The effects of ethics education interventions on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana

• Published in: Accounting Education Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 413 - 437
• Main Authors: Onumah, Regina Mensah, Simpson, Samuel Nana Yaw, Kwarteng, Amoako
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 04-07-2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Accounting; Attitudes; Business Administration Education; Business education; ethical attitudes; Ethical Instruction; Ethics; Ethics education; ethics intervention; Evaluation Methods; Foreign Countries; Ghana; Intervention; professional accountants; Professional ethics; Professional Personnel; Teaching Methods; Ghana
• ISSN: 0963-9284; 1468-4489
• DOI: 10.1080/09639284.2021.1916548

The study investigates effects of ethics education interventions (EEIs) in accounting programmes and the moderating role of personal demographic factors on ethical attitudes of accountants (EAA) within the context of Ghana. It employs a survey of 340 accountants and uses ordinary least square to test some hypothesized relationships. The results show that EEIs such as the inclusion of ethics-related courses, methods of teaching ethics, methods of assessing ethics and methods of ethics incorporation have positive and significant effects on the EAA. Further, personal demographic factors such as experience and age moderate the positive relationship between EEI and ethical attitude. The study contributes to the extant literature by demonstrating that cultural relativism plays a crucial role in shaping EAA. This study differs from the previous studies since it uses professional accountants as the unit of analysis and situated within the context of the developing country.