Students’ ethical and professional perceptions of earnings management

We examine the influence of two treatments on students’ perceptions of earnings management. We find that student reading assignments on earnings management and professionalism topics followed by individual testing do not alter student-reported beliefs. However, when the same students process and report their beliefs about earnings management practices in a group setting, the results are different from their initially reported individual beliefs. These statistically significant results suggest that a group dynamic that involves students in the learning process, may be effective in influencing the ethical judgments and perceptions of our future business professionals.