The association between occupational stress, coping strategies and psychological health symptoms: A comparison of organisationally employed and self-employed accountants in Malaysia

Abstract

There has been little known research in Malaysia on stress in comparison between organizationally employed and self-employed accountants. This paper therefore, examines the extent to which the employment type, i.e. self-employed or organizationally employed, influences the psychological health symptoms among accountants in Malaysia. The other areas of interest are to fill the gap on the mediating role of work stress and coping strategy have in the stress model adopted.

It is interesting that unlike previous studies on other jobs, the employment type did not have significant relationship with psychological health symptoms amongst accountants. Additional body of knowledge gained in this research when work stressors revealed a full mediating role between employment type and coping strategy while coping strategy played a part mediating role in influencing the relationship between work stressors and psychological health symptoms.

The results on open ended questions showed that accountants relate closely to their profession thus indicating that the most preferred coping strategy is seeking advise from friends or associates. Accountants in this study have revealed an emotional focus and Flight/fight focus rather than problem focus strategy in coping with work stress. Furthermore, the statistical findings triggered a serious question on whether ALL the three most significant factors in ways of coping is acceptable among accountants in Malaysia, namely : I consume alcohol drinks, I thought of leaving the job and I talk to understanding friends. The other findings from open ended questions on psychological health symptoms also revealed a serious concern as the respondents indicated current three most critical symptoms are ; Migraine/recurrent headaches ; Heart cholesterol level and High Blood Pressure. It is recommended that the accountants in Malaysia be reviewed in terms of the work overload and resources given to facilitate this professional group in coping well with the work stress. Nevertheless, further studies are required to improve the working conditions of accountants in Malaysia and to ensure a healthier future for them.

The findings of this study would be useful for accountants, particularly in Malaysia and generally across the globe; to realize the existence of stress and lead to betterment of employees’ working environment and organizations’ welfare.