THE NEED TO CONTROL FOR POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN ACCOUNTING ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

Abstract

Regardless of the accuracy of characterizations, the labels “conservative” and “liberal” are perceived by many to be polar opposites and suggest certain behavioral patterns. Consequently, one’s political attitude has potential accounting and public policy implications. Its measurement through lengthy questionnaires can result in low response rates to surveys and the creation of confounding effects in experiments. This paper proposes and tests the measurement of political attitude on a seven point scale that appears to correlate well with existing, more detailed, lengthy and comprehensive assessments. Our findings support the belief that political attitudes should be considered in behavioral research, in general, and especially in ethics research dealing with public policy.