The Effect of Auditors’ Inception of Ethical Culture on Professional Values in AuditFirms

The purpose of this study analyzes auditors’ inception of ethical culture. In doing so, the impact of auditors’ inception of ethical culture on professional values in audit firms has been investigated.As theories of moral psychology and organizational behavior claim professional attitudes and behaviors do not depend solely on individual beliefs, but are also influenced  by organizational contexts.In order to test research hypotheses, the information of partners, managers, and supervisors of Trusted Auditing Firms of Central Insurance Organization of Iran with the purposive sampling method in 2020 are gathered and analyzed. Furthermore, the questionnaire is used to gather the required data that its validity is confirmed by professional experts. Then the AMOS 24 and Spss24 software are used for analyzing purposes mainly with respect to the model of structural equation. The results of the study Confirm the significant positive relation between auditors’ perception of ethical culture in audit firms and auditors’ commitment to public interest. However, there is a negative relation between auditors’ perception of ethical culture in audit firms and their level of participation in unprofessional behavior. In addition, based on the evidence, there is a meaningful positive relation between ethical acceptance of unprofessional affairs and the participation in an unprofessional behavior.The findings show that auditors’ perception of ethical culture in audit firms could be an influential factor in reducing auditors’ moral deviation and boosting auditors’ commitment to public interest, as well.