Accounting ethics instruction, like accounting ethics research, has been strongly influenced by the work of Kohlberg and his stages of ethical development. The Defining Issues Test (DIT), which is based on Kohlberg's theory, has been extensively used to assess level of ethical development of both accounting students and accounting practitioners. Theory suggests that the relationship between p-score on the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and behavior should be linear, i.e., ethical behavior should increase monotonically with level of ethical development. However, Ponemon's (1993a) paper reported a quadratic relationship, meaning that subjects with low scores and those with high scores are more likely to behave unethically. This study replicates Ponemon's (1993a) study. Unobtrusive observation of actual behavior in a laboratory experiment is used to record behavior, which is then related to p-score on the DIT. The results confirm Ponemon's (1993a) finding of a quadratic relationship. However, in this study, the results appear to be driven by the behavior of male subjects; female subjects show a monotonically decreasing level of ethical behavior as p-score on the DIT increases.
There is a growing recognition among researchers and practitioners that the workplace is not the strictly cognitively-managed environment it was once assumed to be. Emotions play a large role in organizational life, and emotional intelligence (the ability to recognize, use and manage emotions) has become a skill that may allow accountants to perform better in a variety of areas such as leadership, client relations, and perhaps even decision-making. In addition, it is a skill that employers seem to value and that may be important to personal development as well. Thus, accounting education must attempt to inculcate emotional intelligence in its graduates in addition to technical knowledge. This paper investigates the level of emotional intelligence of accounting students using the MSCEIT, an instrument that measures ability rather than acquired competencies. The results show that the level of emotional intelligence of the students in the sample could be a concern. There is no evidence that one term of traditional accounting education can be expected to provide an opportunity for improvement. Thus, attempts to increase the emotional intelligence of the students may require targeted educational interventions.Emotional intelligence, soft skills, accounting students, MSCEIT,
Emotional intelligence may allow accountants to perform better in leadership, team building, client relations, and decision-making. Unfortunately, very little is known about the antecedents to emotional intelligence; however, there have been attempts to improve the emotional intelligence of university students through classroom exercises. It has also been suggested that work experience is instrumental in improving emotional intelligence. In this study, we examined the emotional intelligence of a total of 430 first- and fourth-year accounting and liberal arts students at three universities with accounting programs that include different liberal arts requirements. We also analyzed the relationship between four components of work experience and emotional intelligence. Our findings raise concerns for accounting program development and provide guidance for those seeking to facilitate relevant work experiences for students.
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