The social perception of accountants: insights from Portuguese past and present

This thesis examines the social perception of accountants by using the Portuguese case, before and after accounting being socially recognized as a profession. To identify the perceptual dimensions of the social image of accountants, the factors contributing to the construction of this image, and the implications for accountants and accounting that follow from the content and structure of such an image are the general goals of this investigation. Two different sources of data provide empirical support for this research: two literary works belonging to the stream of the Realism, set and first published in the second half of the 19th century; and a questionnaire administered to a community sample and designed essentially through the developments of psychology – the Big Five model of personality and the Stereotype Content Model. The perceptual dimensions of the social image of early accountants are analysed through a qualitative content analysis and those of modern accountants are examined through descriptive statistics of the latent variables of the Big Five model of personality and also of those of the Stereotype Content Model, both subject to confirmatory factor analysis. The factors contributing to the construction of the social image of accountants are investigated through a literature review and a causal model, which tests the influence of some factors identified in literature on the stereotype of accountants. The discussion and the interpretation of the results are supported by contextual aspects and literature from the field of accounting, psychology and sociology. The study identifies dimensions in the social image of early and modern accountants and highlights the closeness of their stereotypes. The overall characterization of this social image seems to match with the image of ‘a committed servant’. Its portrayal might be seen as highlighting an engagement in serving others, neglecting their own interests in favour of others’ objectives, but also without power to open the doors to high social positions. The findings emphasize a perceived subordinate role of modern accountants in society, which this study suggests to be a historical legacy of the accounting profession. Perceived warmth is revealed as the most influential variable on the stereotype of accountants, followed by competence, a fact that underlines the power of these variables on the impression formation about accountants, with the social activities being highlighted in this regard.

Name thesis:degree_name

Tese de Doutoramento em Contabilidade

Grantor

Universidade do Minho

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Leão, Fernanda Maria Monteiro

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gomes, Delfina

Statement dc:rights

• openAccess

Language dc:language.iso

por

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1822/43453

OAI record oai:identifier

http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Arepositorium.uminho.pt%3A1822%2F43453