The effect of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and personality on the career decisions of accounting professionals in the Philippines as mediated by behavioral intention: A test of theory of planned behavior by Ajzen

Deciding to choose accounting as a career, just like any other career-decision making, is a complex process that is motivated by several external and internal factors. This paper aimed to study factors affecting an accounting professional’s career choice. In particular, factors such as subjective perceptions (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) and personality were tested to determine whether they have an impact on the behavior to pursue an accounting career in line with the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Whole Trait Theory. Further, the researchers attempted to identify the mediating effect of behavioral intent on the relationship between the identified factors and the career choice of accounting professionals. Age and gender were also used as moderating variables to determine their impact on the relationship of the said independent variables and the behavior of pursuing an accounting profession. In this explanatory, confirmatory, and quantitative study, 339 CPAs in the Philippines were sought for data collection. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, more specifically using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modelling. Upon analysis, it was found that only attitude and personality have direct impact on the behavioral intention, which happened to be the sole variable to have a direct effect on the actual behavior. Behavioral intention was also found to mediate the relationship between attitude and behavior. Additionally, it was observed that age has no moderating effects on the variables while gender has to an extent. Attitude tends to be more impactful to the actual behavior of males more than females. On the other hand, subjective norms and personality were stronger for female than males