A study into the effects of personality type and methodology on cohesion in software engineering teams

Authors:
J. S. Karn;S. Syed-Abdullah;A. J. Cowling;M. Holcombe
Affiliations:
Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Venue:
Behaviour & Information Technology
Year:
2007

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Abstract

The aim of the research described in this paper is to gain a qualitative understanding of how cohesiveness relates to personality type, performance and adherence to a particular software engineering methodology (XP). A variety of research methods were employed including ethnographic methods, questionnaires and interviews. An online personality test based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was used to ascertain the personality types, and questionnaires were used throughout the project to measure levels of cohesiveness. Examples of how the teams worked together throughout the project are described, and whether and how this relates to the personality types of the individual members. The results indicate that certain teams were found to work consistently well over the project due to homogeneity in personality type and others were found to be very cohesive due to a mixture of types.