Culture and gender effects on ethical reasoning in an auditing context : a comparison of Canada and mainland China

Abstract

This study investigated culture and gender effects on ethical reasoning in an auditing context using Kohlberg’s (1969) cognitive moral development theory in conjunction with Hofstede’s culture theory (1980, 2001). The study was conducted using Canadian (71) and Mainland Chinese (64) final year undergraduate accounting students. The results indicated that Canadian accounting students had significantly higher ethical reasoning levels than Mainland Chinese accounting students. This suggests that cultural differences affect ethical reasoning in an auditing context. The difference in ethical reasoning scores between Canadian males and females was not significantly different from the difference between Chinese males and females.