Differences in Ethical Judgments between Male and Female Accountants

Shaub (1994) and Cohen et al. (1998) reported that female accountants and undergraduate accounting students exhibit higher levels of moral reasoning than their male counterparts and that female undergraduates make higher ethical evaluations than their male counterparts. The current study extends these findings in two ways, using data collected from a large sample of professional accountants in accounting firms. First, we consider the effects of the moral intensity of the issue (Jones, 1991). Second, we consider a number of demographic and personal variables to determine if these factors are related to evaluations made on six vignettes describing ethical situations. We find, consistent with previous findings, that female accountants make higher ethical judgments than their male colleagues for situations of both high and low moral intensity. We also find that the decisions made by women are related to different demographic and personal factors than their male colleagues.