The impact of hardiness on accounting task performance

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to expand upon accounting literature that highlights the benefits of hardiness in the accounting environment. Accordingly, the relationship between hardiness and accounting task performance is investigated across two scenarios in the presence of conscientiousness, a well-documented predictor of performance (Barrick and Mount). Design/methodology/approach – Subjects completed a bank reconciliation task with either an immediate deadline or a non-immediate deadline. The personality traits were measured with scales from prior literature. Findings – The relationship between the commitment dimension of hardiness and task performance was positive and significant in the presence of the immediate deadline, but not the non-immediate deadline. Conversely, the conscientiousness-task performance relationship was positive and significant under the non-immediate deadline, but not the immediate deadline. Additional analysis revealed a significant association between commitment and detection of errors. Research limitations/implications – Since task performance was measured in relation to one task, the generalizability of the results is limited. However, the results imply that hardiness serves as a relevant variable in cognitive performance models. Practical implications – The hardiness trait appears to produce positive outcomes in the accounting environment. Accounting educators and firm leaders should understand how the trait is expressed and activated in order to train professionals on critical accounting and auditing tasks. Originality/value – This paper provides new evidence about the benefits of the hardy personality in accounting settings. Additionally, the results offer a basis for researchers to incorporate hardiness as an individual difference in studies on auditor performance.