Auditors’ Professional Skepticism and Its Relationship with Their Thinking Styles

Abstract

The complexity of financial reporting highlights the need for professional skepticism among auditors. This study examined the relationship between auditors’ professional skepticism (PS) and thinking styles (TS) and explored what associations exist among PS, TS, and auditors’ sociodemographic attributes. Using snowball sampling, we surveyed 139 auditors in the Philippines using the Thinking Styles Inventory – Revised II and the Professional Skepticism Scale. Confirmatory analysis using Kendall’s tau-B showed a strong correlation between PS and TS I (creativity-generating style), implying that it plays a prominent role in professional skepticism. Contrary to earlier studies, our study found only a moderate correlation between TS II (norm-favoring style) and PS. The k-Modes clustering algorithm revealed that auditors showing high PS were low-ranking, less-experienced licensed female CPAs in firms with global affiliations and manifesting creative-generating TS. These findings add to the accounting profession’s understanding of PS and may be of valuable help in cultivating PS among auditors.