The psychometric properties of the measure of transformational leadership as measured by 20 items in Bass and Avolios Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5x) were examined. The examination was based on a sample of 372 chief executives in the United States government.

The auditing profession's complexity and high-stakes nature necessitates a nuanced understanding of auditors' self-efficacy, which significantly influences their performance, decision-making quality, audit quality, and fraud detection capabilities. Recognizing a gap in the domain-specific measurement of self-efficacy within this field, this study introduces the Auditor Self-Efficacy (ASE) scale, developed in alignment with Bandura's social cognitive theory. The ASE scale, consisting of three subscales—Technical Skills, Technological Adaptation, and Interpersonal Communication—aims to capture auditors' confidence across key competencies in auditing. This research involved 593 auditors who used an online survey to validate the scale. The findings indicated moderate to high levels of self-efficacy among the participants, with satisfactory internal consistency across the subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the structural integrity and validity of the scale, with excellent model fit indices and significant factor loadings. The scale's discriminant validity was also established, highlighting its ability to differentiate between various dimensions of self-efficacy in auditing. The ASE scale's development fills a significant gap in the literature and offers practical implications for enhancing auditors' professional development and organizational capacity building. By providing a detailed measure of auditors' confidence across key competencies, the ASE scale facilitates a deeper understanding of their role and contributions to the auditing profession, paving the way for future research and practice to improve audit quality and efficiency in the evolving financial landscape. Keywords: Auditor Self-Efficacy, Auditing Competencies, Technical Skills in Auditing, Technological Adaptation in Auditing, Interpersonal Communication in Auditing, Social Cognitive Theory, Professional Development in Auditing, Audit Quality, Decision-Making in Auditing, Fraud Detection.