The Impact of Auditors’ Social Communication on Audit Quality

Auditing is known as a stressful profession, where auditors’ social interactions with the organization, members of the audit team, and clients can reduce or increase the challenges of the profession. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of auditors 'social relationships on audit quality, considering the mediating role of burnout and auditors' professional commitment. The statistical population studied in this study is 120 auditors of auditing firms, members of the Society of Certified Public Accountants of Iran, in 1400. Structural equation modeling has been used to analyze the data, and Baron and Kenny’s (1986) method has been used to investigate the mediating role. Findings show that auditors’ social relationships have a significant and positive effect on audit quality. Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior have influenced auditors’ social relationships. On the other hand, auditors’ social relationships have had a significant effect on burnout and the professional commitment of auditors. On the other hand, auditors’ professional commitment affects audit quality, but burnout has no significant effect on audit quality. In addition, burnout did not affect the relationship between auditors’ social interactions and audit quality, but auditors’ professional commitment affected the relationship between audit quality and auditors' social interactions.