IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v141y2022icp794-807.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of the auditor’s personality in audit quality

Author

Listed:
  • Samagaio, António
  • Felício, Teresa

Abstract

This study analyzes the auditor personality impact on audit quality, using partial least squares structural equation model and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis methods. This research draws on the insights of Big 5 personality theory and empirical studies in audit quality. The PLS-SEM result reveals that the traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness are positively associated with professional skepticism of auditors, while conscientiousness and neuroticism negatively affect reduced audit quality practices. The fsQCA results show the existence of multiple configurations of personality traits leading to high (low) audit quality. Moreover, the causal asymmetry found reveals that personality is a combination of individual traits that interact in a differentiated and complex way with audit quality. This study complements previous research on auditor’s drivers for supplying audit quality and provides support to audit firm decisions informing about the most relevant combinations of personality traits that auditors must have to make outstanding audit quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Samagaio, António & Felício, Teresa, 2022. "The influence of the auditor’s personality in audit quality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 794-807.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:141:y:2022:i:c:p:794-807
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321008961
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.082?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. B. Pierce & B. Sweeney, 2004. "Cost-quality conflict in audit firms: an empirical investigation," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 415-441.
    2. Martin R Schneider & Conrad Schulze-Bentrop & Mihai Paunescu, 2010. "Mapping the institutional capital of high-tech firms: A fuzzy-set analysis of capitalist variety and export performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 246-266, February.
    3. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Paul Coram & Juliana Ng & David Woodliff, 2003. "A Survey of Time Budget Pressure and Reduced Audit Quality Among Australian Auditors," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 13(29), pages 38-44, March.
    5. Tóth, Zsófia & Thiesbrummel, Christoph & Henneberg, Stephan C. & Naudé, Peter, 2015. "Understanding configurations of relational attractiveness of the customer firm using fuzzy set QCA," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 723-734.
    6. Necmi K. Avkiran & Christian M. Ringle (ed.), 2018. "Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-3-319-71691-6, July-Dece.
    7. Samagaio, Antonio & Rodrigues, Ricardo, 2016. "Human capital and performance in young audit firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5354-5359.
    8. Magdy S. Farag & Rafik Z. Elias, 2016. "The relationship between accounting students’ personality, professional skepticism and anticipatory socialization," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 124-138, April.
    9. H. Gin Chong, 2015. "A review on the evolution of the definitions of materiality," International Journal of Economics and Accounting, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 15-32.
    10. Gabriel Cachón‐Rodríguez & Alicia Blanco‐González & Camilo Prado‐Román & Francisco Diez‐Martin, 2021. "Sustainability actions, employee loyalty, and the awareness: The mediating effect of organization legitimacy," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1730-1739, October.
    11. Karel Hrazdil & Jiri Novak & Rafael Rogo & Christine Wiedman & Ray Zhang, 2020. "Measuring executive personality using machine‐learning algorithms: A new approach and audit fee‐based validation tests," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3-4), pages 519-544, March.
    12. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    13. Climent-Serrano, Salvador & Bustos-Contell, Elisabeth & Labatut-Serer, Gregorio & Rey-Martí, Andrea, 2018. "Low-cost trends in audit fees and their impact on service quality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 345-350.
    14. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    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. Nurul Izzaty Mat Ridzuan & Jamaliah Said & Fazlida Mohd Razali & Dewi Izzwi Abdul Manan & Norhayati Sulaiman, 2022. "Examining the Role of Personality Traits, Digital Technology Skills and Competency on the Effectiveness of Fraud Risk Assessment among External Auditors," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Asare, Stephen K. & van Brenk, Herman & Demek, Kristina C., 2024. "Evidence on the homogeneity of personality traits within the auditing profession," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    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. Svanberg, Jan & Öhman, Peter, 2015. "Auditors' identification with their clients: Effects on audit quality," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 395-408.
    2. Rita Lamboglia & Daniela Mancini, 2021. "The relationship between auditors’ human capital attributes and the assessment of the control environment," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(4), pages 1211-1239, December.
    3. Chantal Mangion & Norbert Tabone & Peter J. Baldacchino & Simon Grima, 2021. "Audit Quality and Resilience beyond the Role Stress Model: A Maltese Perspective," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 11(3), pages 37-56.
    4. Pernilla Broberg & Torbjörn Tagesson & Daniela Argento & Niclas Gyllengahm & Ola Mårtensson, 2017. "Explaining the influence of time budget pressure on audit quality in Sweden," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(2), pages 331-350, June.
    5. Abbott, Lawrence J. & Buslepp, William L., 2022. "An investigation of the market's pricing of auditor competence: Evidence from PwC's Oscars blunder," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Quick, Reiner & Schmidt, Florian, 2018. "Do audit firm rotation, auditor retention, and joint audits matter? – An experimental investigation of bank directors' and institutional investors' perceptions," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-21.
    7. Danilo Soares‐Silva & Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de Moraes & Alexandre Cappellozza & Cristiano Morini, 2020. "Explaining library user loyalty through perceived service quality: What is wrong?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(8), pages 954-967, August.
    8. Alastair Marais, 2024. "Audit Quality and Financial Statement Manipulation: The Moderating Effect of Tone at the Top," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(5), pages 220-232, September.
    9. Seif Obeid Al-Shbiel, 2016. "An Examination the Factors Influence on Unethical Behaviour among Jordanian external auditors: Job Satisfaction as a mediator," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(3), pages 285-296, July.
    10. Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Vrontis, Demetris, 2022. "Managing knowledge in Indian Organizations: An empirical investigation to examine the moderating role of jugaad," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 26-39.
    11. Pan, Yue & Shroff, Nemit & Zhang, Pengdong, 2023. "The dark side of audit market competition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    12. Hsu, Sheila Hsuan-Yu & Tsou, Hung-Tai & Chen, Ja-Shen, 2021. "“Yes, we do. Why not use augmented reality?†customer responses to experiential presentations of AR-based applications," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    13. John M. Barrios, 2022. "Occupational Licensing and Accountant Quality: Evidence from the 150‐Hour Rule," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 3-43, March.
    14. Cao, June & Ee, Mong Shan & Hasan, Iftekhar & Huang, He, 2024. "Asymmetric reactions of abnormal audit fees jump to credit rating changes," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2).
    15. Sarker, Moniruzzaman & Mohd-Any, Amrul Asraf & Kamarulzaman, Yusniza, 2021. "Validating a consumer-based service brand equity (CBSBE) model in the airline industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. Brennan, Niamh & Kelly, John, 2007. "A study of whistleblowing among trainee auditors," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 61-87.
    17. Beatriz García Osma & Belén Gill de Albornoz Noguer & Elena De las Heras Cristobal, 2016. "Opinion shopping: Partner versus firm-level evidence," Working Papers. Serie EC 2016-02, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    18. Xiong, Hao & Hou, Fei & Li, Hanwen & Wang, Huabing, 2020. "Does rice farming shape audit quality: Evidence from signing auditors level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 403-420.
    19. Shivaram Rajgopal & Suraj Srinivasan & Xin Zheng, 2021. "Measuring audit quality," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 559-619, June.
    20. Camelia-Daniela Hategan, 2019. "Factors Influencing The Quality Of Financial Audit," Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 7-15, September.

    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:jbrese:v:141:y:2022:i:c:p:794-807. 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/jbusres .

    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.