The Effect of time pressure, work–family conflict and role ambiguity on audit quality reduction behavior with the Mediating effect of work stress: An Analysis of the Iranian Audit Environment

The purpose of this study is to explore how the auditors' work stress relates to the auditing quality reduction behavior with stressors such as time pressure, work-family conflict and role ambiguity. The philosophy of the existence of auditing firms in capital markets is to play a role in reducing information asymmetry by providing high quality reporting. The quality of audit reports is largely related to the audit engagement. This research is of quantitative type and is in the category of descriptive studies. A questionnaire was used to collect research data. Due to the uncertainty of the population, 365 questionnaires were received in 2022 from auditors working in auditing firms. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of the present study indicated that time pressure, work-family conflict and role ambiguity have a positive relationship with the auditor's work stress. Also, time pressure, work-family conflict, and role ambiguity are positively associated with audit reduction behavior. Finally, work stress has a positive relationship with audit quality reduction behavior and plays a role as a mediating variable in the relationship between time pressure, work-family conflict, role ambiguity and audit quality reduction behavior. The results of this study can be used as a criterion for auditing firms to maintain the quality of audit reports by reducing the stressors of auditors.