Religiosity, gender, personality type A, and trait professional skepticism: Perspective of accounting students in Ghana

Abstract

Professional skepticism of auditors has been described as an essential skill required to detect material misstatements and to evaluate the evidence obtained. This study investigates the professional skepticism traits of undergraduate accounting students described as potential auditors and analyses the relationship between religiosity, personality type A, gender and trait professional skepticism from the perspective of these students. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 225 undergraduate accounting students enrolled at the University of Ghana Business School, who have taken one auditing course. The study's hypothesized associations were tested using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The study shows that accounting students are exhibiting the search for knowledge and self-confidence dimensions of trait professional skepticism rather than action-oriented dimensions. On the factors that influence the professional skepticism of these potential auditors, the study finds a positive and significant relationship between achievement striving, a personality type and trait professional skepticism, while impatience irritability personality type showed a negative but significant relationship. The study failed to find support for a direct relationship between religiosity and professional skepticism, although the relationship is positive, but reports a positive and significant indirect relationship between religiosity and professional skepticism.