Effects of Knowledge, Time Pressure and Personality on Professional Skepticism among Government Auditors

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of knowledge, time pressure, and personality characteristics on professional skepticism among auditors. This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 258 auditors in a Malaysian government audit department. The results showed that of the three factors examined in this study, time pressure and personality characteristics influence the professional skepticism of auditors. However, the results showed that knowledge does not influence auditors’ professional skepticism. The findings in this study provide a greater understanding of the factors that lead to audit deficiencies caused by a lack of professional skepticism. These threats should be systematically assessed by regulators to determine the actions required to enhance and encourage professional skepticism in audit work. The findings in this study could help the auditors themselves to take preventive measures and adopt a more proactive approach in improving audit independence through professional skepticism. In addition, this study contributes to the existing literature by providing further evidence of the factors that may influence professional skepticism among auditors.