Modeling the factors affecting the internal auditor silence behavior
ISSN: 0268-6902
Article publication date: 8 August 2023
Issue publication date: 9 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the silence of internal auditors. To this end, the impacts of the perceived climate of silence, professional commitment, independence commitment, role conflict and role ambiguity on internal auditor silence have been investigated. Furthermore, the effects of role conflict and role ambiguity through independence commitment on internal auditor silence were investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
The statistical population of the study consisted of Iranian internal auditors in 2021. The study used a self-administered survey of 217 internal auditors. In this research, a hierarchical component model in the partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was used to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
The results of testing the hypotheses indicated that the perceived climate of silence and role ambiguity have positive effects, and professional commitment and independence commitment have negative effects on internal auditor silence. Furthermore, role conflict has an insignificant effect on internal auditor silence. In addition, role conflict and role ambiguity affect the internal auditor silence through the independence commitment.
Originality/value
This study examined the factors affecting the internal auditor silence by combining the construct of the perceived climate of silence that has been previously discussed in the field of management with the professional (professional commitment and independence commitment) and role (role conflict and role ambiguity) factors that are discussed in the internal audit profession. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines the factors affecting internal auditor silence behavior. The importance of conducting this study is that it investigates a phenomenon among internal auditors that conflicts with the mission and origin of internal audit.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their special gratitude and appreciation to the editor of the journal, Professor Jie Zhou, for her valuable and insightful comments and cooperation, and unanimous reviewers for providing their valuable guidance, which helped us greatly to increase the quality of the paper. The authors also appreciate comments received from Professor Anna Cianci in the earlier version of the paper. The authors also sincerely thanks to editorial assistant, Elizabeth Branson, for advancing the paper. The authors appreciate the cooperation of the internal auditors who helped them in conducting this study by completing the questionnaires.
Citation
Ebrahimi, F., Sarikhani, M. and Rostami, A. (2023), "Modeling the factors affecting the internal auditor silence behavior", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 1053-1081. https://doi.org/10.1108/MAJ-04-2022-3522
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited