Key research themes
1. How do behavioral factors such as perspective taking, ethical orientation, and auditor knowledge affect auditors' decision-making and judgment quality?
This research area focuses on understanding how cognitive and dispositional behavioral traits impact auditors' ability to make ethical, accurate, and high-quality audit judgments. It investigates psychological factors including perspective taking (the ability to understand the client's viewpoint), ethical orientation (moral reasoning styles), auditor experience and knowledge, and their interactions shaping judgment in auditing contexts. Understanding these behavioral influences is critical because auditing involves complex decisions that can be biased or suboptimal, affecting financial reporting quality.
2. What are the influences of organizational and psychological factors on auditor turnover intentions and dysfunctional audit behaviors?
This line of research examines internal organizational and individual psychological factors such as burnout, organizational commitment, and behavioral tendencies that influence auditors' intentions to leave their jobs and engage in dysfunctional audit behaviors. These factors, if not mitigated, can impair audit quality and exacerbate auditor shortages, with broad implications for audit firm management and governance.
3. How does technology adoption, specifically Computer Assisted Audit Tools and Techniques (CAATTs), shape auditing practice and what factors influence its assimilation?
This research strand investigates the adoption and implementation of advanced audit technologies, such as CAATTs, focusing on how technological innovation interacts with auditor efficiency, confidence, organizational support, and barriers such as cost or user familiarity. Understanding these determinants is critical for modernizing auditing methods and enhancing audit effectiveness through digital tools.