Four personality traits make a software engineer

摘要

The lack of quality in many software products is still a widely discussed topic. Much research was conducted on software engineering processes and methods, which should improve the quality of software. So far little research has been conducted on the people, who produce (high quality) software. One criterion for quality software is to find and select the right people and to improve these people continuously. The Selection of people normally depends on skills and personality characteristics of a candidate. Therefore a greater insight into the personality structure of IT people strongly supports the goal of a successful selection and personal improvement process. In this paper, we shall present a long term effort finding a personality model for software engineers. The Exploratory factor analysis has been applied to a rich set of data collected over 3 years building and refining a trait oriented personality model. The final personality trait model consists of four factors: precision and reliability, charisma, professional curiosity, team orientation.