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Professional skepticism through audit praxis: An Aristotelian perspective

Professional skepticism through audit praxis: An Aristotelian perspective While professional skepticism (PS) is a critical element of audit practice, academic and professional discourse offers unclear and sometimes competing narratives of how to maintain or improve it. This study provides a holistic account of how PS develops by interpreting interviews of 21 highly experienced auditors. Using a theoretical framework from Aristotle and Alasdair MacIntyre, PS is interpreted as a character virtue of skepticism guided by the intellectual virtue of phrónēsis. PS is developed through two distinct stages of auditors' careers: (i) the pre‐professional phase, in which an auditor acquires characteristics amenable to developing PS; and (ii) the professional praxis phase, in which PS is inculcated through a combination of formal and on‐the‐job instruction and audit experience. This approach to how PS is developed suggests that audit firms could focus more explicitly on recruiting novice auditors whose pre‐professional characteristics make them receptive to acquiring PS, and on blended learning, with formal and on‐the job instruction and habituation through audit experience. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Auditing Wiley

Professional skepticism through audit praxis: An Aristotelian perspective

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References (92)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISSN
1090-6738
eISSN
1099-1123
DOI
10.1111/ijau.12258
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

While professional skepticism (PS) is a critical element of audit practice, academic and professional discourse offers unclear and sometimes competing narratives of how to maintain or improve it. This study provides a holistic account of how PS develops by interpreting interviews of 21 highly experienced auditors. Using a theoretical framework from Aristotle and Alasdair MacIntyre, PS is interpreted as a character virtue of skepticism guided by the intellectual virtue of phrónēsis. PS is developed through two distinct stages of auditors' careers: (i) the pre‐professional phase, in which an auditor acquires characteristics amenable to developing PS; and (ii) the professional praxis phase, in which PS is inculcated through a combination of formal and on‐the‐job instruction and audit experience. This approach to how PS is developed suggests that audit firms could focus more explicitly on recruiting novice auditors whose pre‐professional characteristics make them receptive to acquiring PS, and on blended learning, with formal and on‐the job instruction and habituation through audit experience.

Journal

International Journal of AuditingWiley

Published: Apr 1, 2022

Keywords: Aristotle; audit engagement, intellectual and character virtues; MacIntyre; on‐the‐job learning; professional skepticism

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