Skeptis Scale PDF
Skeptis Scale PDF
Skeptis Scale PDF
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professional skepticism, or how it can be measured. When accounting researchers have needed to
measure professional skepticism, they have turned to scales designed to measure some other
construct such as trust Shaub and Lawrence 1996; Choo and Tan 2000, independence Shaub
1996, or suspicion Shaub and Lawrence 1996. Some researchers have even developed measures
unique to their experimental condition e.g., McMillan and White 1993.
In this paper I propose that professional skepticism is a multi-dimensional individual characteristic. As an individual characteristic, professional skepticism can be both a trait a relatively
stable, enduring aspect of an individual and also a state a temporary condition aroused by
situational variables. I develop a scale designed to ex ante measure an individuals level of trait
professional skepticism based on characteristics derived from audit standards, psychology, philosophy, and consumer behavior research. Those same literatures also suggest a possible set of
behaviors that are indicative of professional skepticism. Figure 1 models how an individuals trait
skepticism and situational variables which arouse state skepticism influence an auditors mindset,
and how this mindset then influences skeptical behaviors.
With a scale capable of measuring trait skepticism, researchers can begin to pursue critical
issues such as identifying whether an auditor can be too skeptical and reach a level where overauditing or inefficient audits might occur. Research could similarly examine whether there is an
optimal level of trait skepticism and whether all members of an audit team need to measure as
highly skeptical. Other questions that might be addressed are: whether trait skepticism facilitates, or is necessary in, risk identification or alternative generation; whether auditor trait skepticism influences modification of audit testing to respond appropriately to risk; and whether auditor
trait skepticism influences client negotiations, audit planning, or even fraud brainstorming. Both
regulators and academic researchers have indicated that professional skepticism is related to fraud
detection. With an instrument designed to measure professional skepticism, the relationship between skepticism and fraud detection may begin to be more clearly understood.
Because of the lack of clear understanding about what constitutes professional skepticism, it
can be difficult to compare or draw conclusions among accounting research studies that address
professional skepticism. While many auditing studies have examined or discussed the behaviors of
skeptical auditors e.g., Anderson and Maletta 1999; Asare and McDaniel 1996; Mueller and
FIGURE 1
Professional Skepticism Framework
Independent Variable
Trait Skepticism
Mediator
Skeptical Mindset
Dependent Variable
Skeptical Behavior
State Skepticism
Skepticism Scale
Moderating Variables
(e.g., engagement circumstances)
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Anderson 2002; Peecher 1996; Rose 2007, only a few studies have attempted to measure participants professional skepticism using existing scales McMillan and White 1993; Shaub 1996;
Shaub and Lawrence 1996. Because each of these studies uses a different scale, it is unlikely that
they are capturing the same construct, and it is difficult to draw inferences due to the lack of
common measurement. It is also unclear whether these studies are attempting to measure state or
trait professional skepticism. Another concern with using scales designed to measure singledimensional constructs, such as independence or trust, is the difficulty in identifying the subconstruct of professional skepticism that is actually being measured.
Nelson 2009 discusses this lack of precision in the use of the term professional skepticism
and categorizes professional standards and academic research as holding either a neutral position,
a presumptive doubt position, or a position of Bayesian unbiasedness when discussing professional skepticism. For example, Nelson characterizes SAS No. 1 AICPA 1997b as portraying a
neutral perspective of skepticism where the auditor works hard to gather and evaluate evidence,
but does not assume any bias ex ante Nelson 2009, 3. He also categorizes international auditing
standards, the PCAOB 2004 in AS No. 2, and other statements such as SAS No. 67 and SAS No.
109 AICPA 1992, 2006 as portraying this neutral view of professional skepticism. In developing
the measure of trait skepticism described in this paper, I use the neutral view of professional
skepticism and define professional skepticism as a multi-dimensional construct that characterizes
the propensity of an individual to defer concluding until the evidence provides sufficient support
for one alternative/explanation over others.
To create an instrument for measuring professional skepticism, I first define a theoretical set
of the characteristics and behaviors of skepticism based on relevant research and professional
standards. While professional skepticism is not explicitly described in the standards as multidimensional, a careful review of the relevant standards reveals that multiple characteristics of
professional skepticism do exist. For example, professional skepticism is portrayed as a multidimensional characteristic when described in the auditing standards e.g., a questioning mind and
a critical assessment of audit evidence AU 230.07; PCAOB 2006a. In nonauditing contexts,
skepticism is also considered to have multiple dimensions. For example, Ford et al. 1990 suggest
that consumer skepticism about advertisements is a multi-faceted concept, and call for research
into the dimensionality of the construct.
Accepting the multi-dimensionality of professional skepticism, I identify six characteristics
that comprise professional skepticism: a questioning mind, a suspension of judgment, a search for
knowledge, interpersonal understanding, self-esteem, and autonomy. I determine these characteristics through an intensive review of the auditing standards as well as a review of the research on
skepticism from auditing, psychology, philosophy, and consumer behavior. I include characteristics from other literatures in an attempt to expand the accounting professions understanding of
professional skepticism. Using the six professional skepticism characteristics as the basis for the
skepticism instrument, I define constructs and develop an initial item pool of 220 questions. One
hundred and seventy of these questions were drawn from available psychological scales relating to
the six professional skepticism characteristics, and an additional 50 questions were written to
focus on aspects of professional skepticism that did not correspond well to items from existing
scales. Through an iterative validation process Churchill 1979; Clark and Watson 1998 including
both students and practicing auditors, I reduced these questions to a 30-item psychological scale
designed to measure the level of trait skepticism possessed by an individual auditor.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In the next section, I discuss the theoretical support for the six characteristics used to develop the skepticism scale. The third section
describes the scale development process based on the characteristics identified through the literature review. Included in this section is information on the scale testing and validation process. I
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conclude with possible implications of the professional skepticism scale for practice and research,
including possible links between professional skepticism and certain audit behaviors, and suggestions for future research.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PROFESSIONAL SKEPTICISM
The first three characteristics of professional skepticism a questioning mind, suspension of
judgment, search for knowledge relate to the way an auditor examines evidence. All three indicate
a willingness to search for and fully examine sufficient evidence before making a decision. An
auditor who exhibits professional skepticism is willing to wait to make a judgment, and as stated
in SAS No. 1, should not be satisfied with less than persuasive evidence AU 230.09; PCAOB
2006a. The fourth characteristic, interpersonal understanding, identifies the need to also consider
the human aspects of an audit when evaluating evidence as is indicated in SAS No. 99s AICPA
1997b instruction, the auditor may identify events or conditions that indicate incentives/
pressures on individuals1 to perpetrate fraud, opportunities for individuals to carry out the
fraud, or attitudes/rationalizations used by individuals to justify a fraudulent action AU 316.31;
PCAOB 2006b. The last two characteristics, self-esteem and autonomy, address the ability of the
individual to act on the information obtained. Mautz and Sharaf 1961, 35, in their classic AAA
monograph, The Philosophy of Auditing, discuss this, stating the auditor must have the professional courage not only to critically examine and perhaps discard the proposals of others, but to
submit his own inventions to the same kind of detached and searching evaluation.
Questioning Mind (Questioning)
There seems to be no doubt that one aspect of professional skepticism is a questioning
mindset. SAS No. 82 AICPA 1997a and SAS No. 99 AICPA 2002 both indicate that professional skepticism is an attitude that includes a questioning mind. In fact, SAS No. 99 specifically
increased the focus on professional skepticism as compared to previous standards by indicating
that professional skepticism requires an ongoing questioning of whether the information and
evidence obtained suggests that a material misstatement due to fraud has occurred AICPA 2002,
13. Many accounting studies equate skepticism with suspicion, disbelief, or doubt, all of which
have some aspect of this questioning construct for a comprehensive review of professional skepticism literature, see Nelson 2009.
Research in consumer behavior also seems to indicate that skepticism entails questioning.
This is especially true of the research stream that deals with skepticism about advertising e.g.,
Ford et al. 1990; Koslow 2000; Mangleburg and Bristol 1998; Obermiller and Spangenberg 1998.
Obermiller and Spangenberg 1998, in their scale to measure consumer skepticism of advertising,
suggest that one aspect of skepticism is a tendency to question advertisers claims. Communications researchers discuss the concept of media skepticism, the extent to which individuals question
or discount the information provided by the mass media e.g., Cozzens and Contractor 1987;
Irving and Berel 2001; Irving et al. 1998. This research on media skepticism indicates that
obtaining information from known sources such as friends and family increases questioning about
the information obtained from unknown sources such as the media.
Similarly, extensive philosophy literature discusses a disposition toward inquiry as an important characteristic of skepticism. Stough 1969, 3 indicates that the word skeptic is derived from
a term meaning to observe carefully, to examine, to consider. Fogelin 1994, 3 defines a
philosophical skeptic as one who calls things into question. Bunge 1991, 131 concurs, stating
1
This emphasis on individuals is implied but not stated in the standard. All information in brackets was inserted for
clarification.
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Methodological skepticism is a specific type of skepticism that holds that by using the techniques of skepticism, an
individual may arrive at a position of knowledge Johnson 1978; Bunge 1991, 132.
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knowledge is more of a sense of general curiosity or interest. Skeptics are interested in knowledge
in general and are not necessarily motivated to search simply to verify a specific conclusion or
obtain specific information. This aspect of skepticism is evident in philosophy. Johnson 1978, 14
characterizes skeptics as ones who seek knowledge for knowledges sake, and Bunge 1991, 131
indicates that skepticism encourages a desire to investigate. Popkin and Stroll 2002, 36 state,
The skeptic is urging scrutiny, asking that we look deep into and beyond the obvious. Naess
1969, 5 concurs, writing, The mature skeptic is a seeker. He is prepared to investigate and
evaluate any new argument in relation to any questions. Similarly, Mautz and Sharaf 1961, 19
indicate that auditing compels a driving curiosity and urge auditors to adopt an attitude of curiosity
when performing audits.
The question of what stimulates an individual to search for more information is a question that
also has been of interest to psychological researchers for over a century Litman and Silvia 2006,
318. This desire for knowledge is usually discussed in terms of individual curiosity. Much of this
research investigates curiosity as both a relatively stable individual difference and as a situationally dependent characteristic e.g., Spielberger and Reheiser 2003; Litman and Silvia 2006. Curiosity is theorized to energize and stimulate ones interest, and also to drive exploration and
discovery Litman and Silvia 2006, 319.
Interpersonal Understanding
These first three characteristics are associated with how an auditor evaluates evidence, but an
important aspect of evaluating audit evidence is interpersonal understanding, which deals with
understanding the motivation and integrity of the individuals who provide evidence. SAS No. 99
is explicit in identifying many incentives and opportunities available to client personnel to present
misleading evidence or to commit fraud, and recommends recognizing the possibility for less than
truthful communication AU 316.87.A2A3. In consumer behavior, Obermiller and Spangenberg
1998, 160 indicate that advertising skepticism consists not only of questioning the literal truths
of ad claims, but also of questioning the motives of the advertisers. In psychology, research
related to social competence which is often described in terms of social skills and social interaction seems to best capture this interpersonal aspect of professional skepticism e.g., Helmreich
and Stapp 1974.
Well-known philosophical writings on skepticism Burnyeat 1983; Hallie 1985; Hookway
1990; Johnson 1978; Kurtz 1992; McGinn 1989; Popkin 1979 provide evidence that understanding peoples motivations and behaviors is a fundamental component of skepticism. The philosophers suggest that it is only by understanding people that a skeptic can recognize and accept that
different individuals have different perceptions of the same object or event. Individuals motivations and perceptions can lead them to provide inaccurate, biased, or misleading information.
Unless the skeptic understands people, it is difficult to recognize the potential for bias that exists
in information given by people, and it is difficult to detect when people might be intentionally
providing misleading information. Once an individuals assumptions or motivations are identified
and understood, the skeptic has a basis for challenging or correcting mistaken assumptions.
Autonomy
AU 230.08 indicates that each auditor should objectively evaluate audit evidence to determine
if the evidence is sufficient to render a judgment. This supports the characteristic of autonomy
when an auditor decides for him- or herself the level of evidence necessary to accept a particular
hypothesis. Mautz and Sharaf 1961, 35 support the need for autonomy when discussing the need
for an auditor to possess professional courage, stating, the auditor must have the professional
courage not only to critically examine and perhaps discard the proposals of others, but to submit
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his own inventions to the same kind of detached and searching evaluations. They further indicate
that the prudent practitioner will take all appropriate steps to remove from his own mind any
doubtful impressions or unanswered questions Mautz and Sharaf 1961, 136. The skeptical
auditor is concerned with his own determination of the veracity of claims and is less influenced by
the beliefs or persuasion attempts of others.
Philosophers also indicate that professional skepticism involves individual autonomy i.e.,
self-direction and moral independence. McGinn 1989, 6 identifies a skeptic as one who does not
easily accept the claims of others. The skeptic identifies contradictions and fallacies present in the
evidence or in the claims presented by others Kurtz 1992, 22 and undertakes additional investigation and evidence until he or she is personally satisfied Bunge 1991.
Self-Esteem
Skepticism also necessitates a certain level of self-esteem. Hookway 1990, 234 recognizes
the need for esteem in successful inquiry, and Lom 2001, 32 discusses this requisite self-esteem
in terms of an inner calmness and a lack of disturbance or turmoil. In psychology research,
self-esteem is characterized as feelings of self-worth and belief in ones own abilities. Self-esteem
was found to be negatively related to persuasibility McGuire 1968 and negatively related to
susceptibility to normative influence Clark and Goldsmith 2005. Boush et al. 1994, 167 indicate that those who are low in self-esteem lack the confidence to rely on their own judgments and
suggest that self-esteem is called for to challenge persuasive attempts rather than simply accept
what is presented. Self-esteem was also found to be positively correlated with advertising skepticism.
Self-esteem enables an auditor to resist persuasion attempts and to challenge anothers assumptions or conclusions. This often necessitates face-to-face interactions and willingness on the
part of the skeptic to explicitly identify and acknowledge explanations other than those offered by
an evidence provider. Skepticism seems to entail some level of self-esteem that is necessary to
take action to acquire sufficient evidence to assuage doubts or answer questions raised during the
audit. Skeptics should possess a level of self-esteem that allows them to value their own insights
at least as greatly as those of others Linn et al. 1982.
Together, these six characteristics comprise trait skepticism and form the basis for developing
a scale to allow researchers to identify auditors who possess more or less professional skepticism.
The next section describes the standard scale development process e.g., Churchill 1979; Clark and
Watson 1998 I followed to create a scale to measure an individuals professional trait skepticism.
PROFESSIONAL SKEPTICISM SCALE DEVELOPMENT
Figure 2 is a diagram of the iterative sequence of steps that Churchill 1979 suggests can be
followed to develop a measure of specific constructs. Based on the theoretical foundation described above, I supplemented items identified from existing scales with items I wrote to create an
initial pool of potential questions intended to capture each construct of professional skepticism.
The 220 potential questions were examined to see if they translated back to the original constructs.
I used this large initial group of questions in a pilot test to determine whether the items loaded on
the hypothesized construct in a factor analysis. Based on the factor analysis results, I reduced the
number of items and tested the remaining items again to see if the reduced set continued to load
appropriately in a factor analysis. I also verified that the items captured all identified characteristics of professional skepticism and that the scale demonstrated inter-item reliability and temporal
reliability. A more complete description of the process follows.
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FIGURE 2
Churchills (1979) Suggested Procedure of Developing Better Measures
1.
2.
3.
Collect data
4.
Purify measure
5.
Collect data
6.
Assess reliability
7.
Assess validity
8.
Develop norms
There is considerable discussion in the scale development literature about whether an odd or even number of response
points is preferable e.g., Moser and Kalon 1972, 344. With an odd number of response alternatives, the subjects are
offered a neutral middle. I used an even number to avoid the issue of subjects simply selecting the mean value. This is
consistent with the recommendation of Converse and Presser 1990, 37 who indicate, Do not explicitly provide the
middle category and thereby avoid losing information about the direction in which some people lean. They further
suggest measuring intensity by anchoring with words such as strongly agree and strongly disagree, as was done in
this scale.
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sions Messick 1998. To minimize this likelihood, and to determine if my theoretical view of
professional skepticism differed from the view of practicing accountants, I solicited written comments on skepticism from 25 professional accountants, all of whom had at least 15 years experience, were CPAs, and had worked at one or more international accounting firms. The majority of
these accountants 19 had a Masters degree, and 12 were current partners in a CPA firm. I asked
these individuals to answer open-ended questions about what they believed comprised professional skepticism and what they believed would be its opposite. I compared these comments to
both the theorized constructs and to the individual scale items. This review did not identify any
dimensions or definitions of professional skepticism beyond the six I have previously discussed.
Table 1 shows a selection of the professionals comments categorized by the subconstruct to which
they relate; it also lists the scales initially examined for sample items.
Pretesting the Scale
DeVellis 1991 recommends that experts review the scale for content validity. Three accounting faculty members with professional backgrounds and education in auditing served as experts
and reviewed the scale items for relevance and classification regarding the items subconstruct. I
eliminated items identified by the experts as irrelevant or inconsistent and began pretesting and
testing the instrument. Table 2 describes each iteration of the testing process, the number of items
on the scale, and the number and type of subjects who completed the scale.
Based on the expert panel feedback, I reduced the number of potential scale items to 49 and
administered the instrument to 89 graduate and undergraduate business students in what Converse
and Presser 1990 describe as a developmental pretest. Because this scale is designed to be used
with business students as well as with professional accountants, the use of a business student
subject pool for this pretest is reasonable.
I examined the results of the pretest using factor analysis to assist in identifying items that did
not load on expected constructs. My initial examination of the correlation matrix indicated that
many items were significantly correlated which is expected, given that the six subconstructs are
designed to measure the single construct of professional skepticism; therefore, I used oblique
rotation direct oblimin, which relaxes the assumption of orthogonal factors. After eliminating
items that did not load on any of the hypothesized factors, 23 items remained. The 23 items loaded
on the six theoretical factors with item factor-loadings generally of 0.70 or higher; factor loadings
above 0.50 are considered acceptable DeVellis 1991. Cronbachs alpha, which gives an indication about whether the questions in the scale are measuring the same construct, was 0.82 for the
entire scale.4
Based on the pretest results, I generated a number of new questions for the constructs where
some items had been confusing to the subjects and wrote or revised additional items with the goal
of obtaining an equal number of items five for each of the six factors. Because there is no
theoretical basis for assuming that any single aspect of skepticism is more important than another,
developing a scale with equal weighting for all factors seemed most appropriate. The writing/
rewriting process at this stage resulted in a 40-item scale for the pilot test. The pilot test had more
items than is desired for the final scale to allow for the possibility of invalid questions.
Pilot and Reliability Testing
The 40-item scale was administered to 250 undergraduate business students; useable responses were received from 247 students. Analysis of the data revealed no significant differences
4
DeVellis 1991 indicates the following acceptable ranges for Cronbachs alpha: between .80 and .90 is very good;
between .70 and .80, respectable; between .65 and .70 minimally acceptable.
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TABLE 1
Characteristics of Skepticisma
Characteristics of
Skeptics
Questioning Mind
State-Trait Personality
Inventory STPI
Spielberger 1995
Interpersonal Trust,
Trustworthiness and
Gullibility Scale Rotter
1980
Tolerance of Ambiguity
MacDonald 1970
State-Trait Personality
Inventory STPI
Spielberger 1995
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TABLE 1 (continued)
Characteristics of
Skeptics
State-Trait Personality
Inventory STPI
Spielberger 1995
Autonomy
in skepticism scores related to any demographic information such as gender, GPA, class standing,
class where the instrument was administered, native English speaker, or age.
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TABLE 2
Iterations in Scale Testing
Testing Phase
Number of Subjects
Type of Subjects
Number of
New
Questions
Written
Number of
Items
Initially
Number of
Items after
Analysis
49
23
Developmental Pre-Test
89
Pilot
247
17
40
25
Re-test
147
92 matched sets were
obtained
15
40
30
Professional Subjects
200
57% response rate from
350 initial requests
Professional Accountants
30
30
88
Professional Accountants
30
30
Professional SubjectsRe-test
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The rotated-factor analysis indicated that the majority of items loaded on the six theoretical
factors. I eliminated items that loaded on constructs other than those anticipated primarily with
new or reversed items, which resulted in a 25-item scale. Cronbachs alpha for the entire scale
was 0.85. I again wrote additional questions to ensure that there were an equal number of questions for each construct.
Intra-subject test-retest reliability measures the stability of an individuals responses over
time. The test-retest method is recommended when developing a measure that cannot be validated
using known group validation5 techniques, or when developing a measure with subconstructs that
preclude using split-half reliability6 DeVellis 1991; Fink 1995; Litwin 1995. Additionally, temporal stability of subjects scale scores is important if ongoing studies of professional skepticism
are to occur.
After an approximately eight-week delay, the 250 subjects were asked to complete the professional skepticism instrument for a second time.7 Responses were received from 147 subjects,
but because of incomplete information I was able to match only 92 sets of responses. The correlation between the total skepticism score sum of the original 25 items on the first and second test
was significant; r 0.89, p .001. Litwin 1995 indicates that in reliability testing, r values are
considered good if they equal or exceed .70, while Fink 1995 suggests a conservative rule of
thumb: over .75 is a very good to excellent relationship. Cronbachs alpha for the combined
test-retest was 0.95.
The 15 new items were examined to verify that questions loaded on the appropriate factor.
From this analysis, I constructed a 30-item test with an equal number of items for each construct.8
The final 30-item scale with administering and scoring instructions is located in the Appendix. On
this 30-item instrument, the student subjects had a mean score of 132.7 with a standard deviation
of 15.9, and scores ranged from 77 to 175.9
Testing with Professional Auditors
I received permission from a major international auditing firm to administer the professional
skepticism scale to members of the firm. Managing partners at 13 U.S. offices of this firm agreed
to provide email addresses for their staff members10 and also agreed to send a memo to those
individuals encouraging them to respond to my email. I emailed 350 auditors and asked them to
participate in a two-part study. The email included the URL for a website that contained the
professional skepticism instrument and demographic questions. To increase the response rate, I
sent two follow-up emails during the next two months.
Two hundred auditors completed the questions at the designated URL, a 57 percent response
rate. Tests of differences between early and late responders did not reveal any significant differences between the groups. Demographics on the auditors are presented in Table 3. The professional auditors mean score on the scale was 138.6, with a range from 111 to 173 of 180 points
5
6
7
8
9
10
Known group validation involves administering the instrument to a group of subjects known to have the characteristic
that the scale is designed to measure. Because there is not a known group that has been determined to possess trait
professional skepticism, this preferred validation technique cannot be used.
A scale with an odd number of questions for each construct precludes use of split-half reliability testing.
Although I added questions to the scale to bring the total number of questions to 40, these additional questions were not
included in the test-retest analysis.
Six of these 30 items were based on items originally drawn from the STPI Spielberger 1995 or the MCI Naylor 1981.
For a more intuitive understanding of what the scale scores mean, a user may wish to transform the scores to a 100-point
scale by dividing the original scale score by 180, the maximum scale score. On that scale, the student subjects had a
mean of 73.7, and scores ranged from 42.8 to 97.2.
The partners were asked to supply email addresses for individuals with four or more years of audit experience as part
of an experimental study that was also conducted at this time.
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TABLE 3
Demographics on Professional Accounting Respondents
Male
n 112
Months of professional
experience
Mean
Standard Deviation
Age
Mean
Standard Deviation
Education
Bachelors Degreea
Advanced Degree
Certifications Held
CPA
Other
Female
n 87
Declined
to
Respond
n1
Total
n 200
60
26
57
21
75
58.4
24
28.7
3.3
27.8
3.0
30
28.3
3.2
90
22
72
14
99
6
79
2
1
1
162
37
179
8
possible and a standard deviation of 12.6.11 There was no significant correlation between a
subjects score on the scale and any of his or her demographics e.g., age, amount of experience,
or gender. The mean experience level of the auditors was 58 months, so all of the subjects should
be familiar with the requirement for professional skepticism. However, the purpose of the scale
was not disclosed to the subjects in order to lessen the likelihood of subjects responding in a
manner that they believed was correct.
The internal consistency coefficient for this administration of the 30-item scale using Cronbachs alpha is 0.86. As with previous administrations of the instrument, and as expected for a
scale designed to measure a single construct, the correlation matrix indicated that many of the
items were significantly correlated; therefore, oblique rotation was used in the factor analysis of
the responses. As shown in Table 4, the questions loaded on the six theorized factors, but two
questions did not load on the construct they were theorized to measure, and one of these items
loaded at only 0.49, below the 0.50 minimum suggested by DeVellis 1991.12 Because this scale
is designed to provide a single score for professional skepticism and the internal consistency of the
questions is appropriate, this shift in where the two questions loaded might simply be a function
of the sample population. It does not indicate that the scale, taken as a whole, has internal
consistency problems.
To examine the scales test-retest reliability temporal stability, subjects were again emailed
and asked to complete an unrelated task, answer a few questions, and then retake the professional
skepticism scale. The mean elapsed time between completion of the first and second scale was 22
days, with a range of two days to 56 days and a mode of 15 days. Scores on the repeated
11
12
When I transform these scores to a 100-point scale, the transformed mean score is 77, with a range from 61.7 to 91.1.
I reran the analysis using the combined first and second scores of the subjects, and all items loaded on the appropriate
constructs with loadings above 0.50, providing some support that the questions moving to another subconstruct was a
function of this particular population.
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TABLE 4
Rotated Component Matrix Responses to the Skepticism ScaleProfessional Subjects
Scale .86; n 200
Factor
1
.91
.09
.15
.21
.26
.14
.83
.83
.07
.07
.18
.07
.25
.20
.21
.28
.22
.11
.82
.16
.20
.25
.32
.10
.77
.03
.17
.08
.28
.12
.55
.22
.18
.34
.27
.45
.07
.82
.06
.18
.01
.14
.03
.80
.14
.22
.02
.16
.03
.77
.03
.08
.22
.25
.17
.76
.23
.12
.09
.13
.11
.69
.01
.06
.14
.02
.07
.07
.76
.07
.25
.37
.12
.19
.76
.11
.06
.25
.13
.03
.74
.07
.22
.37
.12
.08
.64
.10
.29
.57
.08
.03
.56
.03
.12
.05
.25
.11
.49
.05
.17
.11
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TABLE 4 (continued)
Scale .86; n 200
Factor
1
.28
.19
.10
.90
.13
.21
.22
.19
.00
.88
.06
.18
.33
.12
.04
.88
.02
.10
.14
.06
.17
.79
.08
.03
.05
.12
.02
.75
.11
.14
.29
.25
.34
.22
.24
.10
.03
.01
.01
.08
.17
.25
.23
.11
.18
.02
.11
.14
.11
.04
.90
.87
.87
.84
.81
.06
.07
.12
.15
.06
.23
.06
.21
.11
.07
.85
.32
.07
.46
.12
.17
.78
.00
.31
.21
.02
.01
.60
a Items included as part of the questioning mind construct which loaded on other constructs.
professional skepticism scale were collected from 88 subjects. Their mean score on the second test
was 135.4, with a range of 105 to 177 and a standard deviation of 14.7.13 This compares favorably
with these subjects scores on the previously reported first administration of the scale. The correlation between the first and second test scores was 0.85, which is significant at the 0.01 level.
Cronbachs alpha, measuring internal consistency between the two total scores, was 0.91. These
results provide preliminary evidence that the skepticism scale is a valid instrument with appropriate inter-item and temporal stability. As such, it provides accounting firms and researchers with the
first instrument theoretically designed to measure professional skepticism.
DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Discussion and Implications
Researchers studying auditor behavior have often used professional skepticism as a motivation for their research or as an explanation for results, but an a priori measure of trait professional
13
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skepticism did not exist. In this paper, I reviewed the literature on both auditor professional
skepticism and skepticism as it is discussed in other disciplines. All of these literatures provide
support for professional skepticism as a multi-faceted construct. Based on this review, I developed
a set of characteristics that underlie professional skepticism. Professional accountants also provided me with definitions and opposites of professional skepticism, and these comments indicated that a multi-dimensional view is appropriate. From the theoretical underpinnings and the
characteristics, I developed a 30-item scale designed to measure professional skepticism.
In this paper I focused on the multi-dimensional characteristics of skeptics which combine to
determine ones level of trait skepticism, which, in turn, influences one to behave in certain ways.
Our understanding of professional skepticism will remain incomplete, however, until we begin to
address the issues of state professional skepticism and skeptical behaviors. The PCAOBs Inspection Reports have consistently cited a lack of due care and professional skepticism when describing absent behaviors. The background literature in philosophy also suggests four behaviors that are
expected of skeptics: increased information search, increased contradiction detection, increased
alternative generation, and expanded scrutiny of interpersonal information Annas and Barnes
1985; Bunge 1991; Kurtz 1992; McGinn 1989; Popkin 1979. Table 5 shows the behaviors predicted from the philosophical literature and the professional audit literature. Evidence from a
workpaper review experiment Hurtt et al. 2009 indicates that the professional skepticism scale
described here does differentiate and that some of these skeptical behaviors were more evident
among auditors who were identified by the scale as possessing more trait skepticism. Further
evidence regarding the validity of the instrument will be able to be addressed as the scale is used
by other researchers.
TABLE 5
Philosophical and Professional Skeptical Behaviors
Philosophically Predicted
Skeptical Behavior
Increased Contradiction
Detection
Increased Alternative
Generation
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The relationship between trait skepticism and these four behaviors may prove to be a very
fertile area for future audit research. For example, expanded information search behavior is consistent with the SAS No. 1 requirement that auditors obtain a sufficient level of evidence prior to
forming an audit opinion. Similarly, SAS No. 82 and SAS No. 99 recognize the relationship
between risk and the expanded need for audit evidence. However, expanded information search
due to higher levels of trait skepticism may result in over-auditing, which raises the question, Can
an auditor be too skeptical? It also raises a related question, Do all members of an audit team
need to have a high level of trait skepticism, or is there a minimum level of trait skepticism that
is necessary for professional audit work?
During an audit, an auditor is expected to develop specific expectations and to compare these
expectations to actual audit findings to identify differences. Identification of these differences or
contradictions is necessary for an effective audit. Research into the amount and nature of the
contradictions detected might help determine the impact of trait professional skepticism in critical
audit areas such as fraud detection.
The area of hypothesis generation has generated significant auditing research; however, studies have not linked it with the participants trait skepticism level. In an audit setting, expanded
scrutiny of interpersonal information may cause a skeptical auditor to question not only the
information that is provided by a client, but also the various motivations that the client has in
providing that information. The skeptical auditor may also be concerned about the reliability and
independence of systems that provide information and be aware of the need for corroboration and
support. Research into any audit efficiencies or changes in audit effectiveness that might result
from auditors trait skepticism will be an area of possible interest to the firms and audit researchers.
Limitations and Recommendations
While the scale was created and validated using rigorous development procedures, it is only
after repeated use that researchers will begin to have assurance that the scale is actually capturing
trait skepticism. Future research in auditing will serve to provide additional validation or indicate
the need for revision of the scale. Furthermore, although this scale was developed assuming equal
importance and equal weighting of all of the subconstructs, this may not be a valid assumption. It
may be determined that specific subconstructs are most useful in predicting auditor behavior and
a more parsimonious scale may be developed. In addition, I explicitly assumed a compensatory
model for developing this scale i.e., scoring higher on one aspect of the scale compensates for
scoring lower on another. This may prove to be an unwarranted assumption, and further research
could indicate that a noncompensatory combination of characteristics is required for trait skepticism.
This scale was validated using auditors from one major accounting firm and was validated
prior to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. As the scale is intended to measure trait
skepticism, a relatively stable characteristic, there is no theoretical basis for concluding that the
Acts passage would influence an auditors score on this instrument. It does not appear that the
characteristics of professional skepticism should be firm-related; however, future substantiation
using a wider range of auditors is important for full validation of the scale.
This scale was developed to measure trait skepticism, but there is great interest in a rigorously
developed instrument that is able to measure state skepticism. Many researchers are interested in
knowing whether various audit situations evoke a state of professional skepticism in auditors.
Currently researchers must rely on behavioral changes or awareness of experimental manipulations to make assumptions about the presence or absence of state professional skepticism. I
recommend that further research be conducted to develop an instrument to measure state skepti-
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cism, as many questions rest on determining whether an auditors state skepticism is aroused by
situational variables and how that arousal influences his/her behavior. It is possible that the difference between the neutral and presumptive doubt perspectives on professional skepticism identified by Nelson 2009 may be explained by a trait and state view of professional skepticism. Trait
skepticism may relate to the neutral perspective and the six characteristics identified here; however, when an auditors state skepticism is aroused, it may be that he or she moves to a position of
presumptive doubt.
Given the importance of professional skepticism and its basis as the foundation of the auditing
profession, continuing research in this area is needed. Until the development of a trait skepticism
scale, audit researchers were hampered in their ability to a priori determine auditors who are more
and less skeptical. The ability to ascertain trait skepticism levels should provide researchers with
an important tool in determining behavioral responses of more and less skeptical auditors in a
variety of audit circumstances.
APPENDIX
SKEPTICISM SCALE AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADMINISTRATION
Statements that people use to describe themselves are given below. Please circle the response
that indicates how you generally feel. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too
much time on any one statement.
Strongly
Disagree
I often accept other peoples
explanations without further
thought.
I feel good about myself.
I wait to decide on issues until
I can get more information.
The prospect of learning
excites me.
I am interested in what causes
people to behave the way
that they do.
I am confident of my abilities.
I often reject statements unless
I have proof that they are
true.
Discovering new information is
fun.
I take my time when making
decisions.
I tend to immediately accept
what other people tell me.
Other peoples behavior does
not interest me.
I am self-assured.
My friends tell me that I
usually question things that I
see or hear.
I like to understand the reason
for other peoples behavior.
Strongly
Agree
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
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Strongly
Disagree
I think that learning is exciting.
I usually accept things I see,
read, or hear at face value.
I do not feel sure of myself.
I usually notice inconsistencies
in explanations.
Most often I agree with what
the others in my group
think.
I dislike having to make
decisions quickly.
I have confidence in myself.
I do not like to decide until
Ive looked at all of the
readily available
information.
I like searching for knowledge.
I frequently question things
that I see or hear.
It is easy for other people to
convince me.
I seldom consider why people
behave in a certain way.
I like to ensure that Ive
considered most available
information before making a
decision.
I enjoy trying to determine if
what I read or hear is true.
I relish learning.
The actions people take and
the reasons for those actions
are fascinating.
Strongly
Agree
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
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