Effect of Demographic Factors, Occupational Stress and Job Satisfaction on Dysfunctional Audit Behaviour among Auditors

Abstract

This study aims to examine the factors of dysfunctional behaviour among auditors in Malaysia.  Factor analysis was employed to analyse three factors (1) demographic factors (a type of firm and period of audit experience), (2) Occupational stress (time budget pressure and complexity of audit task) and (3) Job Satisfaction that affects dysfunctional audit behaviour which is reduced audit quality and underreporting time. A questionnaire was distributed among 223 respondents employed by the Big 4 and non-Big 4 audit firms located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The findings revealed that all the tested variables have a significant influence towards reduced audit quality, whereas underreporting time show a non-significant relationship with demographic factors. The findings are anticipated to provide beneficial insights not only to audit practitioners but to many other regulators, professional bodies, policy makers, practitioners and academics that are relevant to their future decisions. This study is also subject to limitations that serve as consideration for future research. Keywords: Dysfunctional Audit Behaviour; Audit Behaviour Factors; Fraud Detection; Audit Quality eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7%20(Special%20Issue).3886