Measuring Ethical Behavior of Accounting Graduates in Malaysia: Comparison between Perceptual Statements and Vignettes

Abstract

The failure of accountants/auditors to uphold positive values and maintain ethical behavior while performing professional services has been widely discussed. Most future accountants in Malaysia are accounting graduates from Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) accredited universities. Previous studies have found that ethical culture at the workplace will influence the ethical behavior of an individual. Previous studies have measured ethical behavior using vignettes scenarios and perceptual statements. Thus, the study has two objectives, and they are firstly to empirically assess the impact of an ethical workplace culture on the ethical behavior of these graduates and secondly to compare the statistical results of two different measurements of ethical behavior using perceptual statements and vignettes. To achieve both objectives, SmartPLS 4 was utilized to examine the impact of ethical culture at workplace on the ethical behavior of accounting graduates using vignette scenarios and perceptual statements. This study involved 344 samples of accounting graduates from MIA-accredited universities, and path analysis was performed to test the hypotheses. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the ethical workplace culture and ethical behavior among accounting graduates, regardless of whether the ethical behavior was measured using vignette scenarios or perceptual statements. However, it was found that the relationship of ethical culture at the workplace and ethical behavior measured by perceptual statements provides a better explanation of the relationship between ethical behavior and workplace culture, as evidenced by its higher path coefficient, larger effect size, and more explanatory power. as opposed to the relationship of ethical culture at workplace and ethical behavior measured by perceptual statements. Taking these results into account, researchers are advised to choose the measurement of ethical behavior carefully and to ensure that the research instruments used are appropriate for the complexity of the phenomenon being studied, which improves the precision and dependability of research results.