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盈餘管理之行為意圖：代理情境、道德發展與計畫行為理論之解釋
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have encountered or participated in earnings management decisions, compared to their senior
counterparts. Due to the limitations mentioned above, we remain conservative when
interpreting research results.
This study presents several implications. First, scenarios involving potential agency
problems have a direct influence on earnings management intention. This provides evidence
to support the argument that efforts to reduce information asymmetry and self-benefiting
incentives could be effective in the prevention of earnings management. Second, the degree
of moral development is an important factor underlying earnings management intention. The
integrity of highly-developed individuals prevent them from engaging in earnings
management, even in scenarios of agency problem with opportunities for self-benefit. Thus,
education and on-the-job training that enhances moral development fundamentally help
eliminate earnings management. Finally, training methods emphasizing particular attitude
can effectively influence earnings management intention. Among the sub-constructs of
attitude, altruism is found to be the most effective in curbing intentions to engage in earnings
management. These findings should thus be taken into account when preparing future
training materials.
5. Originality/Contribution
This study contributes to the literature in the following ways. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first study in Taiwan that incorporates TPB into accounting, although
such methodology has been employed in other domains.
Moreover, we combine TPB with two important factors related to earnings
management: moral development and agency problems. This enables us to reveal the
relationships among these variables in a more comprehensive manner than was previously
possible and to identify the psychological factors influencing the earnings management
intentions of accountants in Taiwan.
Third, after dividing TPB into three constructs: attitude, subjective norms, and
perceived behavioral control, we decompose and discuss them individually to arrive at more
subtle nuances in thinking.
Earnings management has received widespread attention; however, most investigations
in this area are based on archival material, rather than capturing the psychological factors of
stakeholders who are directly concerned. This study adopts an experimental design to
examine the earnings management intentions of accountants from a psychological aspect,