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The Mediating Effects of Time Management on Accounting Students' Perception of Time Pressure, Satisfaction with the Major, and Academic Performance.
Abstract
This paper models a relationship between accounting students' individual characteristics (locus of control and personal need for structure) and two identified outcome measures (satisfaction with the accounting major and academic performance). Two sets of mediating variables (1) perception of time pressure on exams and (2) time management behaviors and related perceived control of time are hypothesized to be important to this relationship. Results support a strong influence of locus of control and a significant, but weaker, influence of desire for structure on time management behavior. These behaviors, in turn, influence perceived control of time and satisfaction, but not performance. Locus of control also has a weak relationship with performance via its influence on time pressure on exams. These results suggest potential benefit of counseling accounting students on time management behaviors, especially for those students with high need for structure or internal locus of control. Additionally, they suggest perceived control of time as an important determinant of fit with an accounting career path.
... Von den untersuchten spezifischen Ressourcen hängt soziale Unterstützung durch Mitstudierende und Zeitspielraum besonders deutlich mit dem Wohlbefinden zusammen. Dieses Ergebnis steht im Einklang mit weiteren Studien zu studienbezogenen Ressourcen [4,24]. Ebenfalls finden sich für die Zusammenhänge von Handlungsspielraum und sozialer Unterstützung durch Lehrende mit dem Wohlbefinden von Studierenden ähnliche Studienergebnisse [21,25]. ...
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund Studien weisen auf einen Zusammenhang zwischen Studienbedingungen und gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen von Studierenden hin. Ziel war die Untersuchung des Einflusses spezifischer studienbezogener Anforderungen und Ressourcen auf die selbsteingeschätzte Gesundheit.
Methode Studierende der Technischen Universität Dresden wurden online zu ihrer Gesundheit und ihrem Studium befragt. Bezugnehmend auf das Study Demands-Resources Modell wurden deskriptive und Zusammenhangsanalysen durchgeführt.
Ergebnisse 1.312 Studierende wurden in die Untersuchungen einbezogen. Ca. ein Fünftel der Teilnehmenden gab eine geringe Lebenszufriedenheit und hohe Erschöpfung an. Zeitliche und geistige Anforderungen sind mit einer schlechteren Gesundheit, soziale Unterstützung und Zeitspielraum im Studium mit einer besseren Gesundheit verbunden. Dies wurde besonders bei einer Kombination von hohen Anforderungen und geringen Ressourcen deutlich.
Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse liefern Ansatzpunkte für präventive Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der studentischen Gesundheit.
... Universities are self-regulating environments in which planning and managing time is critically important to achieving academic performance goals. Effective time management skills have been associated with self-regulating learning, academic achievement, lower student anxiety and stress, increased creativity, self-efficacy, and student satisfaction (Ghiasvand et al. 2017;Rathnayake 2021;Donnelly et al. 2019;Wolters and Brady 2021). The significant difference in 'mean' scores is probably between 'management and marketing' versus 'Computer information systems' students. ...
The objective of the study was to examine the perceptions of business students on their employability skills at the point of graduation. The study was partially driven by past research which identified lack of soft skills as one of the main contributing factors in younger workers’ dismissal from work, and the need to understand the level of employability skills younger graduates have at graduation. An exploratory descriptive research methodology was used for the study. A survey was administered to 189 fourth-year business students. In total, 90 students filled-in the questionnaire, representing a 47.6% response rate. Based on a structured survey questionnaire administered to final-year undergraduate business students, the four most important employability skills for recruitment to entry-level positions are communication skills, learning skills, positive attitudes and behaviours, and problem-solving skills. The main prominent result was that ‘learning skills’ were ranked the second most important employability skills. In today’s fast-paced, rapidly changing work environments that are characterised by rapid knowledge obsolescence and an unknown future, willingness to learn and proactive lifelong learning are key to sustaining long-term graduate employability. Students seem to be satisfied with their perceived level of academic, personal management, and teamwork skills they possessed at the point of graduation. However, there are possible areas for further improvement regarding creativity and innovative skills, and ability to ‘resolve and management conflicts’ in teamwork. The study found that students used a combination of traditional and student-centred learning methods and pedagogies to acquire employability skills. As business students approach graduation, it is important to focus on areas they can improve and emphasise self-directed lifelong learning throughout their careers. The study confirms the role of external factors—labour market demand—in influencing perceived employability. The perceptions of students need to be systematically included in HEIs’ employability policy and discourse.
... As the quotation above laments, tertiary students are confronted with financial challenges, resulting in competing time-consuming activities which include work, study, family, sport, volunteering and socialising, to name a few (Curtis, 2007;Donnelly et al., 2019;Manthei and Gilmore, 2005;Seow and Pan, 2014;Salamonson et al., 2020). Time spent on paid employment and extramural [1] activities detracts from time needed to learn (Ball and Brewis, 2008;Carroll, 1963). ...
Purpose
Students have a finite amount of time that they can allocate between commitments of study–work–life. Striking a balance between these competing activities is an individual conundrum and this study aims to explore the impact of extramural activities and paid employment on the academic performance of accounting students.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by Carroll’s model of school learning, the authors adopt a quantitative approach where they survey ( N = 264) and gather responses ( n = 195) from students with respect to their choices regarding spare time outside study. These perceptions are then compared to their academic performance. Quantitative responses were subsequently triangulated with interview findings to provide in-depth analysis.
Findings
Findings provide greater understanding for educators of the student lived experience, which reveals that the work, study and life balance is individually nuanced and is largely driven by the individual’s perceived level of interference from work, which is a significant predictor of academic performance.
Originality/value
Analysis of the determinants of student learning includes prior academic achievement, confidence with numbers, critical thinking, gender and prior accounting knowledge. Yet, little is known about the implication of activities outside the formal curriculum. This study addresses this void in the literature and provides a much-needed link back to accounting faculty’s pedagogical approaches as they adapt to a cohort’s learning behaviour. This study also adds to the debate on the need for more discussion with faculty to allow alternate arrangements based on extramural activities and employment commitments. Greater understanding of study–work–life balance for students provides an opportunity for new dialog between faculty and students.
This exploratory study examines the effects of perceived free time availability on perceptions of time pressure and time deprivation, on student performance, and on perceptions of university work. The effects of perceived time pressure, perceived time deprivation, and perceptions of university work on student emotions are also examined. The results suggest that students who report less free time perform better academically in terms of grade point average than do those with more reported free time. Further, those with less reported free time indicated more expectations for success in their future careers. Scarce free time had no negative effect on student enjoyment of courses or on liking of professors. However, perceived time pressure and time deprivation were associated with negative emotions.
Hypothesized that hardiness—commitment, control, and challenge—functions to decrease the effect of stressful life events to producing illness symptoms. 259 upper- and middle-level male managers (mean age 48 yrs) were administered a battery of tests (including Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Schedule of Life Events, and the Seriousness of Illness Survey) covering a 5-yr period. Results support the hypothesis by showing main effects on illness for both stressful life events and hardiness and an interaction effect for these independent variables. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the effects of time limits and task types on the quality and quantity of group performance and patterns of group interaction. 344 undergraduates participated in 4-S group sessions in which they were required to generate a written story, a plan of action, or a summary of a discussion. Results were interpreted in terms of social entrainment, a concept that refers to the altering of social rhythms or patterns by external conditions (such as time limits) and to the persistence of new rhythms over time. Groups performed 2 tasks of a single-task type for 2 trials of different durations (10 min followed by 20 min or 20 min followed by 10 min). Tasks of 3 types (production, discussion, planning) were used, each requiring an essay-type solution. Task products were assessed for both quantity and quality. Measures of group interaction patterns were taken by categorizing a systematic time sample of the comments of group members. Results indicate that groups with a 20-min 1st trial produced products that were higher in both quality and quantity (but not rate) and engaged in proportionally more interpersonal activity during interaction than did groups that had a 10-min 1st trial. Further, those same groups persisted in the same patterns of interaction (and, to a much lesser extent, patterns of task performance) on the 2nd trial, despite changes in the time limit on that latter trial. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Individual differences in the desire for simple structure may influence how people understand, experience, and interact with their worlds. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale (M. Thompson, M. Naccarato, and K. Parker, 1989) possesses sufficient reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. In Studies 3–5, Ss high in PNS were especially likely to organize social and nonsocial information in less complex ways, stereotype others, and complete their research requirements on time. These data suggest that people differ in their chronic desire for simple structure and that this difference can have important social–cognitive and behavioral implications. A consideration of chronic information-processing motives may facilitate the theoretical integration of social cognition, affect, motivation, and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Locus of control is an important variable for the explanation of human behavior in organizations. The nature of the concept, its measurement (e.g., Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale), and general evidence for its validity are discussed. Several hypotheses are presented involving the locus of control in an organizational context, and supporting evidence from applied studies is reviewed. Specifically, it is suggested that locus of control is related to motivation, effort, performance, satisfaction, perception of the job, compliance with authority, and supervisory style. Furthermore, locus of control may moderate the relation between incentives and motivation and between satisfaction and turnover. (78 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper examines how a red-flag item (RFI), an unfavorable projection error (UPE) and time pressure affect the aggressiveness of tax preparers' recommendations. We hypothesize that a RFI causes preparers to make more conservative recommendations, and UPE and time pressure lead to more aggressive recommendations. The hypotheses were tested on 153 tax practitioners using a hypothetical tax scenario. There was a strong indication that practitioners made more conservative recommendations when a RFI was present. Additionally, the results indicated that the effect of time pressure on tax preparers' recommendations was dependent upon other variables in their decision-making environment.
This article examines the influence of nondiagnostic information on auditor judgment. The article is based on Karl Hackenbrack's 1992 study which showed that auditors, given a mix of diagnostic and nondiagnostic evidence, made fraud-risk assessments that were less extreme than those based on diagnostic evidence only. The author investigates in a laboratory setting whether auditors exhibit the dilution effect when faced with time pressure and accountability. He discovered that time pressure reduced but did not eliminate the dilution effect. He therefore concludes that accountability had no significant influence on the dilution exhibited by auditors.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the escalated workload of the public accounting “busy season” is a major contributor to employee “burnout.” Academic research on the psychological impact of the busy season workload, however, is virtually absent from the accounting literature. We partially address this void by employing a longitudinal design and structural equation modeling to examine the causal impact of the busy season workload on public accountants' job burnout—a dysfunctional stress syndrome. Prior to the start of the busy season and again at its end, we measured hours worked, role stressors, and job burnout for a sample of public accountants from a national firm. The results of our analyses indicate that public accountants' pre‐busy season burnout was not directly affected by hours worked, even though subjects reported an average workload of 49 hours per week. This result implies that public accountants may develop a relatively high workload threshold before it directly impacts their job burnout. Duri...
Groups of police officers from two Australian police forces completed a number of psychological tests to determine the stressors of police life and to assess the impact of a number of personality variables on stress appraisals. Work stresses were found to fall into two discernible categories: job content stressors — those which arise from the duties police officers carry out — and job context stressors — those which derive from the nature of the police organizations in which officers perform their duties. All personality measures correlated more highly with job context stressors than with job content stressors, suggesting that the major source of stress for police officers come from the organization in which they work.
Research suggests that dysfunctional behaviour by auditors may be related to the perceived tightness of time budgets. Using data collected from practising auditors, examines the nature of such a relationship. Found that the frequency of dysfunctional behaviour increased sharply as budgets were seen to approach unattainable levels of performance. Recognizing the importance of auditors’ perceptions regarding the attainability of budgets, examines antecedent variables affecting budget attainability. Found that the influence of client fee expectations, the level of audit senior participation and the influence of the audit programme were significant influences. Discusses implications for practice and possibilities for future research.
This paper introduces the theory of moral reasoning as a valid determinant of the underreporting of audit time. In an experimental lab design for a sample of 88 auditors from a national public accounting firm, actual underreporting on an audit task was observed. Findings show that underreporting is systematically related to the auditor's level of moral reasoning as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Here those with relatively low DIT scores were shown to underreport most severely. Results also show that although an unattainable time budget affects behavior, peer pressure has the most significant impact on underreporting. The present study makes three important contributions to the auditing and psychology literature. First, it establishes the significance of peer pressure as an antecedent to underreporting. Second, it shows that an auditor's moral reasoning explains actual underreporting behavior under conditions of work-related pressure. Third, it reveals marked underreporting under simulated audit conditions.
Although the cross-sectional methodology of the present study limits causal inference, the results concerning the buffering effects of received social support for those who have perceptions of internal locus of control corroborates previous research and thus suggests that causal interpretations offered may have some validity.
Several general conclusions appear justified from the present study. First, it appears a measure of social support that asks respondents to report on the receipt of particular supportive actions yields different information than a measure that asks respondents to rate the amount of support available to them. Second, perceptions of internal locus of control in combination with receipt of supportive behaviors has a stress-buffering effect. Third, perceptions concerning locus of control appear important in determining the direct and moderating effects of perceived social support on psychological distress. Finally, the interpretation of social support by stress interactions in which support acts as a “negative buffer,” i.e., increases the stress-symptom relation, may increase our understanding of the role of social support in coping with stress.
Extent of worker choice of task goal level and work schedule, which together determine work pace, was manipulated on a scale of free choice, assignment to a preferred work pace, and assignment to a nonpreferred work pace in a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design to determine their effect on work performance. Free choice, high task goal, and compressed work schedule were expected to result in higher performance as measured by rate of output and error rate on a standard clerical task performed by Temporary Employees engaged for this task. Results on the rate of work output measure were as hypothesized for task goal and work schedule variations, and significant but exactly reversed for the choice manipulation. The error rate measure was found to be unrelated to experimental manipulations. Implications of the findings for worker participation, work goal setting, feedback of performance results, and employee selection for positions involving responsibility are discussed.
Stress in organizations is an extremely important phenomenon. It is generally associated with several vital individual physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms. Yet not a great deal is known about stress, either academically or organizationally. There exists no common definition or conceptualization of stress; therefore, an integrative research effort and a cumulative body of stress knowledge do not exist. The purpose of this paper is to offer such a definition and conceptualization of stress in organizations in order to facilitate a greater understanding of this important phenomenon. Several propositions and methodological considerations are suggested after the definition and conceptualization are presented. The perspective of this paper is of an understanding an individual's stress in an organization.
Time pressure experienced by scientists and engineers predicted positively to several aspects of performance including usefulness, innovation, and productivity. Higher time pressure was associated with above average performance during the following five years, even when supervisory status, education, and seniority were controlled. Performance, however, did not predict well to subsequent reports of time pressure, suggesting a possible causal relationship from pressure to performance. High performing scientists also desired more pressure. Innovation and productivity (but not usefulness) were low if the pressure experienced was markedly above that desired. The five-year panel data derived from approximately. 100 scientists in a NASA laboratory. Some theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1993. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-142).
This study was conducted to evaluate the relationships among work stress, nonwork stress, locus of control, social support, and head nurses' psychological symptoms. Data were collected from head nurses (N = 300) representing all Army hospitals in the United States; 21% of the volunteer sample were men. The results supported the hypotheses that perceived stress from both work and nonwork sources was positively related to psychological symptoms. Direct effects for both internal locus of control and social support, while weak, were manifest as expected; these variables demonstrated a negative relationship with psychological symptoms. None of the hypothesized buffering effects were detected. The stress model derived from this study accounted for 35.9% of the variance in psychological symptoms. Regardless of gender, the head nurses' psychological symptoms were one standard deviation higher than nonpatient norms.
The main effects of (a) job stress on psychiatric symptoms and propensity to leave a job and of (b) psychiatric symptoms on propensity to leave a job and the (c) moderating effects of locus of control and social support on the relationships of job stress to psychiatric symptoms and propensity to leave a job were examined. Data collected with questionnaires completed by 526 members of the Chamber of Commerce in a southern state were analyzed using LISREL 7 (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1988). The results indicate that role overload and role insufficiency positively influenced psychiatric symptoms and that role insufficiency, role ambiguity, and role conflict positively influenced propensity to leave a job. Overall, the moderating effects of locus of control on the relationships of stress variables to psychiatric symptoms and propensity to leave a job were significant, but similar moderating effects for social support were not.
There has been remarkably little study of the recruitment, training and socialization of accountants in general, much less the specific case of trainee auditors, despite many calls to do so. In this paper, we seek to explore one key aspect of professional socialization in accounting firms: the discourses and practices of time-reckoning and time-management. By exploring time practices in accounting firms we argue that the organizational socialization of trainees into particular forms of time-consciousness and temporal visioning is a fundamental aspect of securing and developing professional identity. We pay particular attention to how actors consciousness of time is understood to develop, and how it reflects their organizational and professional environment, including how they envision the future and structure their strategic life-plan accordingly. Also of particular importance to the advancement of career in accounting firms is an active engagement with the politics of time: the capacity to manipulate and resist following the overt time-management routines of the firms. Rather than simply see trainees as passive subjects of organizational time-management devices, we noted how they are actively involved in ‘managing’ the organizational recording of time to further their career progression.
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