Efeitos cognitivos nos julgamentos em contabilidade: ensaio teórico sobre as heurísticas e vieses relacionados ao reconhecimento de receitas

Abstract

Research on judgments and decision-making in accounting aim to develop and test theories of cognitive processes by which judgments of preparers, auditors, regulators and other users of accounting information are performed. This theoretical essay aims to identify and discuss the heuristics and cognitive biases that can influence the process of recognition and measurement of revenues, by the preparers of the accounting information. It is expected that through the adoption of new procedures in the recognition and measurement of revenues individuals will use the anchorage heuristic in their judgments and be influenced by optimism through incentives and the optimistic/conservative personality trait of the individual in the accounting judgment process. The complexity of the task is also another possible effect that can influence the judgment and decision making of these professionals. The cognitive effects presented are important for future research because they denote influences possibly related to accounting judgments, these being related to a series of failures in the way in which the individual thinks, being the heuristic considered as a sensorial misunderstanding and the biases as irrational thinking. In future research it is suggested that there be applied these concepts in the form of experiments, aiming to capture if the individual is really influenced by the anchorage, encouraged optimism, optimism and natural conservatism, and task complexity.