The Influence of Professional Commitment and Rationalization-Discrediting Interventions on Unethical Audit Decisions
研究发现，专业承诺低的审计师更容易合理化不道德行为，而针对常见合理化理由的干预措施能有效降低其不道德意图。
SUMMARY Individuals often engage in a rationalization process to self-justify questionable conduct. However, as “gatekeepers” to the market, it is vitally important for professional auditors to avoid such practices. Recognizing that some individuals may be more prone to rationalize than others, we first identify an important subset of professional auditors that we expect is more susceptible to rationalizing unethical behavior: those with low professional commitment. We then examine whether rationalization-discrediting interventions can mitigate such behavior among this auditor subset. Specifically, we developed interventions geared toward discrediting some of the most commonly-used rationalizations found in practice in order to promote a more ethical mindset and reduce unethical behavior. Using professional auditor participants, our results confirm that auditors with low (high) professional commitment are more (less) likely to accede to unethical requests from superiors. Further, among those with low professional commitment, our rationalization-discrediting interventions were effective in reducing unethical intentions.