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The Development of a Measure of Auditors’ Virtue

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Abstract

Auditors’ virtue comprises those qualities of character that manifest the ideals of the audit community (c.f., Maclntyre, 1984, After Virtue. (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame)), and are instrumental in ensuring that auditors’ professional judgment is exercised according to a high moral standard (Thorne, 1998, Research on Accounting Ethics. (JAI Press, Greenwich, CT)). Nevertheless, the lack of valid and reliable quantitative measures of auditors’ virtue impedes research that furthers our understanding of how best to promote virtue in the audit community. To address this gap, we develop two measures of auditors’ virtue. We report the results of the validity and reliability of the scales. In addition, we use the findings from the administration of these scales to professional accountants to refine and validate the theoretical characterization of virtues developed by Pincoffs (1986, Quandaries and Virtues. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS) and Libby and Thorne (2004, Business Ethics Quarterly). In so doing, this study provides a foundation by which future audit research can study ways to ensure that auditors’ virtue is promoted throughout the audit community.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our appreciation to the many members of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) who responded to our survey. Thanks also are extended to Ashwin Joshi, David Schwartzberg, Cristian Chelarie and Kathryn Kadous as well as participants in the 2002 CAAA Annual Conference, the 2002 European Accounting Association Annual Conference, and the American Accounting Association Conference for their many helpful comments and suggestions. We gratefully acknowledge the CICA for primary funding of this project, and for their assistance in the conduct of this project. We would also like to thank the Schulich School of Business for additional project funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Business, Wilfrid Laurier University, N2L 3C5, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    T. Libby

  2. Schulich School of Business, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, M3J 1P3, ON, Canada

    L. Thorne

Authors
  1. T. Libby
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  2. L. Thorne
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Libby.

Additional information

Theresa Libby, Ph.D. (University of Waterloo) is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has published mainly in the areas of accounting ethics, managers' use of accounting information for decision-making, procedural justice and innovation in management accounting systems.

Linda Thorne, Ph.D. (McGill University) is an Associate Professor of Accounting at York University. She has various publications that consider factors that influence auditors and others’ ethical decision process.

Appendix the final scales

Appendix the final scales

Non-instrumental auditors’ virtue scale

Listed in alphabetical order are 22 personal characteristics. For each characteristic, please circle the number that corresponds to the degree to which you believe it is important for auditors to possess that characteristic.

 

Not at all important

 

 

 

Very important

Altruistic

1

2

3

4

5

Benevolent

1

2

3

4

5

Cheerful

1

2

3

4

5

Civil*

1

2

3

4

5

Concerned with the public interest

1

2

3

4

5

Decent*

1

2

3

4

5

Dependable*

1

2

3

4

5

Dignified*

1

2

3

4

5

Enlightened

1

2

3

4

5

Even-handed

1

2

3

4

5

Far-sighted

1

2

3

4

5

Has integrity

1

2

3

4

5

Healthy skepticism

1

2

3

4

5

Independent

1

2

3

4

5

Objective

1

2

3

4

5

Polite

1

2

3

4

5

Principled

1

2

3

4

5

Sensitive

1

2

3

4

5

Tactful

1

2

3

4

5

Thoughtful

1

2

3

4

5

Truthful

1

2

3

4

5

Warm

1

2

3

4

5

Instrumental auditors’ virtue scale

Listed in alphabetical order are 7 personal characteristics. Please circle the number that corresponds to the degree to which you believe it is important for auditors to possess each particular characteristic.

 

Not at all important

 

 

 

Very important

Alert

1

2

3

4

5

Careful

1

2

3

4

5

Cooperative

1

2

3

4

5

Consultative*

1

2

3

4

5

Courageous

1

2

3

4

5

Diligent

1

2

3

4

5

Resourceful

1

2

3

4

5

  1. *Indicates items removed from the scale consequent to scale refinement and confirmatory factor analysis.

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Libby, T., Thorne, L. The Development of a Measure of Auditors’ Virtue. J Bus Ethics 71, 89–99 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9127-0

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