Related to this issue is an interesting observation in our broader sample of CPAs that contained
a limited number of responses from CPAs in government n 10, education n 9, and
22 others, who did not indicate their area of practice. While our study is limited to CPAs in
industry and public practice, we noted that CPAs in government had the highest mean P-score
41.83 of all subsamples. However, this subsample is too small to make strong generalizations.
Future research may benefit from an investigation of whether CPAs with higher levels of moral
reasoning self-select into jobs in government. Is it possible that accountants with higher levels of
moral reasoning choose what they may perceive as more socially attuned or idealistic employment
such as government or nonprofit?