Premium
Perceptions of Independence—Do They Change Over Time?
Author(s) -
Gorman F. Barry,
Ansong Granville
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of auditing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1099-1123
pISSN - 1090-6738
DOI - 10.1111/1099-1123.00039
Subject(s) - perception , psychology , independence (probability theory) , scale (ratio) , dimension (graph theory) , social psychology , accounting , statistics , geography , economics , mathematics , cartography , neuroscience , pure mathematics
This paper seeks to determine Canadian professional accountants' attitudes to similar independence threatening situations, and whether these attitudes remain constant or change over time, thus adding an important longitudinal dimension to prior research. Questionnaires administered in 1986 and 1993 to 300 randomly selected Canadian chartered accountants contained 19 hypothetical situations designed to ascertain the potential existence of differing attitudes related to these situations. The situations are grouped into six categories, and the responses on a 7‐point scale are compared by situation and group of situations. A gradual slide along the ‘total impairment’—‘no impairment’ continuum is noted, indicating wide variability within each situation and group of situations, and a change in attitudes from 1986 to 1993. Attitude shifts tend to move towards both the ‘no impairment’ and ‘total impairment’ ends of the scale. It is suggested that increased litigation may be the explanation for the response shifts. The paper concludes with several practical applications for the results of this research.