers

Breakdown of types of proactivity in 100 most-cited papers

Most cited journal