Conceptualization social influence from the need to belong perspective on psychological needs' satisfaction to share knowledge.

Purpose: Aiming to comprehend the function of social influence as an extrinsic motive influencing individuals' psychological needs satisfaction to share knowledge in higher educational institutions, the study will profile prior literature on how social influence affects knowledge sharing and conceptualize a suggested framework. Design/methodology/approach: The research thoroughly examined the literature for the previous ten years using a comprehensive evaluation, mapping and analyzes research networks of the literature on relational social influence factors through bibliometric analysis. It offers a conceptual framework that explains extrinsic social factors and their effects on the psychological needs satisfaction to share knowledge among people from the viewpoint of a need to belong. Findings: The study concluded a unique a conceptual framework that provides a solid understanding for the relational social influence phenomenon in the perspective of the need to belong, which satisfy the psychological needs to share knowledge. This will contribute to further investigations in the research area. Research limitations: The study is a qualitative study and is limited in its generalizability as it needs further investigations to overcome the bias on the part of the researcher. Practical implications: Adopting the proposed conceptual framework serves as a diagnostic tool for researchers to address the social influence that is likely to boost individuals' satisfaction to share knowledge. Originality/value: This research presents a novel understanding of social influence as an extrinsic motivator arising from a sense of belonging that affects individuals' needs satisfaction to share knowledge. Social implications: Increasing the awareness of how social influence is likely to motivate individuals to connect with one another, interact socially, and work together collaboratively to fulfil their satisfaction of psychological needs to share knowledge.