THE IMPACT OF AUDITOR CHARACTERISTICS ON PROFESSIONAL SKEPTICISM: THE CASE OF LEBANON

Abstract

When deciding to purchase an entity's stock or debt instruments, economic factors must have access to reliable information. Without reliable and up-to-date financial information, provided by the firm in the form of financial statements, these choices are unlikely to be successful. It is the responsibility of the auditor, as an independent party to the financial statements, to detect fraud on the financial statements; auditors are tasked with ensuring that the financial statements are true, fair, presented honestly in accordance with the actual situation of the company, and free from material misstatements caused by fraud or error in order to obtain reliable financial statements. The research implemented a quantitative methodology for data collection. The survey was based on the variables of this research and distributed using Google forms for data collection. The data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical tool to test hypotheses. The research covered the workforce engaged in accounting and auditing practices in Lebanese accounting firms. The population of the research includes around 1,000 employees. When setting the research constraints, which include a 95% confidence interval, a 5 % margin of error, and a 50% population proportion, after making the desired calculations the approximate number of respondents that should be addressed through the means of a survey is 201 respondents.
 These research findings suggest that male and female auditors share a high degree of ethical awareness, suggesting that auditors of all sexes should be cautious in their approach to every audit. Researchers found that female auditors were less likely than their male peers to do a compulsory joint audit that included an examination of partner and earnings management. Auditors tend to have an inflated sense of their own talents, and it's often held that female engagement partners are less certain than their male counterparts. Female auditors may be more skeptical in their work lives than their male counterparts because of their tendency toward overconfidence and risk-taking