Ethical decision making model of certified public accountants based on anticipated regret

Moradzadeh Zargar, Mostafa; Saeedi, Parviz; Garkaz, Mansour; Matoofi, Alireza

doi:10.22075/ijnaa.2022.27469.3612

Ethical decision making model of certified public accountants based on anticipated regret

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mostafa Moradzadeh Zargar ¹

Parviz Saeedi ²

Mansour Garkaz ¹

Alireza Matoofi ¹

¹ Department of Accounting, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran

² Department of Accounting and Management, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran

10.22075/ijnaa.2022.27469.3612

Abstract

Ethics is vital for the acceptance of any profession in society. Various factors affect certified public accountants’ decisions. Most people feel regret when they realize a different decision could have led to a better outcome. So not only the outcome of the current decision is important to them, but also the outcome they could have achieved if they had made a different decision. Therefore, the present study introduces an ethical model for certified public accountants based on the anticipated regret. Therefore, this study investigates influential dimensions and qualitative items on the ethical decision of certified public accountants based on anticipated regret. The statistical population includes two groups of experts: theorizing experts (i.e. university professors), and experienced experts (i.e. certified public accountants). Descriptive and inferential statistical methods are used to test the research hypotheses. In order to answer the main question of the research, first, the research items are identified using the fuzzy Delphi method and based on previous research on professional ethics, accounting and financial issues. The SEM method is used to measure the relationships between the research items and after the final data fit, the ethical decision-making model of certified public accountants based on anticipated regret is presented.

Keywords

Ethical decision making

anticipated regret

certified public accountants

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