Determinants of Professional Skepticism: Evidence from Malaysian Public Sector Accountants

Determinants of Professional Skepticism: Evidence from Malaysian Public Sector Accountants

Erlane K. Ghani¹,Azleen Ilias²,Kamaruzzaman Muhammad³,Arie Pratama⁴,Nur Dafina Afiqah Mohd Yassin⁵

^1,3,5Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

²Department of Accounting and Finance, UNITEN Business School, Institute of Energy, Policy, and Research (IEPRe), Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 26700, Pahang, Malaysia

⁴Accounting Department, Faculty of Economics & Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia

^*Corresponding author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.909000713

Received: 20 September 2025; Accepted: 26 September 2025; Published: 28 October 2025

ABSTRACT

Professional skepticism is one of the concepts in accounting, and this study examined seven factors that may influence professional skepticism among public sector accountants, including gender, age, salary, education, professional qualification, experience, and work placement. This study utilises a quantitative approach via a questionnaire survey of 471 accountants in the public sector to achieve this objective. This study shows that age, salary, experience, and work placement influence professional skepticism. However, gender, education, and professional qualification do not influence professional skepticism. These results will help inform the government on levels of professional skepticism among public sector accountants and maintain a high level of professional skepticism efficiently and effectively. This study provides insight as one of the earliest attempts to investigate determinants of professional skepticism among public sector accountants in Malaysia. Therefore, this study could provide ideas for developing suitable strategies to improve financial integrity and accountability, mitigate risks, promote ethical culture, and strengthen governance in public sector entities in Malaysia.

Keywords: professional skepticism, judgement, individual-related, work-related, accountants, public sector

INTRODUCTION

Professional scepticism has been a widely researched area in auditing literature. Auditor skepticism is not only the primary quality of an auditor but also a very critical factor affecting how auditors behave and take decisions (Sun et al., 2022). Failure to detect material misstatement is often attributed to the lack of a significant level of professional skepticism in auditors (Quadackers et al. 2014; Sayed et al., 2017). Aligned with auditors and accountants need to have high professional skepticism as their work would be related to activities that call for judgment and decision making, such as approval of claims or any payments from vendors/subordinates. Accountants are the first line of defense in fraud prevention. Accordingly, they must have an enquiring mind to identify fraud and, thereafter, offer recommendations on how to prevent this before it continues too late. This is also an important dimension since research has shown that there are differences among the professional skepticism level of each individual. Allegedly, accountants without this attitude will not be trusted individuals, and neither will the organisation in which they operate. Hurtt (2010) constructed a scale of professional skepticism to test the level of auditors. However, a literature review across the accounting field reveals that the concept of professional skepticism, especially in measuring accountants’ professional skepticism, is under-researched. Furthermore, research has shown that levels of professional skepticism vary between individuals. Accountants who do not hold such an attitude could potentially damage their reputation and the image of the company they work with (Ghani et al., 2022).

Based on the past president of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), highlighted that accountants in the public sector must uphold their code of ethics and core values of accountability, integrity, and trust in the public interest (MIA, 2021). He also said that the government’s plans to implement financial reporting standards and gradually switch to accrual-based accounting are a great way to improve public sector finances with the help and advice of MIA. Accountants who work in the public sector help the government regulate and protect the public interest in line with the goals of public policy. Their high level of professional skepticism contributes to the safety and security of government assets. A review of the accounting literature reveals, however, that professional skepticism has not been extensively studied for the factors influencing professional skepticism of accountants skeptical.

An extensive audit literature has studied those factors that influence auditors professional skepticism. According to Hurtt, Brown-Liburd, Earley, and Krishnamoorthy (2013), four antecedents lead to skepticism. The antecedents are individual characteristics, evidential characteristics or absence of evidence, client abilities, and environmental determinants. In addition, other factors that may improve the auditors’ skeptical judgments and skeptical actions are incentives, and characteristics of an individual auditor like knowledge, traits, experience, and training in auditing practice (Nelson et al.,2009). In addition, Nelson et al. (2009) mentioned that skeptical behavior might be influenced by the pressures the auditors faced that required them to stay within the budgeted time. Since it is important that accountants in the public sector need to maintain professional skepticism, examining the factors relating to the characteristics of the accountants is seen to play a crucial role in enhancing their performance.

This study aims to examine the factors influencing the professional skepticism of accountants in the public sector. Specifically, seven factors are chosen, namely, gender, age, education, professional qualification, salary, experience, and work placement. These factors are chosen because it is believed they are directly related to their personal and professional profiles. Therefore, the insights of this study will assist the government and other interested parties in identifying the factors that can influence professional skepticism among accountants in the public sector. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows Section 2 presents the literature review. This is followed by Section 3 which explains the research design. Section 4 presents the findings and discussion. The final section is Section 5, which concludes this study.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Professional skepticism

Professional skepticism refers to attitudes such as questioning, careful observation, probing reflection, and suspension of belief in the auditing area (Sayed et al., 2013). This has been applied in the auditing area when detecting fraud (Suryandari & Yuesti, 2017). Additionally, Sayed Hussin and Iskandar (2013) argued that the level of professional skepticism among auditors needs to be maintained in order for proper audit procedures to be applied during the audit process and, therefore, is one of the personal qualities an auditor possesses.

According to the Attribution Theory, this behavior reflects his interpretation of an event, reason, or cause, concluding they may be responsible for its penetrating (Ikhsan & Ishak, 2008). The theory was first put forth by Heider (1958) that such behaviour is influenced by divisions of the world using shortcuts for action because each person in a motivational system studies others to gain an understanding of their activities as if it had been gathered and reorganized till an explanatory account has reached some possibility status with credibility maintaining eligibility. This theory claims that human behaviour is a product of the interaction between internal and external forces. According to Kawisana and Yudiastra (2022), internal forces are the nature and character of a person or his attitude, capability, expertise, and effort, which influence her/his performance and conduct. By contrast, external forces are concerns that lie outside of the control of an individual, with some examples including situational pressures and problems at work as well as blind chance. As such, the attribution theory shows that personality characteristics and professional skepticism serve as standards for building performance (Weiner, 2006). Indeed, it can be suggested that professional skepticism plays a key role in determining fraud detection (Bagus et al., 2018). By measuring personality traits, such as administrators well, psychologists may predict the ability of an individual to work in terms of productivity at work, tenure on the job, and fitness. In auditing, attribution theory has been used to explore professional skepticism and deceptive detection by auditors. As proposed by Chen, Wang, and Liu (2023), a person should always consider the behavior of others from several points so they can find out what is beyond their behaviors. Alternatively, in the professional skepticism area of accountants, this theory can be used to explore what factors affect it. This study selects seven specific factors to examine whether they have a close significant relationship with the level of professional skepticism among accountants.

The Factors Influencing the Professional Skepticism

Gender

The first factor is gender. A large group of performance studies has examined the effect of gender on performance. Most of the studies show that gender significantly affects performance and that women often outperform men. For example, Solem and Blekesaune (2005) found that women, more often than men, say that work is vital to them. Hence, they yield better performances against men. Similarly, Kotur and Anbazhagan (2014) found that gender directly affects the performance of the workers in the Chittoor Sugar Factory, where female workers are relatively more productive. In contrast, Miao, Li, and Bian (2017) found that male doctors have significantly higher salaries, longer working hours, more years of experience at current facilities and professions, and marginally higher hourly wages. However, female doctors showed more incredible overall task qualities. Nonetheless, some studies found no significant difference between gender and performance, such as Holmes, Holmes, and Hassanein (1978), Ho and Kuo (2010), and Joseph, John, Eric, Yusuf, and Olubunmi (2015).

The psychology literature with regards to gender often poses questions as to whether women are more sensitive than men in identifying and acknowledging ethical or unethical events or whether women have a more substantial background and moral development than men (Muthmainah, 2006; Ratna & Anisykurlillah, 2020). According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, an inconsistency between two cognitive elements causes psychological distress (Ratna & Anisykurlillah, 2020). Ratna and Anisykurlillah (2020) argued that if cognitive dissonance exists, someone will endeavour to reduce it to maintain consistency. Following the ethical principles of their profession, both male and female auditors must be skeptical of the evidence and responses from clients, as well as vigilant and professional. Professional ethics will guide both male and female auditors to be skeptical in their auditing duties. Regardless of gender, auditors are bound by professional ethics, which apply to male and female auditors (Pratiwi & Januarti, 2013). Hassan (2019) conducted a study to determine whether gender influences the skepticism of professional auditors that indicates that both male and female auditors possess a high level of ethical awareness, suggesting that they should approach each audit with skepticism. Similarly, Kartika, Fitriana, and Yuliaty (2021) found that female French statutory auditors are more likely to participate in professional skepticism-related misbehaviour than their male counterparts. Meanwhile, according to Stevens, Moroney, and Webster (2019), male French statutory auditors are more accurate at doing more straightforward audit tasks. In contrast, female auditors perform more complex audit activities more accurately. Following these studies, this study posits that gender would also influence the accountants’ professional skepticism:

H1: There is a significant influence between gender and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Age

The second factor that may influence the professional skepticism of accountants in the public sector is age. Aging is mainly considered from an individual’s perspective as the process involving any human being throughout his or her lifespan (Converso et al., 2018). The age literature often indicates that age does affect one’s performance (Ali & Davies, 2003). For example, Converso et al. (2018), in their study on the effect of age on workability, found that age is significantly and negatively associated with workability. A recent article noted possible reasons aging can affect a person’s task performance, particularly for tasks requiring sensory perception, selective attention, working memory, and information processing (Suttle, 2022). This finding is consistent with Li, Liu, Zhang, and Huang (2022), who state that aging negatively affects working memory capacity and task performance and partially mediates the relationship between age and task performance.

Studies have shown that age can be used as a substantive variable for the central relationship between perceived job demands and job outcomes, such as task performance (Abbasi & Bordia, 2019; Ayyagari, Grover & Purvis, 2011). To date, there have been limited studies that have examined the effect of age on professional skepticism. Arguably, older accountants would have lower memory capacity and information processing and, therefore, would be less likely to have lower professional skepticism despite having experience in their tasks. This study posits that older accountants would have lower professional skepticism compared to younger accountants:

H2: There is a significant influence between age and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Education

Education is often listed as a set of skills and a measure of how productive someone could be (Benson et al., 2004). Ishola, Adeleye, and Adele-Tanimola (2018) noted that a person’s education level is based on their certifications or degrees. Trusty and Niles (2004) noted that people with tertiary education hold degrees that are important for selection into numerous higher-paying occupations. Ng and Feldman (2009) found that education helps people do their jobs better by giving them information about how to do things and how to do them well. Arguably, accountants with a higher specific accounting degree would have higher professional skepticism and, subsequently, higher task performance. This opinion is consistent with Shin and Zhou (2003), which suggested that employees who have more years of education, such as a Master’s over a Bachelor’s degree, are less inclined to cause peril to subordinates or co-workers by overlooking security guidelines.

In Diya’s (2023) study, she suggested that auditors with greater levels of education would possess a higher level of skepticism and, as a consequence, are more likely to exercise audit judgment appropriately regardless of previous experience with the customer, lowering the likelihood of audit failure. According to her findings, those who were less skeptical of their clients were more convinced than those who were more skeptical. Auditors with more significant trait skepticism are more resistant to prior audit exposure. This is congruent with the results of Puspitasari, Baridwan, and Rahman (2021), who offered evidence on the multiple stages of trait and situational skepticism that might influence auditors’ decisions. They advised that CPA firms engage professional programme graduates with higher levels of professional skepticism as junior auditors to save money on training while strengthening their skepticism and audit judgments. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed:

H3: There is a significant influence between education and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Professional Qualification

Another factor is professional qualification. Studies have shown that individuals with specialist technical skills such as accounting will be drawn to and hired by businesses that use such a specialised set of abilities since these businesses are the most likely to need such talents. In addition, evidence implies that specific accounting abilities are a crucial factor in performance for the cost-related assessments made by financial experts and managers (He, 2015). Acquiring professional certifications such as ACCA, CIMA, and MICPA is often necessary to attain this level of technical proficiency (Ishola et al., 2018). Professionals are educated individuals who possess a set of essential abilities for performing their designated profession. They adhere strictly to codes of conduct and ethical responsibilities. Typically, these standards are certified and maintained by professional organisations, while an individual’s level of professionalism is determined by their membership in these organisations (Clayton, Staden, & Lynch, 2010).

Ishola et al. (2018, p.36) noted that professional certification is “a qualification conferred by a professional body and the testament that a person has met the stipulated requisite on the academic, practical, and vocational skills set for a profession.” Professional qualifications have been linked to accountants’ task performance and professionalism in various task outcomes and contexts that are demonstrated as a significant source of performance outcomes for accountants (He, 2015). For example, Ishola et al. (2018) examined the effect of professional certification on task performance among financial accounting staff of a university in Nigeria and showed that the bursary staff with a professional qualification reported better task performance than non-professional qualification staff. However, whether their findings would be reflected in this study is still questionable. Therefore, this study develops the following hypothesis:

H4: There is a significant influence between professional qualification and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Salary

Studies have suggested that higher salary workers would perform better on their tasks. According to Mulyadi (2013, p. 373), ‘salary’ is defined as “the payment for service delivery performed by employees,” compensation for their work in an organisation to meet their daily needs (Nur Afiza & Widodo, 2021). Studies such as Nur Afiza and Widodo (2021) noted that salary represents an essential factor in influencing employees’ performance in one of the sub-districts in Indonesia. Similarly, in a recent study, Rosmanida, Kurnia, Reskina, and Safrudin (2022) found that salary significantly influences teachers’ performance in an elementary school in Indonesia. Studies in the accounting literature have also provided evidence of the link between salary and accountants’ task performance. For example, Stedham and Yamamura (2000) found that the salary of accountants in the US and Australia significantly influences their work performance. However, according to Springer (2011), salary does not have a significant relationship with task performance.

In auditing, studies have shown that compensation such as salary can influence the professional skepticism of the auditors in detecting fraud (Hasanah, 2010; Nasution & Fitiany, 2012; Kawisana & Yudiastra, 2022). This is proven by Kawisana and Yudiastra (2022) found that a person with a high level of professional skepticism can detect fraud symptoms more effectively than auditors with a low level of professional skepticism, particularly if their compensation is deemed adequate. Due to the need to exercise professional skepticism in every audit assignment to detect financial statement fraud, an auditor aims to receive adequate compensation. Silalahi (2013) argued that professional skepticism necessitates that the audit be designed to provide high and sufficient confidence to reverse-detect errors and the potential for material misconduct in the financial statements. However, to date, limited studies have examined the salary and accountants’ task performance in the public sector. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed:

H5: There is a significant influence between salary and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Experience

Experience has been identified as one factor affecting task performance in a corpus of accounting literature (Tubbs, 1992; Libby, 1995; Vera-Munoz et al., 2001). Experience, in particular, can enhance an individual’s capacity to make more well-informed decisions. This factor was defined by Vera-Munoz et al. (2001, p. 408) as “experiences associated with a specific discipline that offers the chance to acquire knowledge (information stored in memory) about that discipline.” The quality of the decision would be significantly influenced by the well-developed knowledge structures that result from experience in a domain (Bonner et al., 1996). Trotman and Wright (1996) assert that work experience can be employed to refine and broaden one’s professional abilities. The more frequently an individual executes the same task, the greater their proficiency and the faster they complete it. Similarly, the potential for improved performance and the breadth of work experience increases as the variety of tasks conducted increases. The investigation into the relationship between experience and performance indicated that their experience influences accountants’ task performance. For instance, Vera-Munoz et al. (2001) discovered that CPAs in CPA firms would select an appropriate problem representation based on their specific accounting experiences. Accountants’ information relevance is enhanced by acquiring a variety of knowledge categories, which this experience facilitates. In the same vein, Schmidt, Hunter, and Outerbridge (1986) suggested that an individual’s task performance is enhanced due to the knowledge they acquire from their experience. These studies contended that the belief in free errors, which are relatively more probable explanations for specific actions, increases as auditors gain more experience. Earley (2002) also discovered that experienced auditors tend not to look too profoundly when initial evidence meets their expectations, mainly if the result shows problem-free financial statements. Nevertheless, it is uncertain whether the conduct of these seasoned auditors can be attributed to their professional skepticism.

Most studies have investigated the correlation between professional skepticism and experience in the accounting literature, with a particular emphasis on auditors (Payne & Ramsay, 2005; Oktania & Suryono, 2013; Ratna & Anisykurlillah, 2020). Variations were observed in the outcomes of these investigations. For instance, Payne and Ramsay (2005) discovered that their experience significantly influences auditors’ professional skepticism. The emergence of auditor professional skepticism can be facilitated by experience, as it identifies misstatements in financial statements as high-risk evidence patterns and reveals the frequency of errors and non-errors, as per Nelson (2009). Occasionally, auditors will experience cognitive dissonance due to the escalating hours and the complexity of their responsibilities. The auditors will endeavor to mitigate discord by assuming a more professional demeanor. The skepticism of auditor specialists is significantly influenced by experience, as demonstrated by Oktania and Suryono (2013). The accountants’ professional skepticism is posited to be substantially influenced by their experience in the current study. That is, accountants with much experience would possess higher professional skepticism. Therefore, this study develops the following hypothesis:

H6: There is a significant influence between experience and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

Work placement

Studies in the education literature have provided a variety of investigations into the efficacy of work placements carried out over the years (Jones, Green, & Higson, 2017). Studies that have examined the link between work placement and performance have found that work placement does influence performance. For example, in the education literature, Gomez, Lush, and Clements (2004) found that students with work placement improved their performance in terms of gaining placement experience. Similar findings were found in other studies, such as Mandilaras (2004) and Surridge (2008). Other studies have found no significant difference between students who had work placements and those who did not (Naughton & Naughton, 2016). However, this topic that has received relatively little attention in the professional skepticism literature about the factors contributing to professional skepticism is a work placement.

In the context of this study, it is believed that the accountants’ work placement would influence the performance in terms of their level of professional skepticism. They are more likely to be exposed to new technologies and experiences, which leads to a higher level of professional skepticism. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed:

H7: There is a significant influence between work placement and the level of professional skepticism among Malaysian public sector accountants.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Data Collection And Instrument

In this study, the questionnaires were distributed to Malaysian accountants in the public sector across various states in Malaysia, mostly through email and with the assistance of a representative from the Malaysian Public Sector. In total, 471 completed questionnaires were collected. This study used the questionnaire survey as the research instrument, which was adapted and modified from Hurtt’s (2010) scale, which consists of 15 items in Table 1a: questioning mind, suspending judgment, and searching for knowledge, which fits with this study since this study focused on accountants.

Respondents need to rate their agreement on a 6-point Likert scale with these statements, from strongly disagree to agree. Responses for each item were then condensed into low (1-2), medium (3-4), and high (5-6) levels of professional skepticism. If a respondent answered strongly disagree or disagree with an item, this means that their professional skepticism is low for it. If the respondent both moderately disagrees and misses an item, this is a sign that they have average (moderate) professional skepticism. Likewise, a respondent who indicates that he or she agrees with or strongly agrees with an item is offering evidence of having high professional skepticism as referred in Table 1b. To determine the individual characteristics, the respondents were asked to complete a series of questions relating to their demographic profile, such as their gender, age, salary, education, professional qualification, experience, and work placement.

Table 1a: Cronbach’s alpha reliability

Table 1b: Level of Professional Skepticism Traits

Research Population And Samples.

For this study, the sampling design is stratified sampling based on head office, branch, department and ministries, and state government offices for the Malaysian Public Sector that related to the accounting sector. The respondents who will be asked to participate are accountants who work for the government in different divisions, departments, branches, states, ministries, and universities all over Malaysia. As of February 1, 2022, the Malaysian Public Sector and the state general offices and universities had hired a total of 1,329 accountants. Therefore, 470 accountants are considered sufficient based on Krejcie and Morgan (1970).

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Accountants’ Profile

In this study, the gender distribution of government accountants shows that female accountants were more than male accountants, as in Table 2. More specifically, 151 accountants out of the 470 respondents are male (32.1%), while 320 are female (67.9%). Of the respondents, 80.5% of the accountants are aged 31 to 50. This middle-age refers to a group of workers who are not young but are also not old, implying that they are experienced but still able to work for many more years. Nonetheless, the fact that only 10.0% of the accountants are below 30 years of age may result from difficulties in recruiting young talents. Most accountants have accounting degrees, implying the stringent education qualifications necessary for these professions. Another indicator of high educational attainment is a mastery degree (20.4% of the respondents), which can lead to improved analytical capacity, leadership qualities, and sector-specific learning. That there are few (1.1 %) PhD holders shows that there is potential for advanced research and policy-making positions in the governmental structure. The largest group of accountants is paid according to the 41-44 scale (59.1%), while the second largest is the 48-52 scale (30.3%) and a relatively small number of employees is paid in the range of 54 to JUSA (10.6%). This distribution indicates that a large proportion of the workforce is at the mid and lower level than at the senior level. The results indicate variability in experience, especially in middle-aged employees with 11 to 20 years of experience accounting for 52.5% of the employees. With 13.4 per cent of the employees having served the organisation for more than twenty years, it can be assumed that there is a pool of well-trained employees within the organisation. However, a significant percentage with 1-10% of experience indicates that the organisation is continually recruiting and training new employees. According to the same survey, a large proportion of accountants work in federal positions – 62.4%, which suggests that accounting activities are concentrated at the federal level. The distribution across other regions is relatively moderate, with each region having a representation of 5.5%—9.5%.

Table 2: Accountants’ Profile

Level of Professional Skepticism Traits

Table 3 shows the accountants’ professional skepticism level results based on traits of questioning mind, suspension of judgment, and search for knowledge. For questioning mind, the result shows that most respondents (82.5 percent) have high scores (5 ‘agree’ or 6 ‘strongly agree’) for the measuring items. Only 1.6% of the respondents show a low level of questioning (1 ‘strongly disagree’ or 2 ‘disagree’). In contrast, the results show that for the trait of suspension of judgment, the respondents have similar scores for all levels, namely, low (30.1 percent), medium (39.1 percent), and high (30.8 percent). Regarding the search for knowledge, slightly more than half of the respondents (54.5 percent) have medium scores (3 ‘moderately disagree’ or 4 ‘moderately agree’). About 30.3 percent of the respondents have a low level of the search for knowledge trait.

Surprisingly, only 15.3 percent of the respondents scored highly for this trait. The results for the suspension of judgement and search for knowledge traits show that 14.9 percent of the respondents have a low level of these traits. This outcome should concern the Malaysian Public Sector as it shows that the respondents may need training to improve their judgment ability. The respondents may also need to be made aware of the importance of searching for knowledge before making decisions.

Table 3: Level of Professional Skepticism Traits

Gender and Professional Skepticism

Table 4 depicts the respondents’ representation of accountants in the public sector. Table 2 shows 151 (32.1 percent) of the respondents are male, while 320 (67.9 percent) are female. Comparing the mean scores of the male and female respondents reveals that the male respondents obtained a mean score of 4.3113, while the female respondents had a mean score of 4.2654. These scores show that the male respondents have slightly higher professional skepticism than the female respondents. When applying the professional skepticism scale developed in this study, this finding indicates that male respondents’ professional skepticism scale is 71.9%, while the female respondents’ professional skepticism scale is 71.1%.

Table 4: Gender and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics of Gender and Professional Skepticism

Panel B: Levene’s Test of Equality of Variance

Panel C: T-Test of Equality of Means

The T-test analysis was used to determine if there was a significant difference between the mean scores for each gender. The independent t-test indicates that the average professional skepticism for males is not statistically different from the females since the probability value of the t-statistics is more significant than 0.05 (t (469) = 1.227, p = 0.22), assuming that the condition of variances between the two groups is equal (Levene’s test = 1.007, p = 0.316). It indicates that this factor is not an essential determinant of professional skepticism. This is consistent with the findings of Ratna and Anisykurlillah (2020) and Christina and Tjaraka (2018), which suggest that respondents in this current study have a similar view on the importance of utilising professional skepticism.

Age and Professional Skepticism

Table 5 presents the age distribution of the respondents. The majority (43.1 percent) fall in the 31 to 40 years age group, followed by the 41 to 50 years group (37.4 percent). The results indicate that younger respondents, below 30, exhibit the highest professional skepticism (mean score = 4.3801), followed by those in the 31–40 years group (mean score = 4.3015) and the 41–50 years group (mean score = 4.2610). Respondents over 50 years old show the lowest mean score of 4.1541. The data suggests a decline in the mean score with increasing age, implying that older respondents tend to be slightly less efficient in task performance and, in this context, have a lower level of professional skepticism.

Regarding the professional skepticism scale, this study shows that respondents below 30 have a professional skepticism score of 73%, respondents 31 to 40 years old scored 71.7%, respondents 41 to 50 scored 71%, and respondents over 50 scored 69.2%. Further analysis shows that the level of professional skepticism between the four age groups is significantly different (p = 0.024), indicating that age does influence the accountants’ professional skepticism in the public sector. This age difference also leads to the experience of an accountant, which leads to maturity when performing tasks, and they are more likely to have a sharp level of sensitivity. However, these findings contrast with the study reported by Ciolek and Emerling (2019), which found no significant differences among different age groups toward professional skepticism.

Table 5: Age and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: ANOVA

Level of Education and Professional Skepticism

Following the literature, this study examined whether the level of education influences the respondents’ level of professional skepticism. Table 6 shows that a significant portion of the respondents (74.3 percent) possess a degree in accounting, and 3.4 percent possess an advanced diploma in accounting, followed by respondents holding a master’s degree in accounting (20.4 percent). The remaining 1.1 percent of the respondents possess a PhD, and four (0.8 percent) possess only professional qualifications such as the ACCA.

The results show that respondents with a master’s degree have the highest level of professional skepticism (mean score = 4.3069), followed by those with a degree in accounting (mean score = 4.2790). The respondents with a PhD have the lowest mean score of 4.2133, even lower than those with an Advanced Diploma in Accounting (mean score of 4.2208). Regarding professional skepticism score, respondents holding a Master’s degree have the highest professional skepticism score of 71.8%, followed by respondents holding a degree in accounting (71.3%) and those with a non-accounting degree (70.3%).

Higher education does not guarantee that accountants will have higher professional skepticism since the results show that respondents with a PhD have a professional skepticism score of 70.2%. However, further analysis shows that the level of professional skepticism among the four groups is not significantly different (p=0.645), indicating that this factor is not an essential determinant of professional skepticism. This finding indicates that the level of education does not lead to improving professional skepticism skills in daily work. This is surprising given that this study contradicts Diya’s (2023) finding that education level will shape professional skepticism.

Table 6: Level of Education and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: ANOVA

Professional Qualification and Professional Skepticism

Table 7 illustrates the professional qualifications of accountants in this investigation. The results indicate that 314 (66.7 percent) of the 471 respondents have professional qualifications, including the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), and the Chartered Public Finance Accountant (CPFA). The remaining 33.3 percent of the respondents lack professional qualifications.

The results indicate that the mean scores of the two categories are not significantly different. The mean score of respondents with professional qualifications is 4.2709, while those without professional qualifications have a score of 4.2985. This finding is surprising since those with professional qualifications are expected to have higher professional skepticism than those without professional qualifications. Unlike the findings in Ciolek and Emerling’s (2019) study, the study showed that professionals with the ACCA credential showed significantly different attitudes towards professional skepticism. This result may indicate different course material and teaching methods among ACCA holders, which may develop their critical thinking and skepticism.

Table 7: Professional Qualification and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: Levene’s Test of Equality of Variance

Panel C: T-Test of Equality of Means

The professional skepticism score for the former respondents is 71.2%, but the latter respondents have a slightly higher professional skepticism score of 71.6%. The independent t-test indicated no statistical difference between the two groups (p = 0.45), assuming the variances between the two groups are equal (Levene’s test = 0.159, p = 0.690). It indicates that this factor is not an essential determinant of professional skepticism.

Salary Scale and Professional Skepticism

Table 8 shows that slightly more than half of the accountants (278 respondents, or 59 percent) are in the salary range of grades 41 to 44, and 143 respondents (30.4 percent) are between grades 48 and 52. Those respondents (10.6 percent) who are senior officers, such as head accountants, chief assistant treasurers, and directors, would often be in work grades 54 and JUSA.

The results show that those in the salary range of 41–44 have the highest mean score of 4.3343, indicating a higher level of professional skepticism than the respondents in the 48–52 salary group (mean score of 4.2163). Surprisingly, the 54–JUSA salary group has the lowest mean score of 4.1613, indicating that it has the lowest level of professional skepticism among the three salary groups. Upon further analysis, the results show that there is a significant difference between the three groups, indicating that salary scale does affect the task performance of accountants in the public sector, as shown in panel B, Table 6. Compared with the past result reported by Shodiq (2021), it was indirectly reported that salary would impact the quality of audit work and the influence of professional skepticism.

Table 8: Salary Scale and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: ANOVA

Experience and Professional Skepticism

In this section, most of the respondents (68.4 percent) have less than ten years of experience in their current position. Specifically, 60.5 percent of the respondents have less than five years of experience in their current position, indicating employees have novice experience or are still quite new in their current position and may lack knowledge and skills when embarking on new positions. One hundred and twenty-two, or 25.9 percent, of the respondents, have 5 to 10 years of experience in their current positions; the remaining 13.6 percent of the respondents have more than 10 years of experience, as shown in Table 9.

The results show that the respondents with 6 to 10 years of experience in the public sector have the highest level of professional skepticism (mean score = 4.4009), followed by respondents with 1 to 5 years of experience (mean score = 4.2929) and respondents with 11 to 15 years of experience (mean score = 4.2716). One plausible reason for such findings could be that a person in a new environment tends to be more careful when performing tasks. Hence, he has a higher level of professional skepticism. Subsequently, when that person gains more experience (6–10 years), the experience will lead him to acquire more knowledge. At the same time, he would still be very cautious when performing his tasks, leading him to have a higher level of professional skepticism. However, as he becomes more familiar with the tasks, he may become fixated on them, thereby lowering his level of professional skepticism.

Table 9: Experience and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: ANOVA

This study also shows that the respondents with 6 to 10 years of experience have the highest professional skepticism score of 73.3%, followed by respondents with 1 to 5 years of experience (71.5%) and respondents with 11 to 15 years of experience (71.2%). This study also shows that the respondents with 16 to 20 years of professional experience have a professional skepticism score of 70.5%, and those with more than 20 years of professional experience have a professional skepticism score of 70.6%. Further analysis shows that the effect of experience on task performance among the four experience groups is significantly different (p = 0.032), reported similarly by Ciolek and Emerling (2019). However, this study contradicts the findings of Ahadiansyah, Dewi, and Fuadah (2019) and Andreas, Zarefar, and Rasuli (2016), which found no significant differences in experience with skepticism. Therefore, the current study may indicate that the experience among respondents over a length of years and the optimum experience in handling issues related to skepticism will develop different views on professional skepticism.

Workplace and Professional Skepticism

In the context of this study, work placement is the location where the participants are working. The work placement in this study was divided into six zones: north, south, east, west, Sabah and Sarawak, and federal. Table 10 shows the total number of Malaysian and non-Malaysian accountants appointed by the Malaysian Public Sector. There are 471 respondents. Out of 471 total respondents, 351 Malaysian Public Sector respondents participated in this study. Almost half of the respondents (157 respondents, 44.7 percent) are in the Malaysian Public Sector head office, while 49 respondents (13.9 percent) are in Malaysian Public Sector branches. One hundred and twenty-two, or 34.8 percent, of the respondents are in departments and ministries, and the remaining 6.6 percent of the respondents are in state government offices.

Table 10 provides descriptive statistics on the respondents’ work placements and their effect on the level of professional skepticism. The results show that the respondents have a high level of professional skepticism regardless of their work placement since all groups have mean scores of more than 4. However, the respondents in the east zone have the highest level of professional skepticism, with a mean score of 4.4714. This outcome is followed by the respondents in the north zone (mean score = 4.3860) and the respondents in the Sabah and Sarawak zone (mean score = 4.3807).

Table 10: Workplace and Professional Skepticism

Panel A: Descriptive Statistics

Panel B: ANOVA

Applying the professional skepticism scale developed in this study shows that the respondents in the east zone have the highest professional skepticism score of 74.5%, followed by respondents in the north zone (73.1%) and respondents in Sabah and Sarawak (73%). The respondents in the west zone obtained the lowest professional skepticism score (70.2%). The ANOVA analysis shows that the level of professional skepticism between groups is significantly different, with p = 0.003. The workplace will also help to increase professional skepticism because organisational differences lead to differences in operations, objectives, and regulations. Accountants will have a wide range of experience with the diversity of the workplace.

CONCLUSION

This study studied the characteristics that influence professional skepticism among Malaysian public accountants. This research explored seven characteristics that may impact the professional skepticism of accountants in the public sector. The seven factors are gender, age, salary, education, professional qualification, experience, and work placement among public sector accountants.

These findings imply the need for the Malaysian public sector to develop and conduct an appropriate training program that may fit the accountant profession in the public sector based on the findings as summaries in Table 11. First, the gender analysis indicates that there is no significant difference in the measure of professional skepticism between male and female accountants. This means that gender is not a core determinant of professional skepticism and affirms the need for gender neutrality in professional development programs. Second, this study establishes a negative correlation between age and professional skepticism where junior accountants exhibit higher levels of skepticism. This trend implies that current accountants may be more careful and alert, perhaps because of recent training and education. Therefore, the insights that can be derived from this analysis underscore the importance of ongoing professional learning. Third, evaluating educational qualifications shows that professional skepticism does not depend on educational levels. This study implies that there is no positive relationship between academic achievements and professional skepticism. Continuing education and training for older accountants are essential to help them sustain and even build on their skeptical attributes. Fourth, the study establishes a relationship between the salary scale and professional skepticism, with higher skepticism from those at the lower end of the salary scale. This has refuted the hypothesis that high-ranking officers have better skeptical skills than their juniors. Fifth, this study reveals that accountants with working experience between 6-10 years display the highest level of professionalism skepticism, indicating that intermediate levels of experience are most advantageous to skeptical reasoning. Depending on this finding, career management and advancement initiatives in the public sector may be designed to create a vibrant and questioning organisational populace. Sixth, the findings of the workplace location indicate that there are variations in professional skepticism and that accountants in the east zone have the highest level of professional skepticism. This indicates that organizational culture and regional operational practices could impact professional skepticism.

Table 11 Summary of Findings

In conclusion, this study shows that the level of professional skepticism of accountants in the public sector was determined by four different factors that involved age, salary, experience, and work placement. One interesting finding in this study is that the accountants’ level of professional skepticism decreases as they age. This decrease could be attributed to many attributes caused by ageing. One of the attributes could be that as they become older, they tend to make judgments by using their vast experience and knowledge and therefore, practise less professional skepticism.

This study has come with limitations. First, the participation of accountants in the public sector was fairly low compared to the population in Malaysia but is considered sufficient to achieve the objectives of this study. Secondly, this study only chose seven factors that may influence the professional skepticism of accountants in the public sector. Therefore, a future study may include other possible factors that may involved such as technology matters, behaviour and governance. In sum, this study provides the government and other interested parties, local and abroad, with an understanding of the level of professional skepticism for accountants.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We extend our sincere appreciation to Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Tenaga Nasional  for their invaluable support. We also acknowledge the efforts of our dedicated data collectors and  thank the proofreaders for their meticulous review and enhancement of this research.

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