Behavioral Voice Stimulus Fundamentals and Internal Auditors’ Moral Courage: Evidence from Iran

With the growth and development of theoretical approaches in the field of behavioral, the importance of participation and cooperation of individuals within organizational structures to improve the level of practical functions has increased daily. Recognizing the axes that enhance the organisation's effectiveness, such as professional voice, has been essential research in recent years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the motivational principles of individual behavior voice on the professional ethics of internal auditors by understanding the conceptual and theoretical understanding of professional voice in auditing and recognising the functional and behavioral nature of internal auditors. The final sample of this study is 183  internal auditors of Iranian listed firms in 2020. The research tool is a questionnaire, and partial least squares analysis is used to fit the model and test the research hypotheses. The results of testing the research hypotheses show that self-efficacy, level of hope, and resilience, as the criteria of the stimulus process in the voice of individual behavior have a positive and significant effect on the moral courage of the internal auditor. These results suggest that if behavioral incentives are considered, auditors' level of behavioral audacity in more realistically disclosing the financial performance of their companies can be expected to increase. It should also be noted that this study's results can increase the effectiveness of internal auditors' functions and their behavioral knowledge in the direction of professional functions.