Iranian Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

Iranian Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

The Moderating Effect of Power Distance on the Relationship between Conscientiousness and Extraversion with Auditors' Impartiality

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hamid Alvari Chenari
Omid Poorheidari
Ahmad Khodamipour
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management and Economics, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
10.22067/ijaaf.2026.48274.1644
Abstract
Auditors' impartiality is fundamental for responsible and logically grounded audit opinions. While prior research has examined the link between personality characteristics (conscientiousness and extraversion) and professional judgment, the moderating role of power distance remains largely unexplored in the auditing context. Existing studies have focused on structural aspects of independence, overlooking psychological and cultural contingencies. This study is the first to introduce power distance as a moderating variable between the Big Five personality characteristics and auditors' impartiality, adopting a contingency perspective that challenges the one-size-fits-all assumption in the auditing behavior literature. The present study is applied in nature regarding its purpose and methodology, specifically utilizing structural equation modeling. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The study population comprised auditors at all levels within auditing firms, and the sample size was 384 auditors. These findings showed that the study's independent variables, conscientiousness and extraversion, have a positive and significant effect on impartiality. However, power distance moderates only the relationship between extraversion and impartiality, not that between conscientiousness and impartiality. Therefore, the power distance variable has a significant moderating effect on only one of the auditors' personality dimensions, namely extraversion. This highlights the importance of a contingency approach to understanding cultural impact, recognizing that cultural factors do not uniformly influence all individual characteristics but tend to have a stronger negative effect on those related to asserting or challenging authority, such as extraversion.
Keywords
Auditors' Impartiality
Auditors' Conscientiousness
Auditors' Extraversion
Auditors' Independence
Power Distance
Subjects
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