The Mediating Role of Trait Professional Scepticism in the Relationship between Students’ Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience and Anticipatory Socialisation

Tang, Zi Sheng (2024) The Mediating Role of Trait Professional Scepticism in the Relationship between Students’ Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience and Anticipatory Socialisation. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Trait professional scepticism is an important factor in minimising errors and enhancing the quality of audited financial statements. Students’ level of scepticism is crucial in modern business practices, as companies increasingly expect students who enter their workforce to exhibit behaviours conducive to producing high audit quality. The academic issue of ignoring critical thinking has hindered students' ability to develop professional scepticism, consequently affecting their preparedness for future audit environments. In existing research, a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted, administering a questionnaire survey to 100 accounting students with internship experience. Subsequently, data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. Trait professional scepticism was tested as a mediating effect between conscientiousness, openness to experience, and anticipatory socialisation. The results supported that trait professional scepticism mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and anticipatory socialisation, as well as openness to experience and anticipatory socialisation, with implications for practice. Additionally, the study's limitations are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research