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March 18, 2026The Accounting Review

Auditors' Belief Revisions and Evidence Search: The Effect of Hypothesis Frame, Confirmation Bias, and Professional Skepticism.

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Authors

JMJeffrey J. McMillanClemson UniversityRWRichard A. WhiteUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Implication

Field experiment shows how hypothesis framing and biases affect auditors' belief revisions and evidence search, indicating significant implications for audit efficiency.

Key Points

  • This research aims to explore how auditors' belief revisions and evidence searches are influenced by the framing of hypotheses, alongside confirmation bias and professional skepticism.
  • Field experiment with auditors reviewing preliminary audit information.
  • Subjects indicated preference for environmental or error-framed hypotheses.
  • Auditors sought information to test their hypotheses through audit questions.
  • Hypothesis beliefs were updated after evaluating evidence.
  • Auditors favoring the error frame reacted more strongly to both confirming and disconfirming evidence than those favoring the environmental frame.
  • When using an absolute scale, auditors were more responsive to disconfirming evidence than confirming evidence.
  • The continued evidence search was influenced by a conservative bias, with an emphasis on uncovering potential material errors.

Cite This Study

McMillan et al. (1993) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69ba43884e9516ffd37a4e98https://doi.org/10.2308/tar-9312211767
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Identifying and Closing Gaps in the Judgment and Behavior of Auditing Students and Staff Auditors.1994
  2. 2The Effects of Audit Task on Evidence Integration and Belief Revision.1994
  3. 3The Effect of Psychological Biases on External Auditor’s Professional Skepticism2024 · 1 citations
  4. 4Using Field-Based Evidence to Understand the Antecedents to Auditors’ Skeptical Actions2024 · 6 citations
  5. 5Re-Examining the Outcome Effect: Do Performance Evaluations Discourage Auditors’ Professional Skepticism?2026 · 1 citations