The Role of Accounting Ethics Education in Shaping Professional Integrity: Exploring the Mediating Effect of Ethical Reasoning on Ethical Decision-Making

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Accounting Ethics Education; Ethical Reasoning; Ethical Decision-Making; Professional Integrity; Accounting Curriculum

Abstract

The accounting profession is facing increased scrutiny as a result of ethical violations, highlighting the necessity for comprehensive ethics education aimed at inculcating professional integrity. To fulfill this requirement, the present study conceptualizes a model to analyze the influence of accounting ethics education on the development of ethical reasoning and decision-making, paying particular attention to the mediating influence of ethical reasoning. With the narrative review method, data were gathered from the Scopus database using a systematic search string, and integrative thematic analysis was employed to synthesize primary themes and findings from available literature. Results of the suggested framework demonstrate that accounting ethics education considerably improves ethical reasoning, which serves as the required cognitive mechanism linking education and ethical decision-making. The application of integrated curricula, the introduction of innovative teaching methods, and instruments such as the Ethics Education Toolkit (EET) show strong effectiveness in developing moral judgment and ethical sensitivity. This study also advances our theoretical knowledge of ethical development by empirically grounding conceptual frameworks such as Rest’s Four-Component Model (1986) and offers practitioners and educators practical suggestions, highlighting the value of coordinated ethics education initiatives. Despite these contributions, some limitations remain, such as reliance on the existing body of literature, thus highlighting the need for longitudinal studies and a consideration of cultural influences. Future research should explore the long-term effects of ethics education and evaluate new pedagogical tools aimed at improving ethical behavior in the accounting profession. Testing this model with structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple regression analyses could validate the framework and show how ethics education fosters professional integrity, advancing our understanding of its impact on the accounting profession.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Marzlin Marzuki
AU  - Roshidah Safeei
AU  - Noora’in Omar
AU  - Sazilah Mohd Saad
AU  - Razanawati Nordin
AU  - Dayana Jalaludin
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/08/22
TI  - The Role of Accounting Ethics Education in Shaping Professional Integrity: Exploring the Mediating Effect of Ethical Reasoning on Ethical Decision-Making
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Business, Finance, Management and Economic (BizFAME 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 248
EP  - 261
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_17
ID  - Marzuki2025
ER  -