The impact of audit members' self-esteem and narcissism on organizational knowledge sharing among audit firms

Purpose This study examines whether the auditor's self-esteem and narcissism affect sharing their knowledge with their colleagues and, if practical, increase or decrease knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a questionnaire to measure the employed variables: self-esteem, narcissism and knowledge-sharing. The study's statistical population includes auditors membered in the Association of Iranian Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), through which the statistical sample is 153 auditors chosen to analyze the collected information. Finally, the survey-based approach is employed to test the association between variables. Findings The results showed a positive and significant relationship between the positive dimension of self-esteem and knowledge sharing of auditors. In contrast, the effect of the negative dimension of self-esteem and narcissism on knowledge sharing is negative and significant. Practical implications According to the importance of particular personality traits in audit staff and their impact on improving the efficiency and performance of auditors, audit firms are recommended to employ audit staff suitable for their organizational objectives by taking some psychological tests during recruitment. Originality/value The findings expand knowledge sharing and create a new perspective in related research since this is among the pioneer studies investigating the impact of personality traits of individual auditors, particularly narcissism and self-esteem, on encouraging them to share knowledge.