Chapter 25: The Effect of Auditors' Identity on External Audit Quality: The Mediating Role of Auditors' Creativity

The study aims to determine how the identification of auditors impacts the quality of external auditing. The research population comprised of 509 external audit offices in Jordan. A questionnaire was created and sent to 330 external auditors in Jordan to meet the study's objectives. 230 questionnaires were collected, and 197 of them were considered suitable for analysis to conduct Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) hypothesis testing. A structural equation model was used. The study found that auditors' identities had a positive effect impact on their inventiveness. The identification of auditors also has a positive effect impact on the quality of external auditing. Auditors' innovation positively influences the quality of external auditing in Jordanian external audit offices. The study suggested various recommendations, with a focus on enhancing auditors' creativity in external audit operations and strengthening their organizational and professional identity to improve the quality of external auditing. Moreover, they suggested the study assumes to focus on internal auditors in future studies and to expand to additional nations beyond Jordan. The study suggested utilizing a qualitative strategy for future investigations instead of the quantitative one used in this study.