Re: Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Derek M Jones]

Zéphyrin,


Are there some references that link personality to external/observable
behaviour of software engineers?


The following experiment tried and failed to obtain
a particular kind of link:
http://www.knosof.co.uk/dev-experiment/accu11.html


Or simply work on "external/observable" behaviour of software engineers?
By external/observable behaviour, I meant when observing someone
working, can we know her personality?

Kind regards,
Zéphyrin

Le 2015-02-07 16:07, Luiz Fernando Capretz a écrit :

Dear Huw,

Thank you for your relevant question; I don't see it as criticism at
all. There should be no dogmas in science.

Your statement is right, NT types are abundant among software
developers. But ST types are even more prevalent. Given that there are
more ST than NT types among the general population, the percentage of
NT software engineers stands out.

Nevertheless, there are significant discrepancies in the distributions
and percentages of software engineers across the 16 MBTI types.
Moreover, the software engineering profession has diversified
enormously  in the last 20 years, compared to mainly computational
programming of 30-40 years ago, thus attracting myriad types of people
performing specialized jobs. Those discrepancies tend to be exacerbated.

Now, trying to answer your question
I am an advocate for cross-disciplinary research and borrowing
perspectives from other areas, which give us the potential to address
important issues in software engineering, thus should be encouraged.
Please take a look at:
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/Capretz-HF-IEEE-v2.pdf

However, when it comes to human beings, things get really complicated.
Psychology is there to help us.

Regards,

Luiz Fernando Capretz
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/


On 06/02/2015 5:30 PM, Huw Lloyd wrote:

Thank you for sharing your work, Luiz.

It's interesting that MBTI remains a strong typological schema.  If I
recall my MBTI distributions correctly, the high percentages of "NT"
personalities represents an impressive concentration.

Perhaps for the sake of this quiet list-serve, are you able to
elaborate on a question I was considering whilst skimming your paper,
please.  In your final considerations, you (collectively) write:

"the amount of research on the effects and influences of personality
in the field is relatively small. The evidence is weak and in many
cases inconclusive. More research is required if we want results that
can influence the practice of software development."

My question is, what influence does personality research in the
contexts of various practices have, i.e. are there examples of
transformative contributions?  I have witnessed personality-based
knowledge being usefully applied at an interpersonal (consulting)
level, but the impression I have is that perhaps you have something
broader in mind (such as interviewing for personality types etc)?

I intend no criticism in the question, I'm merely curious.

Best,
Huw

On 6 February 2015 at 20:03, Luiz Fernando Capretz mailto:lcapr...@uwo.ca>> wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review
on human factors and personalities in software engineering along
the past 40 years.

I am providing you with the following article link, which allows
free access to the article:

http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5


Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article
if you are interested in that topic; you are also welcome to
email the link to other colleagues.

Anyone who clicks on the link until 14^th /March/2015 - no sign
up or registration is needed - just click and read!

Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor of Software Engineering
Assistant Dean (IT & e-Learning)
Western University
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Thompson Engineering Building (TEB 345)
London, Ontario, Canada - N6A5B9
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
Tel. 1 519 6612111 x85482 , Fax 1
519 8502436 









--
Derek M. Jones   Software analysis
tel: +44 (0)1252 520667  blog:shape-of-code.coding-guidelines.com

Re: Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Zéphyrin Soh]

Hi Luiz,
Are there some references that link personality to external/observable 
behaviour of software engineers?

Or simply work on "external/observable" behaviour of software engineers?
By external/observable behaviour, I meant when observing someone 
working, can we know her personality?


Kind regards,
Zéphyrin

Le 2015-02-07 16:07, Luiz Fernando Capretz a écrit :

Dear Huw,

Thank you for your relevant question; I don't see it as criticism at 
all. There should be no dogmas in science.


Your statement is right, NT types are abundant among software 
developers. But ST types are even more prevalent. Given that there are 
more ST than NT types among the general population, the percentage of 
NT software engineers stands out.


Nevertheless, there are significant discrepancies in the distributions 
and percentages of software engineers across the 16 MBTI types. 
Moreover, the software engineering profession has diversified 
enormously  in the last 20 years, compared to mainly computational 
programming of 30-40 years ago, thus attracting myriad types of people 
performing specialized jobs. Those discrepancies tend to be exacerbated.


Now, trying to answer your question
I am an advocate for cross-disciplinary research and borrowing 
perspectives from other areas, which give us the potential to address 
important issues in software engineering, thus should be encouraged.
Please take a look at: 
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/Capretz-HF-IEEE-v2.pdf


However, when it comes to human beings, things get really complicated.
Psychology is there to help us.

Regards,

Luiz Fernando Capretz
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/


On 06/02/2015 5:30 PM, Huw Lloyd wrote:

Thank you for sharing your work, Luiz.

It's interesting that MBTI remains a strong typological schema.  If I 
recall my MBTI distributions correctly, the high percentages of "NT" 
personalities represents an impressive concentration.


Perhaps for the sake of this quiet list-serve, are you able to 
elaborate on a question I was considering whilst skimming your paper, 
please.  In your final considerations, you (collectively) write:


"the amount of research on the effects and influences of personality 
in the field is relatively small. The evidence is weak and in many 
cases inconclusive. More research is required if we want results that 
can influence the practice of software development."


My question is, what influence does personality research in the 
contexts of various practices have, i.e. are there examples of 
transformative contributions?  I have witnessed personality-based 
knowledge being usefully applied at an interpersonal (consulting) 
level, but the impression I have is that perhaps you have something 
broader in mind (such as interviewing for personality types etc)?


I intend no criticism in the question, I'm merely curious.

Best,
Huw

On 6 February 2015 at 20:03, Luiz Fernando Capretz > wrote:


Dear Colleagues,

I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review
on human factors and personalities in software engineering along
the past 40 years.

I am providing you with the following article link, which allows
free access to the article:

http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5


Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article
if you are interested in that topic; you are also welcome to
email the link to other colleagues.

Anyone who clicks on the link until 14^th /March/2015 - no sign
up or registration is needed - just click and read!

Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor of Software Engineering
Assistant Dean (IT & e-Learning)
Western University
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Thompson Engineering Building (TEB 345)
London, Ontario, Canada - N6A5B9
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
Tel. 1 519 6612111 x85482 , Fax 1
519 8502436 

Re: Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Huw Lloyd]

Thanks for the second link, Luiz.  So one indicator for your assertion that
there's much room for improvement is the marginal or marginalised role of
human factors in software practices (which is certainly my impression).

That, in itself, doesn't indicate a realistic sense of what can actually be
expected by way of improvements.  But is there much to indicate anything
unique about software practices vis-a-vis culture and psychological
development?  I can think of three, (1) perhaps there's a case for arguing
that some software practices have the depth of a vocation which has yet to
have any ethical-professional basis of regulation.  (2) Perhaps programers,
as a sociological force, can be analogised to the weavers who read
literature as they worked, such as the open source movement.  (3) The kinds
of psychological tensions that programmers are exposed to through the
employment of culturally and historically new forms of production.

>From my perspective the medium that fosters such transformations (or that
inhibits them by its lack in my experience) is that elusive medium we
sometimes call culture.  Companies and (so called) educational institutions
can be equally poor at fostering that.

With respect to your referencing human factors, I would add Vladimir
Zinchenko to your mentioning of key influencers within human factors work
harbouring from the 70's (and earlier).   In 1979 Zinchenko was writing
about the necessity to include scope for psychological development within
the engineering of jobs as part of the assessments required in human
factors / ergonomics.  Zinchenko stems for a psychological school which
studies personality as it is related (genetically) to culture and human
activity  -- not so much the psychology of rocket science as the rocket
science of psychology (IMHO).

Nice chatting,
Huw


On 7 February 2015 at 21:07, Luiz Fernando Capretz  wrote:

>  Dear Huw,
>
> Thank you for your relevant question; I don't see it as criticism at all.
> There should be no dogmas in science.
>
> Your statement is right, NT types are abundant among software developers.
> But ST types are even more prevalent. Given that there are more ST than NT
> types among the general population, the percentage of NT software engineers
> stands out.
>
> Nevertheless, there are significant discrepancies in the distributions and
> percentages of software engineers across the 16 MBTI types. Moreover, the
> software engineering profession has diversified enormously  in the last 20
> years, compared to mainly computational programming of 30-40 years ago,
> thus attracting myriad types of people performing specialized jobs. Those
> discrepancies tend to be exacerbated.
>
> Now, trying to answer your question
> I am an advocate for cross-disciplinary research and borrowing
> perspectives from other areas, which give us the potential to address
> important issues in software engineering, thus should be encouraged.
> Please take a look at:
> http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/Capretz-HF-IEEE-v2.pdf
>
> However, when it comes to human beings, things get really complicated.
> Psychology is there to help us.
>
> Regards,
>
> Luiz Fernando Capretz
> http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
>
>
>
> On 06/02/2015 5:30 PM, Huw Lloyd wrote:
>
> Thank you for sharing your work, Luiz.
>
>  It's interesting that MBTI remains a strong typological schema.  If I
> recall my MBTI distributions correctly, the high percentages of "NT"
> personalities represents an impressive concentration.
>
>  Perhaps for the sake of this quiet list-serve, are you able to elaborate
> on a question I was considering whilst skimming your paper, please.  In
> your final considerations, you (collectively) write:
>
>  "the amount of research on the effects and influences of personality in
> the field is relatively small. The evidence is weak and in many cases
> inconclusive. More research is required if we want results that can
> influence the practice of software development."
>
>  My question is, what influence does personality research in the contexts
> of various practices have, i.e. are there examples of transformative
> contributions?  I have witnessed personality-based knowledge being usefully
> applied at an interpersonal (consulting) level, but the impression I have
> is that perhaps you have something broader in mind (such as interviewing
> for personality types etc)?
>
>  I intend no criticism in the question, I'm merely curious.
>
>  Best,
> Huw
>
> On 6 February 2015 at 20:03, Luiz Fernando Capretz 
> wrote:
>
>>  Dear Colleagues,
>>
>>
>>
>> I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review on human
>> factors and personalities in software engineering along the past 40 years.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am providing you with the following article link, which allows free
>> access to the article:
>>
>> http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5
>>
>> Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article if you
>> are interested in that top

Re: Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Luiz Fernando Capretz]

Dear Huw,

Thank you for your relevant question; I don't see it as criticism at 
all. There should be no dogmas in science.


Your statement is right, NT types are abundant among software 
developers. But ST types are even more prevalent. Given that there are 
more ST than NT types among the general population, the percentage of NT 
software engineers stands out.


Nevertheless, there are significant discrepancies in the distributions 
and percentages of software engineers across the 16 MBTI types. 
Moreover, the software engineering profession has diversified 
enormously  in the last 20 years, compared to mainly computational 
programming of 30-40 years ago, thus attracting myriad types of people 
performing specialized jobs. Those discrepancies tend to be exacerbated.


Now, trying to answer your question
I am an advocate for cross-disciplinary research and borrowing 
perspectives from other areas, which give us the potential to address 
important issues in software engineering, thus should be encouraged.
Please take a look at: 
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/Capretz-HF-IEEE-v2.pdf


However, when it comes to human beings, things get really complicated.
Psychology is there to help us.

Regards,

Luiz Fernando Capretz
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/


On 06/02/2015 5:30 PM, Huw Lloyd wrote:

Thank you for sharing your work, Luiz.

It's interesting that MBTI remains a strong typological schema.  If I 
recall my MBTI distributions correctly, the high percentages of "NT" 
personalities represents an impressive concentration.


Perhaps for the sake of this quiet list-serve, are you able to 
elaborate on a question I was considering whilst skimming your paper, 
please.  In your final considerations, you (collectively) write:


"the amount of research on the effects and influences of personality 
in the field is relatively small. The evidence is weak and in many 
cases inconclusive. More research is required if we want results that 
can influence the practice of software development."


My question is, what influence does personality research in the 
contexts of various practices have, i.e. are there examples of 
transformative contributions?  I have witnessed personality-based 
knowledge being usefully applied at an interpersonal (consulting) 
level, but the impression I have is that perhaps you have something 
broader in mind (such as interviewing for personality types etc)?


I intend no criticism in the question, I'm merely curious.

Best,
Huw

On 6 February 2015 at 20:03, Luiz Fernando Capretz > wrote:


Dear Colleagues,

I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review on
human factors and personalities in software engineering along the
past 40 years.

I am providing you with the following article link, which allows
free access to the article:

http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5


Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article
if you are interested in that topic; you are also welcome to email
the link to other colleagues.

Anyone who clicks on the link until 14^th /March/2015 - no sign up
or registration is needed - just click and read!

Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor of Software Engineering
Assistant Dean (IT & e-Learning)
Western University
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Thompson Engineering Building (TEB 345)
London, Ontario, Canada - N6A5B9
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
Tel. 1 519 6612111 x85482 , Fax 1
519 8502436 

Re: Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Huw Lloyd]

Thank you for sharing your work, Luiz.

It's interesting that MBTI remains a strong typological schema.  If I
recall my MBTI distributions correctly, the high percentages of "NT"
personalities represents an impressive concentration.

Perhaps for the sake of this quiet list-serve, are you able to elaborate on
a question I was considering whilst skimming your paper, please.  In your
final considerations, you (collectively) write:

"the amount of research on the effects and influences of personality in the
field is relatively small. The evidence is weak and in many cases
inconclusive. More research is required if we want results that can
influence the practice of software development."

My question is, what influence does personality research in the contexts of
various practices have, i.e. are there examples of transformative
contributions?  I have witnessed personality-based knowledge being usefully
applied at an interpersonal (consulting) level, but the impression I have
is that perhaps you have something broader in mind (such as interviewing
for personality types etc)?

I intend no criticism in the question, I'm merely curious.

Best,
Huw

On 6 February 2015 at 20:03, Luiz Fernando Capretz  wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review on human
> factors and personalities in software engineering along the past 40 years.
>
>
>
> I am providing you with the following article link, which allows free
> access to the article:
>
> http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5
>
> Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article if you
> are interested in that topic; you are also welcome to email the link to
> other colleagues.
>
> Anyone who clicks on the link until 14th/March/2015 - no sign up or
> registration is needed - just click and read!
>
> Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ph.D., P.Eng.
> Professor of Software Engineering
> Assistant Dean (IT & e-Learning)
> Western University
> Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
> Thompson Engineering Building (TEB 345)
> London, Ontario, Canada - N6A5B9
> http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
> Tel. 1 519 6612111 x85482, Fax 1 519 8502436
>
>
>

Forty Years of Research on Personality in Software Engineering: A Mapping Study

[Luiz Fernando Capretz]

Dear Colleagues,

 

I thought you’d be interested in a systematic literature review on human 
factors and personalities in software engineering along the past 40 years.

 

I am providing you with the following article link, which allows free access to 
the article:

http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QQJw2f~UVqMl5

Please use this link to download a personal copy of your article if you are 
interested in that topic; you are also welcome to email the link to other 
colleagues. 

Anyone who clicks on the link until 14th/March/2015 - no sign up or 
registration is needed - just click and read!

Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor of Software Engineering
Assistant Dean (IT & e-Learning)
Western University
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Thompson Engineering Building (TEB 345)
London, Ontario, Canada - N6A5B9
http://www.eng.uwo.ca/people/lcapretz/
Tel. 1 519 6612111 x85482, Fax 1 519 8502436