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Issue 5(1), October 2010 -- Paper Abstracts

Girard  (p. 9-22)

Cooper (p. 23-32)

Kunz-Osborne (p. 33-41)

Coulmas-Law (p.42-46)

Stasio (p. 47-56)

Albert-Valette-Florence (p.57-63)

Zhang-Rauch (p. 64-70)

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Nonis-Hudson-Hunt (p. 95-106)

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT POLICY AND PRACTICE

Seeing What You Want to See: Perceptual Biases of Auditors

Author(s): Larry M. Parker, Timothy J. Fogarty

Citation: Larry M. Parker, Timothy J. Fogarty, (2012) "Seeing What You Want to See: Perceptual Biases of Auditors" Journal of Management Policy and Practice, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, pp. 11 - 25

Article Type: Research paper

Publisher: North American Business Press

Abstract:

How auditors perceive evidential material lies at the heart of the value of the audit. The belief that

accounting and business information has an objective meaning that can be reliably and consistently

interpreted is foundational for the value of the auditor’s work-product to users. This study tests this

bedrock proposition with an experiment administered to a large number of auditors from several

accounting firms. The results show that internal control predispositions are highly consequential for

accounts payable judgments. Statistical analysis of the data suggests that auditors seek to avoid cognitive

dissonance. They also fall prey to the self-fulfilling prophecy.