**1. Introduction**

The specific attitude of employees to job satisfaction is of major interest in the field of organizational behavior and human resource management practice today [1]. This interest stems from the belief that satisfied employees are more productive than those who are dissatisfied. An employee with a high level of job satisfaction has a positive attitude toward the job, while one who is dissatisfied with his job has a negative attitude toward the job [2]. Indeed, job satisfaction is defined as an affective or emotional response to various facets of one's job. This definition means that job satisfaction is not a unitary concept: an individual can be relatively satisfied with one aspect of their job and dissatisfied with one or more others [3].

Job satisfaction is defined as "a pleasant or positive emotional state resulting from the evaluation of one's work or professional experience" [4]. Workers do their jobs in defined areas and assess the environment according to their values. When the experience in the work environment is consistent with an employee's values, the employee expresses satisfaction with the job [4, 5].

The drivers of job satisfaction have been a controversial topic in previous literature [6]. Several studies have treated them, but the results are mixed. Most of these studies focused on various professions, such as teachers [7], doctors [8], nurses [9], and employees in general [10]. However, the results of these studies cannot be applied to the accounting profession in which very little research has been done. Therefore, the objective of our study is to fill this gap by studying the job satisfaction of accounting professionals in the Tunisian context.

The theory of [11] identified several determinants of satisfaction at work, namely achievement, promotion, the work itself, growth, recognition company policies, relationship with supervisor and co-workers, working conditions, and salary.

The objective of this study is to identify the factors affecting job satisfaction in Tunisia. Specifically, the study examines the relative effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on job satisfaction among accounting professionals.

The rest of the article is structured as follows. The following section presents a brief review of the literature on the determinants of job satisfaction. Subsequently, the method section describes the sampling method and the steps followed to develop the study instrument. The following analysis section presents the results of the study.

## **2. Literature review and hypotheses development**

Relatively few studies have used Herzberg's theory to examine the job satisfaction of employees in the field of public administration [12]. Herzberg et al. [11] proposed motivating factors related to job satisfaction (intrinsic factors), such as success, recognition, advancement or promotion, work itself and responsibility, and hygiene factors (extrinsic factors), including company policy, job safety, relationship with supervisor, salary, peer relations and working conditions. According to [11], the absence of motivating factors does not necessarily lead to job dissatisfaction, and the preferred level of hygiene factors does not necessarily result in job satisfaction.

According to [11] the absence of motivating factors does not necessarily lead to job dissatisfaction, and the preferred level of hygiene factors does not necessarily result in job satisfaction.

Therefore, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not elements of a single continuum, hence the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Intrinsic factors have a positive and significant effect on the job satisfaction of professional accountants, hence the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 2: Extrinsic factors have a positive and significant effect on the job satisfaction of professional accountants.

Some sub-hypotheses corresponding to variables of these factors are stated in what follows:

#### **2.1 The intrinsic job satisfaction factors**

#### *2.1.1 Achievement*

Hur and Herzberg [12, 13] associated achievement with the feeling of success in performing a task or solving a problem. There is a significant relationship between extrinsic factors and the job satisfaction of accounting professionals. Employees who demonstrate a strong success orientation tend to work long hours accepting difficult tasks and demonstrating an ongoing commitment to doing whatever is necessary to achieve optimal results [6, 14]. In the same vein, many researchers [7, 15, 16] affirm the link between success and job satisfaction and believe that job satisfaction is an essential element that stimulates and encourages employees to achieve better results.

In this regard, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1-1: There is a positive and significant relationship between achievement and job satisfaction of accounting professionals.

*Determinants of Job Satisfaction of Accounting Professionals in Tunisia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99331*

#### *2.1.2 Advancement or promotion*

Malik et al. [17] argue that the remuneration and promotion contribute to job satisfaction. It can be concluded that employers could meet the needs of employees not only from the point of view of safety and social needs, but also physiological needs. Noor et al. [18] prove that job promotion and job advancement have a positive relationship with job satisfaction.

Similarly [19–21], revealed that promotion opportunity is a central factor in determining employee job satisfaction.

Hence, the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1-2: Promotion has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction of accounting professionals.

#### *2.1.3 The work itself*

Work itself as a determinant of job satisfaction includes certain aspects, such as control over the method and pace of work, the use of skills and abilities and variety. People take pleasure in successfully coping with their environment. The use of valued skills and abilities gives workers a sense of pride, competence and self-confidence. Specialization and repetitiveness lead to consistency with job satisfaction.

According to [22], moderate stimulation provides great satisfaction to the worker [10, 23], showed that the work itself affects job satisfaction.

In this context, we formulate the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1-3: The work itself has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction of accounting professionals.

### *2.1.4 Recognition*

Canlan and Still [24] suggest that burnout was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher job satisfaction was associated with rewards (remuneration and recognition) as well as cognitively challenging work.

Imran et al. [25–27] assert a positive correlation between recognition and employee job satisfaction.

Let us propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1-4: The recognition has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction of accounting professionals.

#### *2.1.5 Growth*

According to [28], employee job satisfaction is affected by several factors, some of which are intrinsic in nature, such as self-esteem, personal growth, accomplishment, and employee readiness.

Indeed, many previous studies, such as [29–32], concluded that growth contributes to job satisfaction.

Let us, therefore, pose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1-5: The growth has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction of accounting professionals.
