Does Distrust Matter More than Trust? How Audit Judgment Is Influenced by Inconsistent Evidence
实验发现，客户提供不一致证据时，审计师的不信任比信任对工作投入影响更大，且先前一致证据会削弱不一致证据的负面作用，信任受损也能快速修复。
SUMMARY Prior research considering the influence of trust on auditor judgment and decision making has largely ignored distrust, viewing distrust as one end of a unidimensional measure of trust. Psychology literature, however, suggests that trust and distrust are distinct constructs with fundamental differences. In this study, we argue that auditing research would benefit from embracing this conceptualization of both trust and distrust when examining auditor judgments. We conduct an experiment that examines whether situational trust and distrust mediate the relationship between the receipt of inconsistent evidence from the client and auditor effort. Results suggest that distrust has a greater influence on auditor effort than trust. We also find that the prior receipt of consistent evidence from the client weakens the negative influence that inconsistent evidence has on perceptions of trust and distrust, and violations of trust due to the receipt of inconsistent evidence are quick to repair. Data Availability: Please contact the first author.