Psychological Contract Structure of Certified Public Accountants: Its Impacts on Practitioners’ Mental Health and Emotional Distress
Jinglei Wu, Zixin Li, Jieke Xiang, Siying Qiu, Qiyuan Xu, Chenghuan XiaAbstract
Objective
Certified public accountants endure heavy audit workload and long-term occupational psychological pressure, which easily trigger emotional distress and damage their mental health. The psychological contract represents implicit mutual expectations between CPAs and accounting firms; its imbalance worsens negative mental states, reduces work engagement and hinders sustainable career growth. This study dissects multi-dimensional structures of CPAs’ psychological contract to clarify its internal linkage with occupational psychological pressure and practitioners’ mental health.
Subjects and Methods
Drawing on existing domestic and overseas literature, this research develops a revised questionnaire covering full psychological contract dimensions, simultaneously measuring respondents’ perceived work stress, emotional fluctuations and overall mental health status. Statistical software is adopted to conduct quantitative analysis on valid sample data, exploring how mismatched psychological expectations disturb CPAs’ inner mental state and trigger psychological discomfort.
Results
CPAs’ psychological contract consists of two major components: firm obligations and individual obligations, with three sub-dimensions for each. Firms deliver welfare, career training and workplace support, while CPAs undertake transactional, developmental and relational duties. Mismatch between the two sides significantly elevates chronic psychological pressure, aggravates emotional distress and creates persistent threats to practitioners’ long-term mental health.
Conclusion
Clear structural classification of CPAs’ psychological contract exposes their unmet work expectations and psychological dilemmas triggered by role imbalance. Aligning organizational and individual contractual obligations can effectively ease accumulated occupational stress, relieve emotional distress and stabilize employees’ mental health. The conclusions support accounting firms to implement humanized HR management and build targeted mental health protection mechanisms for CPA practitioners.
Corresponding Author
Jinglei Wu, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo 315211, China.