The findings regarding the positive, statistically
significant relationship between client and independence
commitment are particularly intriguing
(H1e) because auditing literature generally assumes
that the relationship between the two is negative.
That is, we found that public accountants with a
higher client commitment are more likely to
consider auditor independence as a prime feature of
public accounting which needs to be tightly regulated.
A potential reason that might explain this
result relates to the role of public accountants’
reflectivity in constructing independence commitment.
Influencing authors in the fields of sociology
and organizational analysis emphasize reflectivity as a
key feature of modern life, that is to say the individual’s
ability to reflect and act upon information
about different aspects of their personal or professional
life (e.g. Crozier and Friedberg, 1980;
Giddens, 1990). In this context, public accountants
with a higher client commitment may be more
reflectively sensitive about the potential negative
consequences ensuing from their client commitment
proclivity on auditor independence (consequences
which are often described in practitioner literature as
having the potential to imperil the long-term legitimacy
of the profession), leading them to be more
receptive to the deployment of surveillance and
monitoring mechanisms as a way to control for
inappropriate professional behavior. More research is
needed in order to investigate further the relationship
between client and independence commitment
as well as the influence of commercialism on both
constructs. Client commitment may also be a more
complex notion than we originally expected.