The Need for Cognition and Goal Priming in Complex Audit Judgments

• In Event: Improving Audit Quality

Abstract

Auditing encompasses complex judgment tasks that require critical thinking. We predict that auditors’ need for cognition (NFC), a well-established measure of one’s dispositional tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful thinking, is positively associated with better judgment performance in complex audit judgment tasks. We further predict that priming auditors with an accuracy goal will improve complex judgments, particularly for lower NFC auditors who are less likely to spontaneously engage in critical thinking. We find support for our predictions in our experimental study. Higher NFC auditors are more likely than lower NFC auditors to identify diagnostic information contrary to management’s position and are less likely to justify management’s position. Priming with an accuracy goal improves lower NFC auditors’ judgments by reducing their justification of management’s position. This study identifies an important auditor trait that is associated with higher judgment quality in complex audit judgment tasks, and it demonstrates the benefits of goal priming, both in practical application and in research designs.

Authors

• Emily Elaine Griffith, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Kathryn Kadous, Emory University

• Donald R Young, Indiana University