Thematic insights into the relationship between religiosity and sustainability

Abstract This study examines the sprouting scholarly discourse on the association between religiosity and sustainability/sustainable development via thematic analysis of the literature from the Scopus database. Recognising religion’s ability to impact values, social norms and ecological behaviour, the study recognises how religiosity augments and sometimes hinders sustainability objectives. A corpus of 95 articles was assessed using a framework of Tranfield et al. (Br J Manag, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375 ) using a thematic approach. The outcome highlights central themes like sustainability, sustainable development and religiosity. It also reveals evolving and underexplored dimensions comprising culture, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), quality of life and food waste. Motor themes such as “sustainable development and pilgrimage” and “attitude and leadership” reveal areas for mature inquiry, whereas niche themes like happiness and Islamic charity expose unnoticed ethical facets. The study underlines critical research voids and offers future routes, including studies across cultures, interdisciplinary theoretical advancement and unification of neglected clusters.