Commitment Profiles of Accountants: A Person-Centered Study of the Commitment towards Profession and Organization

The purpose of this study is to investigate the commitment of public accountants toward their profession and organization, and to provide evidence for various commitment profiles. Specifically, we analyze the relationships between commitment profiles and differences seen in the work context, professional and commercial values, role conflict and ambiguity, and client commitment. The study is based on a survey of 435 German public accountants. It employs a person-centered approach to identify commitment profiles based on latent profile analysis. Using multidimensional scales of professional and organizational commitment, we identify differences in the manifestation of affective, normative, and continuance commitment. By introducing a person-centered approach in the study of accounting professionals, we found six latent profiles, including a fully committed profile that almost exclusively relates to partners in small- and medium-sized accounting firms. Our results show that studies of accountants' commitment benefit from using a person-centered, multidimensional approach. JEL Classifications: M100; M420.