Locus Of Control And Dysfunctional Audit Behavior

Abstract

The Panel on Audit Effectiveness suggested that dysfunctional audit behavior (DAB) was associated with decreased audit quality (Public Oversight Board 2000).  Recent, notable audit failures have also rekindled criticisms of audit quality.  The current study presents the results of a survey in which 134 auditors were asked to report their perceived levels of three widely-cited DABs in their firms: occurrence of premature sign-offs, altering/replacing audit procedures, and underreporting of time.  Although the overall results can be characterized as positive for the auditing profession, a systematic pattern in the results was identified.  Specifically, statistical analysis suggests that perceptions of DAB were associated with a common personality variable, locus of control.  Practical implications of this interesting finding are subsequently presented in the paper.