IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aosoci/v55y2016icp96-113.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of task interruption on tax accountants' professional judgment

Author

Listed:
  • Long, James H.
  • Basoglu, K. Asli

Abstract

Accounting professionals are frequently interrupted, and prior research suggests that task interruption could compromise the quality of their professional judgments. This paper adopts the Goal-Based Choice Model to predict conditions under which task interruption will: (1) exacerbate accountants' motivated reasoning, introducing bias into their professional judgments, and (2) reduce performance on the interrupting task. We validate the model by conducting an experiment using experienced tax professionals as participants. Consistent with the expanded model's predictions, we find that when tax professionals are highly committed to a directional goal (minimize the client's tax liability), task interruption exacerbates their motivated reasoning, increases their perceptions of the level of support for an aggressive tax compliance position, bolsters their confidence in its defensibility, and compromises their ability to objectively evaluate the risks associated with the position. These factors cascade to increase the likelihood that they will recommend an aggressive tax compliance position. Furthermore, we find that the impact of task interruption cascades to inhibit interrupting task performance. Our results suggest that task interruption can create costly inefficiencies when these issues must be addressed during the review process, and that severe consequences for firms and their clients can arise when the review process fails to identify these deficiencies. In addition, our results suggest that task interruption's costs may outweigh its benefits in the context of professional judgment.

Suggested Citation

  • Long, James H. & Basoglu, K. Asli, 2016. "The impact of task interruption on tax accountants' professional judgment," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 96-113.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:96-113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2016.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361368216300654
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.aos.2016.08.004?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juliano Laran & Chris Janiszewski & Marcus Cunha Jr., 2008. "Context-Dependent Effects of Goal Primes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(4), pages 653-667, September.
    2. Ayelet Fishbach & Ravi Dhar, 2005. "Goals as Excuses or Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 370-377, December.
    3. Stijn M. J. van Osselaer & Chris Janiszewski, 2012. "A Goal-Based Model of Product Evaluation and Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 260-292.
    4. Juliano Laran & Chris Janiszewski, 2009. "Behavioral Consistency and Inconsistency in the Resolution of Goal Conflict," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(6), pages 967-984, April.
    5. Klein, Howard J. & Wesson, Michael J. & Hollenbeck, John R. & Wright, Patrick M. & DeShon, Richard P., 2001. "The Assessment of Goal Commitment: A Measurement Model Meta-Analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 32-55, May.
    6. Tanya L. Chartrand & Joel Huber & Baba Shiv & Robin J. Tanner, 2008. "Nonconscious Goals and Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 189-201, April.
    7. Wendy Liu, 2008. "Focusing on Desirability: The Effect of Decision Interruption and Suspension on Preferences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(4), pages 640-652, August.
    8. Kaplan, Steven E. & Reckers, Philip M. J. & West, Stephen G. & Boyd, James C., 1988. "An examination of tax reporting recommendations of professional tax preparers," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 427-443, December.
    9. Cuccia, AD & Mc Gill, GA, 2000. "The role of decision strategies in understanding professionals' susceptibility to judgment biases," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 419-435.
    10. Kurt A. Carlson & Margaret G. Meloy & Elizabeth G. Miller, 2013. "Goal Reversion in Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(5), pages 918-930.
    11. Leroy, Sophie, 2009. "Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 168-181, July.
    12. Basoglu, K. Asli & Fuller, Mark A. & Sweeney, John T., 2009. "Investigating the effects of computer mediated interruptions: An analysis of task characteristics and interruption frequency on financial performance," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 177-189.
    13. Jeffrey Hales, 2007. "Directional Preferences, Information Processing, and Investors' Forecasts of Earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 607-628, June.
    14. Grinne M. Fitzsimons & Tanya L. Chartrand & Gavan J. Fitzsimons, 2008. "Automatic Effects of Brand Exposure on Motivated Behavior: How Apple Makes You "Think Different"," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(1), pages 21-35, March.
    15. Boiney, Lindsley G. & Kennedy, Jane & Nye, Pete, 1997. "Instrumental Bias in Motivated Reasoning: More When More Is Needed," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 1-24, October.
    16. Juliano Laran & Keith Wilcox, 2011. "Choice, Rejection, and Elaboration on Preference-Inconsistent Alternatives," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(2), pages 229-241.
    17. O'Donnell, Ed. & Koch, Bruce & Boone, Jeff, 2005. "The influence of domain knowledge and task complexity on tax professionals' compliance recommendations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 145-165, February.
    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. Muhammad Irdam Ferdiansah & Vincent K. Chong & Isabel Z. Wang & David R. Woodliff, 2023. "The Effect of Ethical Commitment Reminder and Reciprocity in the Workplace on Misreporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(2), pages 325-345, August.
    2. Dennis D. Fehrenbacher & Anis Triki & Martin Michael Weisner, 2021. "Can multitasking influence professional scepticism?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(1), pages 1277-1306, March.

    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. Chun-Tuan Chang & Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu, 2020. "The give and take of cause-related marketing: purchasing cause-related products licenses consumer indulgence," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 203-221, March.
    2. T. Poehlman & Ravi Dhar & John Bargh, 2016. "Sophisticated by Design: the Nonconscious Influence of Primed Concepts and Atmospheric Variables on Consumer Preferences," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(1), pages 48-61, March.
    3. Panzone, Luca A. & Ulph, Alistair & Zizzo, Daniel John & Hilton, Denis & Clear, Adrian, 2021. "The impact of environmental recall and carbon taxation on the carbon footprint of supermarket shopping," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Carlson, Kurt A. & Tanner, Robin J. & Meloy, Margaret G. & Russo, J. Edward, 2014. "Catching nonconscious goals in the act of decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 65-76.
    5. Michael Barone & Karen Winterich, 2016. "Does Green Make You Greedy or Does it Make You Go Green? The Influence of Green Color Primes on Consumers’ Promotion Preferences," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(1), pages 3-10, March.
    6. Yuli Zhang & Hyokjin Kwak & Marina Puzakova & Charles R. Taylor, 2021. "Space between products on display: the impact of interspace on consumer estimation of product size," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1109-1131, November.
    7. Andrejkow, Joanna & Berger, Leslie & Guo, Lan, 2022. "Conscious and nonconscious goal pursuit in multidimensional tasks," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Joffre Swait & Cristiano Franceschinis & Mara Thiene, 2020. "Antecedent Volition and Spatial Effects: Can Multiple Goal Pursuit Mitigate Distance Decay?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 75(2), pages 243-270, February.
    9. Basoglu, K. Asli & Fuller, Mark A. & Sweeney, John T., 2009. "Investigating the effects of computer mediated interruptions: An analysis of task characteristics and interruption frequency on financial performance," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 177-189.
    10. Juliano Laran & Eva Buechel, 2017. "Mental Resources Increase Preference for Dissimilar Experiences," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 123-135.
    11. Jun Han & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2010. "Investors' Reactions to Management Earnings Guidance: The Joint Effect of Investment Position, News Valence, and Guidance Form," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 81-104, March.
    12. Anant Jyoti Badgaiyan & Saumya Dixit & Anshul Verma, 2017. "If brands are people, then people are impulsive—assessing the connection between brand personality and impulsive buying behaviour," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(6), pages 622-638, November.
    13. Ricci, Michael A., 2022. "How better client service performance affects auditors' willingness to challenge management's preferred accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    14. Mayorga, Diane & Trotman, Ken T., 2016. "The effects of a reasonable investor perspective and firm's prior disclosure policy on managers' disclosure judgments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 50-62.
    15. Wang, Yajin & John, Deborah Roedder & Griskevicious, Vladas, 2021. "Does the devil wear Prada? Luxury product experiences can affect prosocial behavior," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 104-119.
    16. Chen Wang & Yanliu Huang & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Stijn van OsselaerAssociate Editor, 2018. "“I Want to Know the Answer! Give Me Fish ’n’ Chips!”: The Impact of Curiosity on Indulgent Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(5), pages 1052-1067.
    17. Michael J. Barone & Karen Page Winterich, 2016. "Does Green Make You Greedy or Does it Make You Go Green? The Influence of Green Color Primes on Consumers’ Promotion Preferences," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(1), pages 3-10, March.
    18. Besharat, Ali & Romero, Marisabel & Haws, Kelly, 2021. "Customizing calories: How rejecting (vs. selecting) ingredients leads to lower calorie estimation and unhealthier food choices," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 424-438.
    19. Kim, Jungkeun & Spence, Mark T. & Marshall, Roger, 2018. "The Color of Choice: The Influence of Presenting Product Information in Color on the Compromise Effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 167-185.
    20. Herrmann, Andreas & Rossberg, Nadja & Huber, Frank & Landwehr, Jan R. & Henkel, Sven, 2011. "The impact of mimicry on sales - Evidence from field and lab experiments," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 502-514, June.

    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:eee:aosoci:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:96-113. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aos .

    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.