The personality types and preferences of CPA firm professionals: An analysis of changes in the profession

A study uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to examine the personality types and specific preferences of CPA firm professionals, assessing whether there is evidence that changes in the public accounting environment have resulted in individuals with more diverse personality types and preferences entering and remaining in the profession. Results show that personality types in the profession are similar to those of prior studies. As to specific personality preferences, more recent partners tend to have a preference for extroversion. In addition, there is some evidence that people at higher levels in public accounting firms have a preference for intuition, in contrast with the sensing preference of most accountants. These results are consistent with industry trends which reveal the importance of abilities in marketing, abstract reasoning and unstructured problem solving.