Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making in Accounting 2nd Edition by Steven Mintz, Roselyn Morris

Exercise 20

In a June 1997 paper published in the Journal of Business Ethics,Sharon Green and James Weber reported the results of a study of moral reasoning of accounting students prior to and after taking an auditing course. The study also compared the results between accounting and non-accounting students prior to the auditing course. The authors found that: (1) accounting students, after taking an auditing course which emphasized the AICPA Code, reasoned at higher levels than students who had not taken the course; (2) there were no differences in moral reasoning levels when accounting and non-accounting majors were compared prior to an auditing course; and (3) there was a significant relationship between the Seniors' levels of ethical development and the choice of an ethical versus unethical action. 39 Comment on the results of this study.