A Study of Professional Skepticism

This book describes how auditors exercise different levels of professional skepticism and how they are exposed to different types of affective information on clients’ behavior. Based on the author’s empirical study of 56 auditors, it shows that auditors’ skepticism and affective reactions towards a client interact to influence their appraisal of valuation problems. It also suggests that the effects of auditors’ affective reactions on their skeptical judgments depend on the level of risk in the audit engagement. 

• Professional Skepticism
• Accounting
• Auditing
• Valuation
• Financial Reporting

• Dept. of Accounting, Auditing and Law, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway

  Carmen Olsen

Carmen Olsen is an Assistant Professor at NHH and holds a PhD in auditing entitled “The Challenge of Being Professionally Skeptical”. Besides using traditional accounting perspectives and methods, her research portfolio encompasses neuroscientific research perspectives and she has worked with researchers from different disciplines to offer an interesting interpretation of prior literature on professional skepticism. She has worked as a consultant at the tax authorities and as an auditor. 

Policies and ethics