Psychological Profiles Of Accountants And Accounting Majors: An Asian Study

Abstract

Globalisation makes it inevitable for accounting professionals with diverse personalities to work under one roof. Such differences in behavioral patterns (Type A or Type B) impact performance in good and bad ways. This paper examines the psychological profile of Asian accounting professionals and accounting students using Type A or Type B behavior classifications.  Examination of accounting professionals shows that Type B is the most common behavior among all professionals sampled and contrary to previous research, Type B also tended to be common even in higher management levels of the accounting firms.  Accounting students also showed similar patterns.  Type B behavior tended to be the most common psychological profile among both male and female accounting students while there is some evidence that Type A students do perform better as evidenced by self-reported grades. From the results, it is expected that future Asian accounting professionals to be dominated by Type B’s. This behavior pattern may cause problems unless dealt with properly as Asian professionals interact with non-Asian business partners and clients who may tend more towards Type A behavior.  While recognition of this won’t remedy the problem, understanding the cause of this potential conflict is a first step in identifying a solution to this future dilemma.