علیرضا معطوفی

Judgment in the auditing profession as a subjective criterion in the decisions of auditors has a significant role in improving the quality of decision support for analysts, shareholders, and investors in the capital market. Therefore, recognizing the qualitative characteristics in this area can help the theoretical development of improving the quality of auditors' professional judgments. The purpose of this study is to develop the effectiveness of auditing professional judgment based on the mindset of auditors. In this study, to identify the components (auditing professional judgment) and research propositions (themes of auditors' mindfulness), meta-synthesis analysis was used with the participation of 12 experts and experts in the field of accounting and financial management at the university level. In the quantitative part, the identified components and propositions in the form of matrix questionnaires were evaluated by interpretive analysis by 18 auditors with work experience and a level of technical and specialized knowledge. The results showed that the statement of inferential mindfulness is the most influential theme of intuitive judgment in auditing, which can cause auditors to perform more effectively in professional judgment. This result suggests that inferential mindfulness is a factor in intuition in professional judgment.

Many behavioral biases affect investors when making decisions.Behavioral distortions divert the investor from rational decisions, and as a result, resources are not diverted to appropriate investments.Behavioral biases can be evaluated in different types including the two phenomena of mental anchor and collective behavior of investors. In the present study, the phenomenon of collective behavior and mental anchor of investors with emphasis on significant weaknesses in internal control has been investigated. For this purpose, the data of 125 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 2012 to 2018 were used.Data analysis was performed in eviews software version 10 and in order to fit the regression models,the generalized least squares method of panel data was used. The results using univariate analysis showed that there is no significant difference between the amount of behavioral biases in each of the two groups of companies with weakness and lack of weakness in internal control.While multivariate analysis of data in the form of regression models showed that the auditor's report on significant weaknesses in internal control,(which Weakness indicates high agency costs and high information asymmetry between managers and shareholders) strengthens It is the collective behavior of investors but it has no effect on their mental anchor.According to the results, it seems that the behavioral biases of investors are conditioned by the priority and importance of good and bad news in the market.As long as there is bad news in the stock market towards the company, good news can’t cause behavioral bias in investors.

The present study aimed to identify the most effective causes of conflict of interest by examination of accounting literature and expert consensus. Understanding these factors, using cognitive psychology theories, can lead to a model for reducing conflict of interests. The dignity of the audit profession depends on fair and proper professional judgment by auditors, and achieving this requires identification and controlling of the key factors affecting judgment and decision-making. When auditors intentionally or unintentionally accredit financial statements in line with the opinion of their employers, public interests and the auditing profession are at serious risk. Several factors that can categorize into seven categories of structure, community, culture, environment, personality, audit firm characteristic, and ethics and behavior are rooted in a conflict of interests. However, no comprehensive research examining all the above factors and identifying the most effective ones has been done so far. By reviewing the research literature, major and minor factors were identified in domestic and foreign sources. Ten expert auditors were selected by the snowball method and interviewed. The considered major and minor factors were selected from among the introduced factors, and a questionnaire was sent to the experts using the Fuzzy Delphi (Screening) method. The results of the above statistical analysis identified eighteen of the most prominent sub-criteria of the factors affecting conflict of interests and identified structural factors the highest rank in this classification, which was agreed by the experts.