The effects of ethics education interventions on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana

Regina Mensah Onumah, Samuel Nana Yaw Simpson, Amoako Kwarteng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The study investigates effects of ethics education interventions (EEIs) in accounting programmes and the moderating role of personal demographic factors on ethical attitudes of accountants (EAA) within the context of Ghana. It employs a survey of 340 accountants and uses ordinary least square to test some hypothesized relationships. The results show that EEIs such as the inclusion of ethics-related courses, methods of teaching ethics, methods of assessing ethics and methods of ethics incorporation have positive and significant effects on the EAA. Further, personal demographic factors such as experience and age moderate the positive relationship between EEI and ethical attitude. The study contributes to the extant literature by demonstrating that cultural relativism plays a crucial role in shaping EAA. This study differs from the previous studies since it uses professional accountants as the unit of analysis and situated within the context of the developing country.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)413-437
Number of pages25
JournalAccounting Education
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Ethics education
  • Ghana
  • ethical attitudes
  • ethics intervention
  • professional accountants

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effects of ethics education interventions on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this