Elevating audit judgement performance in higher education: the role of auditor competencies, trusted data, technology anxiety and fraud risk assessment during digital transformation

This study aims to explain the influence of auditor competence, data trustworthiness, and technology anxiety on audit judgment performance, with fraud risk assessment as an intervening variable. This study was conducted on internal auditors in Indonesian higher education institutions. This study uses Behavioral Decision Theory (BDT) and Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) model to explore how behavioral and technological factors interact to shape the cognitive process in assessing fraud risk and producing high-quality audit judgments. This study uses a questionnaire-based survey approach administered to internal auditors across Indonesian higher education institutions, resulting in 158 respondents. The proposed hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationships between constructs. The findings indicate that auditor competence and data trust have a positive influence on audit judgment performance, both directly and indirectly through an effective incident risk assessment process. This indicates the importance of professional skills and reliable digital audit data in supporting appropriate audit decisions. In contrast, technology anxiety does not influence fraud risk assessment, indicating that internal auditors have largely adapted to the use of digital audit systems. This study contributes to the audit literature by integrating the BDT and TPC models in the context of higher education internal audit and provides practical insights for governance and policymakers in strengthening internal audit performance in the digital transformation process.