The effect of individual-collective decisions and perceived organisational support on accountants' whistle-blowing actions

According to ethical decision-making theory and organisational support theory, this paper examines the whistle-blowing actions of accountants from the perspective of individual or collective decision making, the presence or absence of organisational support, and the interaction of the two factors. This study uses a 2 × 2 factorial experimental laboratory design. The participants of this study were 109 postgraduate students in accounting programs and the accounting profession who had sufficient knowledge and experience. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used for hypothesis testing. The results indicate that accountants are more motivated to act collectively than individually, and accountants who have organisational support are more motivated to act as whistleblowers than those who are not. The interaction between individual or collective decision-making and the presence or absence of organisational support has also been shown to influence accountants' whistle-blowing behaviour. This study will provide insights for accountants and organisations regarding whistle-blowing actions.