The moral reasoning abilities of Australian and Malaysian accounting students: A comparative analysis

Steven Dellaportas*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

If national culture is a significant determinant of ethical attitudes, it is not unreasonable to expect ethical decision-making to be influenced by one's culture. However, problems arise when the notion of right differs from one culture to another. The question addressed in this paper is whether the moral reasoning abilities of Australian and Malaysian accounting students in their final year of study differ because of their cultural upbringing. This study uses primary data collected from 34 final year accounting students (12 Australian and 22 Malaysian) enrolled in an Australian degree program. The test scores collected at the beginning and end of the academic year indicate that culture and other explanatory variables do not have an affect on students' moral judgment. The findings in this study suggest that culture as an independent variable does not influence the way accounting students analyse and resolve ethical dilemmas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)48-63
Number of pages16
JournalAsian Review of Accounting
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • accounting education
  • culture
  • moral reasoning

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