The Role of Accounting Ethics Education in Shaping Professional Integrity: Exploring the Mediating Effect of Ethical Reasoning on Ethical Decision-Making

The accounting profession is facing increased scrutiny as a result of ethical violations, highlighting the necessity for comprehensive ethics education aimed at inculcating professional integrity. To fulfill this requirement, the present study conceptualizes a model to analyze the influence of accounting ethics education on the development of ethical reasoning and decision-making, paying particular attention to the mediating influence of ethical reasoning. With the narrative review method, data were gathered from the Scopus database using a systematic search string, and integrative thematic analysis was employed to synthesize primary themes and findings from available literature. Results of the suggested framework demonstrate that accounting ethics education considerably improves ethical reasoning, which serves as the required cognitive mechanism linking education and ethical decision-making. The application of integrated curricula, the introduction of innovative teaching methods, and instruments such as the Ethics Education Toolkit (EET) show strong effectiveness in developing moral judgment and ethical sensitivity. This study also advances our theoretical knowledge of ethical development by empirically grounding conceptual frameworks such as Rest’s Four-Component Model (1986) and offers practitioners and educators practical suggestions, highlighting the value of coordinated ethics education initiatives. Despite these contributions, some limitations remain, such as reliance on the existing body of literature, thus highlighting the need for longitudinal studies and a consideration of cultural influences. Future research should explore the long-term effects of ethics education and evaluate new pedagogical tools aimed at improving ethical behavior in the accounting profession. Testing this model with structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple regression analyses could validate the framework and show how ethics education fosters professional integrity, advancing our understanding of its impact on the accounting profession.