Recruiting Dark Personalities for Earnings Management

Authors

Ling L. Harris, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Scott B. Jackson, University of South Carolina - Columbia
Joel Owens, Portland State UniversityFollow
Nicholas Seybert, University of Maryland at College Park

Sponsor

Funding was provided by the Darla Moore School of Business Research Grant Program.

Published In

Journal of Business Ethics

Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

3-2-2021

Subjects

Management -- Case Studies

Abstract

Prior research indicates that managers’ dark personality traits increase their tendency to engage in disruptive and unethical organizational behaviors including accounting earnings management. Other research suggests that the prevalence of dark personalities in management may represent an accidental byproduct of selecting managers with accompanying desirable attributes that fit the stereotype of a “strong leader.” Our paper posits that organizations may hire some managers who have dark personality traits because their willingness to push ethical boundaries aligns with organizational objectives, particularly in the accounting context where ethical considerations are especially important. Using several validation studies and experiments, we find that experienced executives and recruiting professionals favor hiring a candidate with dark personality traits into an accounting management position over an otherwise better-qualified candidate when the hiring organization faces pressure to manage earnings. Our results help to illuminate why individuals with dark personality traits may effectively compete for high-level accounting positions.

Rights

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Part of Springer Nature.

Description

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in: Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04761-z

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04761-z

DOI

10.1007/s10551-021-04761-z

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35105

Citation Details

Published as: Harris, L. L., Jackson, S. B., Owens, J., & Seybert, N. (2021). Recruiting Dark Personalities for Earnings Management. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04761-z