PERCEIVED AI REPLACEMENT THREAT AND ACCOUNTANTS' JOB PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY ANXIETY
Authors/Creators
- 1. Assistant Professor, Department of Finance, College of Business, Amman Arab University, Amman, Jordan Department of Accounting, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia Department of Accounting, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia Department of Finance, Faculty of Business, Amman Arab University, Amman, Jordan Associate Professor, Accounting Department, Faculty of Business, Jadara University, Irbid 21110, Jordan Faculty of Economics and Muamalat (Alumni), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia Department of Accounting, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
Description
The fast adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the accounting profession has created a lot of fear among professionals on the issue of occupational displacement and professional relevance. The present study analyzes the connection between the perceived threat of AI replacement and job performance in certified accountants and technology anxiety being the mediating variable. Perceived AI replacement threat is conceptualised to be used on a second order formative construct based on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory and Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) and includes four first order reflective dimensions including: job security threat, career threat, professional status threat, and competence threat. A cross-sectional survey of 401 certified and practising accountants working in Jordan was carried out through quantitative measurement and the data analysed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The findings show that there is a strong negative direct impact on job performance ( = -0.598, p < 0.001) and a strong positive impact on technology anxiety ( = 0.753, p < 0.001) created by perceived AI replacement threat and in the process significantly negatively affects performance. The mediation analysis confirms that technology anxiety plays a significant mediating role between the threat and performance relationship with competence threat and job security having the greatest indirect effect using the anxiety pathway. The model has good explanatory strength with 56.7 and 55.9 percent is explained by the model on technology anxiety and job performance respectively. The current study will add to the emerging body of research on AI-human dynamics within the framework of professional services by not only presenting a multidimensional threat framework, but also empirical data on the subject in a developing-economy setting, and giving results applicable to both the practice of accounting firms, profession-related professional bodies, and policymakers in order to control the psychological effects of AI-driven change on practitioner performance.