The Effect of Heartfulness Meditation Program on Burnout and Satisfaction With Life Among Accounting Professionals

BACKGROUND: Accounting professionals experience a stressful working environment with previous studies demonstrating a high prevalence of burnout. Meditation-based interventions have a potential role in decreasing burnout and improving satisfaction with life. However, the benefits of Heartfulness meditation intervention have not been demonstrated among accounting professionals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of an 8-week Heartfulness Meditation program on burnout and satisfaction with life in chartered accountants. METHODS: The study was a prospective cohort analysis comparing burnout and satisfaction with life outcomes among accounting professionals who either self-selected to participate in the Heartfulness Meditation Program (intervention group) or with no particular intervention (control group). Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) scores were collected at baseline and at the end of the study period. RESULTS: Two hundred and six participants completed the study. Participants in the intervention group (n = 107) experienced statistically significant improvement in MBI emotional exhaustion from 2.17 to 1.75 (P = .00) and overall MBI score decreased from 2.99 to 2.83 (P = .020). Participants in the control group (n = 99) experienced statistically significant improvement for emotional exhaustion only, from 1.82 to 1.52 (P = .009). Further, participants in the intervention group demonstrated statistically significant improvement with SWLS from 4.90 to 5.17 (P = .005). While participants in the intervention group experienced higher levels of decline (19.55%) compared to the control group (16.41%) for emotional exhaustion, it was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The current study is one of the first attempts of a Heartfulness meditation intervention to reduce burnout and improve satisfaction with life among accounting professionals. Both the intervention group and the control group showed an improvement of emotional exhaustion. The statistically significant improvements observed in the overall MBI and SWLS outcomes in the intervention group suggest an online Heartfulness meditation program could serve as a potential tool for reducing burnout and improving satisfaction among accounting professionals.