An examination of the effects on accounting students of an accounting ethics education intervention that is based on the moral philosophy of Adam Smith

Accounting ethics failures have seized headlines and cost investors billions of dollars. Improvement of the ethical reasoning and behavior of accountants has become a key concern for the accounting profession and for higher education in accounting. Researchers have asked a number of questions, including, what type of accounting ethics education intervention would be most effective for accounting students. Some researchers have proposed virtue ethics as an appropriate moral framework for accounting. This research tested whether Smithian virtue ethics training is effective in improving accounting student's cognitive moral development (CMD). The Smithian ethics of interest is based on Adam Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" (1790/1976) which highlighted key moral virtues and the seminal concepts of sympathy and the Impartial Spectator.;This research used a pre-test, treatment, post-test, quasi-experimental design with accounting students at a mid-sized Christian university in the U.S. Midwest as subjects. Rest, Narvaez, Thoma and Bebeau (1999), developed the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) that measures subjects CMD based on Kohlberg's theory of cognitive moral development (Bebeau & Thoma, 2003). Welton, Lagrone and Davis (1994) created the Accounting Defining Issues Test (ADIT) based on Rest's framework. The DIT-2 and the ADIT instruments were used for the pre-test and the post-test and the experimental treatment was an on-line accounting ethics education intervention based on the moral philosophy of Adam Smith. Analysis of DIT-2 gain scores did show a significant improvement in subjects' personal interest scores and a significant improvement in an overall measure of CMD, the DIT N2 index, whereas their DIT-2 post-conventional scores did not improve significantly. Analysis of covariance and analysis of gain scores showed no statistically significant change in subjects' CMD using the ADIT.;This research supports the proposition that the concepts contained in Smithian virtue ethics, can contribute to an effective accounting ethics education intervention. However, further research is required to determine what concepts should be included to improve accounting students' post-conventional moral reasoning.