Images of the auditor's job and associated emotions: a dynamic analysis

The paper investigates how emotions intersect with undergraduate perceptions of the auditing profession. Emotions shape thinking and behavior in accounting and auditing and influence audit judgment, decision-making, and educational outcomes. Prior research points to both negative (e.g., anxiety, fear) and positive (e.g., comfort, joy) emotions in audit contexts and suggests that affect plays a role in students’ learning and career intentions. Building on this, the study formulates three research questions: (RQ1) What images do undergraduates have of the auditor’s job, and do these change during the course? (RQ2) What emotions accompany these images, and how do they change after a class activity featuring a guest auditor? (RQ3) What participant characteristics (gender, age, nationality, parents’ profession, academic specialty) affect changes in emotions? Using Richardson et al. (2015) to classify images into traditional versus contemporary visions and adopting a valence-based approach to emotions, the study explores how a classroom intervention may shift both perceptions and associated affect in a Spanish undergraduate context where auditing is a regulated profession and the industry faces talent shortages.

The literature integrates psychological, educational, and auditing perspectives to explain how affective and cognitive processes influence judgments and behaviors. Emotions are categorized as basic and social, and commonly analyzed via valence (positive/negative). In accounting and auditing, relatively few emotions have been empirically examined (e.g., comfort, happiness, anxiety, fear, anger, guilt), yet they are known to affect audit judgments and ethical decision-making. Traditional stereotypes of accounting (e.g., the ‘bean counter’) are often linked to boredom, although responsibility and trustworthiness are also associated. Contemporary portrayals emphasize managerial, dynamic, and socially oriented roles, often accompanied by positive adjectives (interesting, enthusiastic), but sometimes negative connotations (immoral). Educational research shows emotions evolve over time and interventions can shift affect (e.g., increased enjoyment, decreased boredom with active learning). Prior work indicates proximity to the profession and exposure (guest speakers, job-shadowing) can improve perceptions. Demographic and contextual variables (gender, age, culture, parents’ profession, academic major) have been linked to differing emotions and career intentions. Within this framework, the study positions RQ1–RQ3 to examine the image categories (traditional vs contemporary), associated emotions, their change over time, and how participant characteristics moderate these changes.

Design: Mixed-methods two-wave study with qualitative image analysis and quantitative emotion analysis. Data were collected via a two-part questionnaire administered at two timepoints: pre-test (beginning of course) and post-test (immediately after an in-class audit activity with a guest auditor). Participants: Final-year Spanish Business Administration undergraduates enrolled in an accounting subject (second semester, 2021). Pre-test N=73; Post-test N=54. Demographics recorded: gender, age, nationality, parents’ profession (accounting/auditing vs other), and academic specialty (accounting vs non-accounting). Procedure: - Students created a drawing depicting their personal image of themselves as auditors and wrote a brief explanation of the metaphor/symbolism. - They selected emotions accompanying that image from a list: positive (enjoyment, hope-confidence, pride) and negative (anger, anxiety, shame, boredom), with the option to add others. - An in-class guest-speaker session by an experienced auditor discussed job characteristics, career paths, skills, and realities, with active student Q&A. Measures: - Image classification followed Richardson et al. (2015): traditional (routine, procedural, bookkeeping-focused) vs contemporary (managerial-oriented, dynamic, public interest, advisory). Two researchers independently categorized each drawing using the student’s explanation; consensus resolved disagreements. A dummy variable coded contemporary=1, traditional=0. - Emotions were analyzed individually and via ratios: Positive emotion ratio = number of positive emotions selected by a student / total emotions selected; Negative emotion ratio = number of negative emotions selected / total emotions selected. - Sensitivity analysis included a binary aggregate: 1 if a student selected more unpleasant than pleasant emotions; 0 otherwise. Analyses: - Descriptive statistics on images and emotions at both timepoints. - Non-parametric Mann–Whitney U tests compared emotion ratios between groups (traditional vs contemporary; pre vs post; and by demographics). - Contingency tables and Pearson’s chi-square tested differences in the aggregate negative-emotion indicator before/after and across image types. Ethical procedures: Participation was voluntary with assurances of anonymity and confidentiality; the study complied with institutional ethical guidelines.

Image categories (RQ1): - Pre-test: 71.23% traditional (52/73); 28.77% contemporary (21/73). - Post-test: 62.96% traditional (34/54); 37.04% contemporary (20/54). - Change: Traditional decreased by 8.27 percentage points; contemporary increased accordingly. Emotions overall (RQ2): Individual emotions (ratios of each emotion to total selected): - Enjoyment: 0.137 (pre) to 0.182 (post), +0.045. - Hope-confidence: 0.196 (pre) to 0.243 (post), +0.047. - Pride: 0.201 (pre) to 0.203 (post), +0.002. - Anger: 0.093 (pre) to 0.074 (post), −0.019. - Anxiety: 0.162 (pre) to 0.155 (post), −0.006. - Boredom: 0.108 (pre) to 0.074 (post), −0.034. - Other negatives: 0.029 (pre) to 0.000 (post), −0.029. - Net pattern: pleasant emotions increased; unpleasant decreased. Aggregate emotion ratios: - Positive ratio: 0.548 (pre) vs 0.661 (post), Mann–Whitney p=0.067. - Negative ratio: 0.411 (pre) vs 0.302 (post), p=0.074. By image type (Table 4 and 6): - Positive ratio higher for contemporary (mean 0.690) than traditional (0.551), p=0.054. - Negative ratio lower for contemporary (0.286) vs traditional (0.402), p=0.114. - Within traditional images: Positive ratio rose 0.517→0.603; negative fell 0.445→0.338 (ns). - Within contemporary images: Positive ratio rose 0.624→0.758; negative fell 0.328→0.242 (ns). Aggregate negative-emotion indicator (Table 12–13): - Overall “negative>positive” decreased 32.88% (pre) to 18.52% (post), χ2 p=0.0708. - Traditional images: negative decreased 36.54%→26.47% (p=0.33). - Contemporary images: negative decreased 23.81%→5.00% (χ2 p=0.0885). Demographic profiles (RQ3): - Gender (Table 7): Men positive ratio increased 0.508→0.681 (p=0.052); negative decreased 0.424→0.287 (ns). Women positive 0.608→0.634 (ns); negative 0.392→0.322 (ns). - Age (Table 8): Younger (20–22) showed higher positive (mean 0.658) and lower negative (0.314) than older (>22: positive 0.517; negative 0.429); differences by age significant (positive p<0.05; negative p<0.1). Pre/post shifts within age groups in expected direction but not significant. - Nationality (Table 9): Spanish students had higher positive ratios and improved pre→post (0.576→0.703, p=0.047). Non-Spanish showed decreases in negative (0.612→0.325, ns) but small N. - Academic specialty (Table 10): Accounting majors had lower negative emotions overall (mean 0.264) than non-accounting (0.409), p<0.05. Non-accounting students improved significantly: negative 0.471→0.324 (p=0.039) and positive 0.529→0.650 (p=0.086). - Parents’ profession (Table 11): Students without accounting/audit parents showed a significant reduction in negative ratio 0.422→0.294 (p=0.094). Those with accounting/audit parents had lower negatives at baseline and modest declines (0.389→0.320, ns). Qualitative images: - Traditional drawings focused on solitary, procedural, bookkeeping tasks (e.g., magnifying glass over accounts, calculators, paperwork). - Contemporary drawings depicted dynamic, managerial, and public-interest roles (e.g., superhero guardian of true and fair view, lighthouse guiding compliance, teamwork, global travel, growth metaphors).

The study shows that undergraduates predominantly envision the auditor through traditional, bookkeeping-oriented images; however, exposure to a professional guest session reduced the prevalence of these traditional images and increased contemporary ones. This aligns with the notion that proximity to professional realities can reshape perceptions. Emotions accompanying these images were generally positive across the board, with contemporary images linked to more pleasant and fewer unpleasant emotions than traditional images. After the intervention, pleasant emotions (notably enjoyment and hope-confidence) rose and unpleasant ones (notably boredom) fell, indicating that realistic professional exposure can enhance the affective appraisal of auditing. These shifts matter because emotions influence learning, motivation, and career intentions. Demographic analyses highlight heterogeneity: men exhibited notable gains in positive affect post-activity; younger students reported more favorable affect generally; Spanish students and non-accounting majors particularly benefited from the intervention; and students without accounting/auditing parents showed significant reductions in negative emotions. Together, the findings support integrating professional engagement activities in curricula to improve both cognitive images and affective responses toward auditing, potentially aiding recruitment into a talent-constrained profession.

The study contributes a dynamic, emotion-aware analysis of undergraduates’ images of the auditing profession using personal drawings and valence-based emotion measures at two timepoints. Most students initially held traditional images; after a guest-auditor session, contemporary images increased. Emotions associated with the auditor’s job were predominantly positive, with pleasant emotions increasing and unpleasant emotions decreasing post-activity. Contemporary images carried fewer unpleasant emotions than traditional ones. Demographic profiles revealed meaningful differences in affect and responsiveness to the intervention. Practically, universities and the profession should collaborate to present accurate, contemporary depictions of auditing and design learning activities (e.g., guest speakers, reflective and active learning, internships) that foster positive emotional engagement. Such efforts may improve perceptions and support informed career choices at a time of global talent shortages in auditing. Future research should extend longitudinally across larger and more international samples and explore a wider range of emotions and mechanisms linking affect, cognition, and professional decision-making.

• Sample size and single-institution, country-specific context (Spanish final-year business undergraduates) limit generalizability. - Short-term, two-wave design with immediate post-activity measurement; longer-term durability of emotional changes is unknown. - Limited set of emotions analyzed; many relevant emotions in auditing remain underexplored. - Non-random participation in post-test may introduce selection effects despite sensitivity analyses. - Qualitative categorization of images, though conducted by experienced coders, may retain subjectivity.