Social psychology theories as applied to Behavioural Accounting Research

This chapter explores social psychology theories that have been or could be applied to behavioural accounting. Social psychology focuses on “how the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presences of others” (Allport 1985: 3) and as such, encompasses a broad range of theories. This chapter focuses on four specific subfields within social psychology that have been applied by behavioural accounting researchers: interpersonal affect, accountability, attribution and social comparison.