The Intellectual Landscape of Servant Leadership: A Bibliometric Study on Its Relationship with Job Satisfaction
Keywords:
Servant Leadership, Job Satisfaction, Bibliometric Analysis, Organizational Behavior, Leadership Trends
Abstract
This study provides a bibliometric analysis of the evolution of servant leadership and its relationship with job satisfaction, focusing on global publication trends, influential contributors, and thematic clusters from 1990 to 2025. Using the Scopus database, 29 relevant studies were analysed to map the field's intellectual structure.
The findings revealed significant growth in publications over the past five years, with notable contributions from the United States, Indonesia, and China. Key journals, including Frontiers in Psychology and Cogent Business and Management, have been pivotal in disseminating research on servant leadership.
The analysis highlights themes like the mediating role of trust in the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction, the influence of ethical leadership on employee performance, and broader organizational outcomes linked to these styles. Emerging topics include servant leadership in hybrid work environments and cross-cultural contexts, highlighting the field's dynamic evolution. Despite the growing literature, limitations like the dominance of cross-sectional studies and underrepresentation of non-Western perspectives signal areas for future research.
This study offers insights into the intellectual landscape of servant leadership research and its potential to address evolving workplace dynamics, with implications for academic inquiry and organizational practice.
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References
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Canavesi, A., & Minelli, E. (2022). Servant Leadership: a Systematic Literature Review and Network Analysis. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34(3), 267–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09381-3
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Jeong, M. (2024). The Relationship between Leadership and Performance in Enhancing the Sustainability of Social Enterprises. Sustainability (Switzerland) , 16(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083218
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Kauppila, O. P., Ehrnrooth, M., Mäkelä, K., Smale, A., Sumelius, J., & Vuorenmaa, H. (2022). Serving to Help and Helping to Serve: Using Servant Leadership to Influence Beyond Supervisory Relationships. Journal of Management, 48(3), 764–790. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206321994173
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Lee, K., Kim, Y., & Cho, W. (2018). A study on the relationship between servant leadership, organizational culture, and job satisfaction in fitness clubs. Sport Mont, 16(3), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.26773/smj.181008
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Nazarian, A., Rodríguez Molina, M. A., Velayati, R., Ruiz-Alba, J. L., & Atkinson, P. (2024). Trust in leader and positive employee outcomes: To transform or to serve in cross-cultural leadership. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705958241296322
Nurjanah, S., Pebianti, V., & Handaru, A. W. (2020). The influence of transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and organizational commitments on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in the inspectorate general of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Cogent Business and Management, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1793521
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. In The BMJ (Vol. 372). BMJ Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Pino, R. M., Arévalo-Avecillas, D., & Padilla-Lozano, C. (2020). Servant leadership and job satisfaction in master of business administration students. Formacion Universitaria, 13(6), 205–216. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-50062020000600205
Rashid, A. M. M., & Ilkhanizadeh, S. (2022). The Effect of Servant Leadership on Job Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Trust in Coworkers. Frontiers in Communication, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.928066
Saluy, A. B., Syawal, M., Sudjono, Pramudena, S. M., Kemalasari, N., & Gustiah, I. P. (2024). Organizational Commitment, Transformational Leadership and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior Among Civil Servants in Indonesia. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 14(1), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.33168/JSMS.2024.0116
Sasmita, E. E., Utami, H. N., & Ruhana, I. (2023). SA Journal of Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm
Setyaningsih, S., & Sunaryo, W. (2021). Optimizing transformational leadership strengthening, self efficacy, and job satisfaction to increase teacher commitment. International Journal of Instruction, 14(4), 427–438. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.14425a
Udin, U. (2024). Servant Leadership in Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences (PJLSS), 22(1). https://doi.org/10.57239/pjlss-2024-22.1.00322
Uman, T., Argento, D., Grossi, G., & Mattei, G. (2024). Supportive leadership and job satisfaction at the European Court of Auditors. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 90(2), 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208523231187275
Zargar, P., Sousan, A., & Farmanesh, P. (2019). Does trust in leader mediate the servant leadership style – Job satisfaction relationship? Management Science Letters, 9(Special Issue 13), 2253–2268. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.7.028
Alahbabi, A. M. F., Binti Robani, A., & Bin Zainudin, M. Z. (2023). A Framework of Servant Leadership Impact on Job Performance: The Mediation Role of Employee Happiness in UAE Healthcare Sector. Quality - Access to Success, 24(194), 69–79. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/24.194.08
Anshori, L. I., Titisari, P., Setyanti, S. W. L. H., Handriyono, Sularso, R. A., & Susanto, A. B. (2023). The Influence of Servant Leadership on Motivation, Work Engagement, Job Satisfaction and Teacher Performance of Vocational Hight School Teachers in Jember City. Quality - Access to Success, 24(194), 261–273. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/24.194.30
Bilge, H., Oana Virlanuta, F., Zungun, D., Barbuta-Misu, N., Comuk, P., Turkan, E., Guven, A., Virlanuta, O., & Panasiuk, A. (2021). Generation Y’s Perception of Servant Leadership and Job Satisfaction. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies
Blais, A. R., Michaud, I., Simard, J. F., Mach, L., & Houle, S. (2021). Measuring workplace psychosocial factors in the federal government. Health Reports, 32(12). https://doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202101200001-eng
Canavesi, A., & Minelli, E. (2022). Servant Leadership: a Systematic Literature Review and Network Analysis. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34(3), 267–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09381-3
Dami, Z. A., Imron, A., Burhanuddin, B., & Supriyanto, A. (2022). Servant leadership and job satisfaction: The mediating role of trust and leader-member exchange. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1036668
Fakhri, M., Raharja, S. J., Purnomo, M., & Rivani, R. (2024). The development of servant leadership research: A brief bibliometric review. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(7). https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i7.3730
Ghasemy, M., Mohajer, L., Frömbling, L., & Karimi, M. (2021). Faculty Members in Polytechnics to Serve the Community and Industry: Conceptual Skills and Creating Value for the Community—The Two Main Drivers. SAGE Open, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211047568
Haji, W. H., Widayati, C. C., Madiistriyatno, H., & Febrianto, M. R. (2021). The effect of servant leadership, job satisfaction and quality of work life on organizational citizenship behavior. Quality - Access to Success, 22(184), 203–210. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/22.184.26
Irving, J. A., & Berndt, J. (2017). Leader purposefulness within servant leadership: Examining the effect of servant leadership, leader follower-focus, leader goal-orientation, and leader purposefulness in a large u.s. healthcare organization. Administrative Sciences, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci7020010
Jamal, A., Budiyanto, & Agustedi. (2021). The role of religiosity in moderating the influence of servant leadership on job satisfaction. Accounting, 7(4), 965–976. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ac.2021.1.011
Jeong, M. (2024). The Relationship between Leadership and Performance in Enhancing the Sustainability of Social Enterprises. Sustainability (Switzerland) , 16(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083218
Jing, T., Bai, M., Yu, C., Xian, Y., Zhang, Z., & Li, S. (2024). Promotion or prevention: regulatory foci as moderators in the job demands-resources model. Human Resources for Health, 22(1), 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-024-00950-9
Kauppila, O. P., Ehrnrooth, M., Mäkelä, K., Smale, A., Sumelius, J., & Vuorenmaa, H. (2022). Serving to Help and Helping to Serve: Using Servant Leadership to Influence Beyond Supervisory Relationships. Journal of Management, 48(3), 764–790. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206321994173
Khuwaja, U., Ahmed, K., Abid, G., & Adeel, A. (2020). Leadership and employee attitudes: The mediating role of perception of organizational politics. Cogent Business and Management, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1720066
Lee, K., Kim, Y., & Cho, W. (2018). A study on the relationship between servant leadership, organizational culture, and job satisfaction in fitness clubs. Sport Mont, 16(3), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.26773/smj.181008
Mccallaghan, S., Jackson, L., & Heyns, M. (2020). SA Journal of Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm
Nazarian, A., Rodríguez Molina, M. A., Velayati, R., Ruiz-Alba, J. L., & Atkinson, P. (2024). Trust in leader and positive employee outcomes: To transform or to serve in cross-cultural leadership. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705958241296322
Nurjanah, S., Pebianti, V., & Handaru, A. W. (2020). The influence of transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and organizational commitments on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in the inspectorate general of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Cogent Business and Management, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1793521
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. In The BMJ (Vol. 372). BMJ Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Pino, R. M., Arévalo-Avecillas, D., & Padilla-Lozano, C. (2020). Servant leadership and job satisfaction in master of business administration students. Formacion Universitaria, 13(6), 205–216. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-50062020000600205
Rashid, A. M. M., & Ilkhanizadeh, S. (2022). The Effect of Servant Leadership on Job Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Trust in Coworkers. Frontiers in Communication, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.928066
Saluy, A. B., Syawal, M., Sudjono, Pramudena, S. M., Kemalasari, N., & Gustiah, I. P. (2024). Organizational Commitment, Transformational Leadership and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior Among Civil Servants in Indonesia. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 14(1), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.33168/JSMS.2024.0116
Sasmita, E. E., Utami, H. N., & Ruhana, I. (2023). SA Journal of Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm
Setyaningsih, S., & Sunaryo, W. (2021). Optimizing transformational leadership strengthening, self efficacy, and job satisfaction to increase teacher commitment. International Journal of Instruction, 14(4), 427–438. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.14425a
Udin, U. (2024). Servant Leadership in Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences (PJLSS), 22(1). https://doi.org/10.57239/pjlss-2024-22.1.00322
Uman, T., Argento, D., Grossi, G., & Mattei, G. (2024). Supportive leadership and job satisfaction at the European Court of Auditors. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 90(2), 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208523231187275
Zargar, P., Sousan, A., & Farmanesh, P. (2019). Does trust in leader mediate the servant leadership style – Job satisfaction relationship? Management Science Letters, 9(Special Issue 13), 2253–2268. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.7.028
Published
2025-06-30
How to Cite
Shibani , A., Djoubar , M., & Mahmud , A. (2025). The Intellectual Landscape of Servant Leadership: A Bibliometric Study on Its Relationship with Job Satisfaction. Journal of Science and Knowledge Horizons, 5(01), 207-232. https://doi.org/10.34118/jskp.v5i01.4250
Section
Articles
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