Effect of Audit Partner Power Hegemony on the Symptoms of Auditors' Psychodynamic Disorder

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the hegemonic effect of audit partner power on the symptoms of auditors' psychodynamic disorder. The present study is applied in terms of its purpose and developmental in terms of results. Also in terms of data type, it is in the category of mixed methods. Therefore, in the qualitative part, meta-synthesis and Delphi analysis were used, and in the quantitative part, partial least squares analysis was used. The statistical population of the research in the qualitative section was 12 specialists in accounting and financial management at the university level and in part, there were 195 independent auditors working for private auditing firms in Iran. In order to collect information to test the research hypothesis, questionnaires from the qualitative analysis stage were used and to analyze and test the research hypotheses were based on the partial least squares (PLS) method. The results showed that the hegemony of the audit partner's power has a positive and significant effect on the stimulation of psychodynamic disorders in auditors. The results show that the dominance of the auditing firm based on authoritarian behaviors due to the reduction of auditors' freedom of action, causes them gradual frustration and this issue while increasing stress and work pressure on them, increases the risk of symptoms of psychodynamic disorder. This is the first case study to focus on assessing the hegemonic effect of the audit partner's power on the symptoms of auditors' psychodynamic disorder. Although the field is of research importance in terms of developing theoretical literature and practical basis in reducing the gap of audit expectations, but less, audit research has addressed this issue. And conducting this research and developing it at the professional level of this field can enhance the institutional and educational capacities on it at the international level and help to create the integration of the development of theoretical literature.