The Impact of Moral Reasoning on Ethical Perception, Intention, and Orientation of Upper Level Accounting Students

Recent business ethical failures involving the presentation of fraudulent financial information have generated public distrust of the accounting profession. Such ethical failures may be attributable to a deficiency in moral judgments. Prior studies measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT) suggest that accountants have a lower level of moral reasoning ability than some of their counterparts. Furthermore, studies have linked accountants' moral reasoning with ethical behavior, claiming that people with higher level of moral reasoning are less inclined to behave unethically. The question remains whether or not moral rules are perceived differently in the accounting profession. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of moral reasoning on ethical perception, intention, and orientation of upper level accounting students. The Defining Issues Test Version 2 (DIT-2) and the Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES) were the instruments used to collect and analyze data from participants. The data were analyzed using demographic information and linear regression. The DIT-2 measured each participant's level of moral reasoning, and the MES captured participants' responses to three ethical business cases. The questionnaire contains business cases and related questions used to measure responses to ethical perception, ethical intention, and 5 moral constructs that comprise ethical orientation. This study has found a significant relationship between moral reasoning and ethical intention in two of the three business cases, BC1 and BC3. The p-values are 0.45 and 0.59, respectively. Therefore, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. This may indicate that some accounting students may not apply their moral judgment when making ethical judgments. This study contributes to social change by demonstrating that without a strong emphasis on ethics education, misrepresentation of accounting data may force corporations to close and many people lose their jobs and livelihoods.