ABSTRACTAuditing standards vary in their degree of prescriptive language—for example, stating that auditors “could” versus “should” do certain procedures. We posit that more prescriptive language primes an implemental mindset, thereby creating a feeling of regulatory fit with objective verification tasks and improving auditors' performance on these tasks. In an experiment with audit students, we find that participants who apply a more (versus less) prescriptive auditing standard perform better on a subsequent, unrelated ticking-and-tying task, and this effect is larger for participants who identify less with the audit profession. Theory-consistent evidence indicates that the interaction of regulatory fit and professional identity improves performance via increased motivation. Our study provides evidence that features of the audit environment prime mindsets, that these primed mindsets can affect performance on low-level tasks, and that the effect of regulatory fit for low-level tasks is particularly important for those who identify less with the audit profession.

中文翻译：

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提高低级审计任务的绩效：监管契合度和职业认同的互动效应


摘要审计标准的规定性语言程度各不相同，例如，规定审计员“可以”与“应该”执行某些程序。我们认为，更具规范性的语言可以激发实施思维，从而创造一种监管与客观验证任务相符的感觉，并提高审计师在这些任务上的表现。在一项针对审计学生的实验中，我们发现，应用更多（而不是更少）规定性审计标准的参与者在随后的、不相关的打勾和捆绑任务中表现更好，并且对于对审计职业不太认同的参与者来说，这种影响更大。与理论一致的证据表明，监管契合度和职业认同的相互作用通过增加动机来提高绩效。我们的研究提供的证据表明，审计环境的主要心态特征，这些主要心态可以影响低级任务的绩效，并且监管适合低级任务的效果对于那些不太认同审计职业的人来说尤其重要。