Do the Factors of Measuring Moral Intensity Which Apply to Other Professionals, as Determined by Previous Research Works, Apply to Professional Accountants?

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The Article’s Research Population and How It Drew Upon This Population in Conducting Its Research Inquiry:

The responses from the survey were received from 1178 accountants who received the e-mail survey. The researcher did not distinguish the fields that the respondents were involved in. However, variables considered were age, accumulation of study in the field of accounting, gender and work experience

Research Data Collected and Analysis Used:

Although 31 percent of the distributed survey came back with a response, a number of those were incomplete, rendering the actual response rate at 20 percent. Still, as the research defended, the low response is actually common for the type of study conducted.

The respondents were asked to respond to a five-point Likert scale. An ANOVA was utilized in computing the results. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure to see the impact of the extent of a moral issue on an accountant’s moral decision-making, reasoning, intent, judgement and sensitivity.

Summary of the Results:

The results of the study contradicted the previous studies done on the same field with an accounting or auditing focus. The study found out that though professional accountants perceive moral intensity, they did not react to it. This may result from the fact that professional accountants resolve ethical issues with a stringent reliance on established rules, as opposed to other professionals.

Conclusions:

The six factors that consisted moral intensity previously establish by Jones for professionals do not apply to those who are in the field of accounting.

Recommendations/Areas for Further Study:

Further studies may be improved by taking into account the fields that a professional accountant may be involved in, namely public practice, private practice, the government and the academe. A more specific approach and preparation of the survey may be developed to make the response a bit more defined to each field. This may also help to know if the six factors may be applied to any of the fields.

It would also be highly recommended if the study would also provide recommendations on future improvements on ethics education for professional accountant for each field, provided that the results agree with Jones’s six multi-dimensional factors.

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