Moral disengagement in accounting majors: An exploratory study

• In Event: SESSION 7A: Accounting Education

Abstract

This study compares moral disengagement of undergraduate accounting students. Lower division accounting majors who had not yet taken any university-level accounting courses completed a survey that consisted of 32 statements and were asked to determine the degree to which they agreed with each, using a 7-point Likert scale. The same survey was completed by accounting majors enrolled in junior-level accounting courses. The questions measured moral justification, euphemistic labeling, advantageous comparisons, diffusion of responsibility, distortion of consequences, attribution of blame, and dehumanization. Seven significant differences were found between responses from lower and upper division accounting majors. In each case, lower division accounting majors demonstrated a higher level of moral disengagement than the upper division accounting majors. When analyzing responses based on gender, males in the sample were found to have higher levels of moral disengagement. Similarly, when the sample was split into lower and upper division students, males in each subgroup demonstrated higher levels of moral disengagement than did the females. The results suggest higher levels of moral disengagement in lower division accounting students and in male accounting majors.

Author

• Suzanne N Cory, St Mary's University