Abstract
This study uses an experiment to investigate how an organization's risk appetite statement (conservative versus aggressive) and source of social pressure (conformity pressure from a peer versus obedience pressure from a superior) combine to influence management accountants' aggressive financial reporting behavior. Specifically, we focus on whether social pressure arising from a superior relative to pressure from a peer may undermine a conservative risk appetite. We find that management accountants' aggressive financial reporting judgments are more responsive to obedience pressure relative to conformity pressure in the presence of a conservative risk appetite, which suggests that pressure from a superior may reduce the effectiveness of a conservative risk appetite. Our study contributes to understanding how factors at the individual, social, and organizational level combine to influence management accountants' aggressive financial reporting behavior.