The joint influence of client attributes and cognitive moral development on students’ ethical judgments

Academic interest in the ethical quality of accountants’ judgments has produced a steady stream of research addressing the role of education in fostering ethical behavior. Although various studies have evaluated the cognitive moral development of accounting students, few studies have considered the influence of accounting contextual factors on ethical judgments. This study evaluates the influence of cognitive moral development and a contextual factor, client risk level, on both ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Results from a study of auditing students indicate that students with higher moral development evaluate earnings management as less ethical and are less likely to accept earnings management by an audit client than are students with lower moral development. Students in a high client risk scenario evaluated earnings management as less ethical and were also less likely to accept earnings management by an audit client than were students in a low client risk scenario. The results also show an interaction between client risk and moral development.