A Research Note on the Effects of Gender and Task Complexity on an Audit Judgment

This study examines the effects of gender and task complexity on the accuracy of audit judgments. Because research in cognitive psychology and marketing suggests that females may be more accurate decision makers in complex decision tasks, we hypothesize that there will be a significant interaction between gender and task complexity on the accuracy of an audit judgment. A 2×2 full factorial experiment (males/females by high‐/low‐task complexity) was carried out. The number and consistency of cues was manipulated to create the high‐ and low‐complexity conditions. Participants were required to judge whether an inventory balance was fairly presented based on case material that contained a material misstatement in the inventory account balance. The results support the hypothesis.