Is Role Conflict Creating the Nocebo Effect on Accounting Educators?

Abstract

Opposite to the placebo effect is the nocebo effect (Colagiuri 2019), where negative expectations can create poor results. In this research, workloads of Accounting Educators are reviewed using the Role theory lens to determine if heavy workloads causing role conflict are also causing a negative imbalance in life/work balance (nocebo effect) and overall performance. Like academics in most other disciplines, the Australian University Accounting Educators work in a context that is constantly changing with multiple challenges. Some aspects of their lived experience have been reported elsewhere, but the study reported here aimed to gain an understanding of the Accounting Educators lived experience as a whole, using the lens of role theory. The findings of this study have given a voice to the Accounting Educators and suggest recommendations for how Accounting Educators can adapt to the ever-changing environment of the Australian university system while also finding value and enjoyment in their role. The TRAC (Teaching, Research, Accounting Educator Workload, Curricula) frame work of expectations was developed to document the various expectations that impact on the role of the Accounting Educator, to prevent the negative expectations that create the nocebo effect so detrimental to Accounting Educators performance. Recommendations from the research suggest that Accounting Educators engage with university administrators to find solutions to re-balance the workload model to turn the nocebo effect around by creating positive expectations of workloads and performance, to attract and retain the Accounting Educators of the future.