IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/ijfr11/v10y2019i3p77-87.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Auditor¡¯s Ethical Judgments: The Influence of Moral Intensity, Ethical Orientation and Client Importance

Author

Listed:
  • Razana Juhaida Johari
  • Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi
  • Arumega Zarefar

Abstract

This study examined auditors¡¯ ethical judgments using two theoretical perspectives; (1) Moral intensity constructs of Jones¡¯ (1991) Model and (2) Forsyth¡¯s (1980) framework of individual ethical orientation. The importance of the moral issues and how they affected the auditors¡¯ ethical judgments together with the influence of individual¡¯s ethical orientation and the client importance is discussed. A research instrument consisted of two scenarios with different level of moral intensity issues and utilized a 12-item of moral intensity measurement and a Forsyth¡¯s (1980) scale to measure ethical orientation along two dimensions, idealism and relativism. The client importance is manipulated in this between-subjects study. The results of 152 auditors¡¯ found that the effects of the moral intensity construct and the client importance on auditors¡¯ ethical judgments is different based on the issues intensity level of the scenarios. Whereas, both dimensions of the individual ethical orientation (idealism and relativism) are found significant in both of the scenarios tested. The limitations of the study and recommendation for future studies are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Razana Juhaida Johari & Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi & Arumega Zarefar, 2019. "Auditor¡¯s Ethical Judgments: The Influence of Moral Intensity, Ethical Orientation and Client Importance," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 77-87, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:jfr:ijfr11:v:10:y:2019:i:3:p:77-87
    DOI: 10.5430/ijfr.v10n3p77
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijfr/article/view/15509/9615
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijfr/article/view/15509
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5430/ijfr.v10n3p77?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Greenfield & Carolyn Norman & Benson Wier, 2008. "The Effect of Ethical Orientation and Professional Commitment on Earnings Management Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 419-434, December.
    2. Chan Li, 2009. "Does Client Importance Affect Auditor Independence at the Office Level? Empirical Evidence from Going†Concern Opinions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 201-230, March.
    3. Mario Fernando & Rafi Chowdhury, 2010. "The Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Ethical Orientations in Decision Making: An Empirical Study with Business Executives in Australia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(2), pages 211-225, August.
    4. Deborah Leitsch, 2006. "Using dimensions of moral intensity to predict ethical decision-making in accounting," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 135-149.
    5. Hunt, Allen K. & Lulseged, Ayalew, 2007. "Client importance and non-Big 5 auditors' reporting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 212-248.
    6. Pedro Marques & José Azevedo-Pereira, 2009. "Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgments in the Portuguese Accounting Profession," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 227-242, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Razana Juhaida Johari & Md. Mahmudul Alam & Jamaliah Said, 2021. "Investigating factors that influence Malaysian auditors’ ethical sensitivity," International Journal of Ethics and Systems, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(3), pages 406-421, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jana Craft, 2013. "A Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 2004–2011," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 221-259, October.
    2. Luca Casali, Gian & Perano, Mirko, 2021. "Forty years of research on factors influencing ethical decision making: Establishing a future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 614-630.
    3. Mohd Hafizuddin Shah Ismail & Hilwani Hariri* & Razinah Hassan, 2018. "Factors Influencing Ethical Decision-Making of Professional Accountants in Malaysia," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, pages 894-903:5.
    4. repec:arp:tjssrr:2019:p:27-36 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Fuan Li & Mike Chen-ho Chao & Nancy Yi-feng Chen & Sixue Zhang, 2018. "Moral judgment in a business setting: The role of managers’ moral foundation, ideology, and level of moral development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 121-143, March.
    6. Chang, Yu-Shan & Chiang, Chia-Yu & Liu, Li-Lin (Sunny) & Xie, Xinmei (Lucy), 2019. "Audit partner independence and business affiliation: evidence from Taiwan," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Lai, Kam-Wah, 2013. "Audit Reporting of Big 4 Versus Non-Big 4 Auditors: The Case of Ex-Andersen Clients," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 495-524.
    8. Tabea Franziska Hirth-Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Management accountants and ethical dilemmas: How to promote ethical intention?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 287-322, October.
    9. Ahmed Musbah & Christopher J. Cowton & David Tyfa, 2016. "The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 335-358, March.
    10. Deepak, 2016. "Antecedent Value of Professional Commitment and Job Involvement in Determining Job Satisfaction," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 41(2), pages 154-164, May.
    11. Donna Bobek & Amy Hageman & Robin Radtke, 2015. "The Influence of Roles and Organizational Fit on Accounting Professionals’ Perceptions of their Firms’ Ethical Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 125-141, January.
    12. Zou, Lili Wenli & Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2019. "Why and when do consumers perform green behaviors? An examination of regulatory focus and ethical ideology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 113-127.
    13. Hwang, Seokyoun & Sarath, Bharat & Han, Seung-youb, 2022. "Auditor independence: The effect of auditors’ quality control efforts and corporate governance," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    14. Manuel Tejeda, 2015. "Exploring the Supportive Effects of Spiritual Well-Being on Job Satisfaction Given Adverse Work Conditions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 173-181, September.
    15. Sarowar Hossain & Jeff Coulton & Jenny Jing Wang, 2023. "Client Importance and Audit Quality at the Individual Audit Partner, Office, and Firm Levels," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 650-696, June.
    16. Mukaddes Sakalli Demirok, 2018. "Career satisfaction and professional commitment of special education teachers," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 1187-1199, December.
    17. Camacho-Miñano, María-del-Mar & Campa, Domenico, 2014. "Integrity of financial information as a determinant of the outcome of a bankruptcy procedure," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 76-85.
    18. Mo, Phyllis L.L. & Rui, Oliver M. & Wu, Xi, 2015. "Auditors' going Concern Reporting in the pre- and post-bankruptcy Law Eras: Chinese Affiliates of Big 4 Versus Local Auditors," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 1-30.
    19. Mehdi Nekhili & Fahim Javed & Haithem Nagati, 2022. "Audit Partner Gender, Leadership and Ethics: The Case of Earnings Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 233-260, May.
    20. Karen Green & Benson Wier, 2015. "Influence of Ethical Position and Information Asymmetry on Transfer Price Negotiations," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, February.
    21. Melinda Timea FULOP & Nicolae MAGDAS & George Silviu CORDOS, 2019. "Theoretical Background Of Internal And External Environment Of Negotiation," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 1(21), pages 1-3.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jfr:ijfr11:v:10:y:2019:i:3:p:77-87. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gina Perry (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://ijfr.sciedupress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.