Determinants of Student’s Perceptions of Ethical Crises

Abstract

Ethical behavior is crucial across all life and professional spheres, especially in accounting, where ethical breaches leading to scandals are still prevalent. These often arise from an accountant's disregard for ethical standards, demonstrating a misalignment with the profession's values. Correspondingly, instances of ethical breaches among accounting professionals in Indonesia often elicit varied responses from accounting students. Hence, this study explored how idealism, relativism, accounting knowledge, gender, and religiosity impact Indonesian students' perceptions of unethical behavior among accountants. Sample collection utilized a purposive sampling technique via Google Forms, with research samples comprising 211 students who completed or were undertaking auditing courses in Indonesian universities. The results of Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) analysis revealed a significant positive impact of idealism, accounting knowledge, and religiosity on students' perceptions of unethical behavior among accountants. However, relativism and gender demonstrated no significant impact on students' perceptions of unethical behavior among accountants.