This paper examines the impacts of one attribute of accounting recognition，i．e．，nonlinearity,on comparing the extents of conservatism based on Basu’s(1997)asymmetric timeliness concept．We predict and find that asymmetric timeliness is affected by nonlinear earnings responses and more pronounced when news of large absolute magnitudes occurs．Empirical results are all consistent with our expectations and robust to several changes in model or sample specifications．These results suggest that nonlinearity in earnings responses which is caused by different magnitudes of news should be considered to compare the extents of conservatism more validly．Concepts and methods to compare the extents of conservatism when considering nonlinearity are also provided in our study．