From Anecdote to Evidence: The Relationship Between Personality and Need for Cognition of Developers

TL;DR

This study investigates how personality traits influence software engineers' need for cognition, revealing that specific traits explain about a third of the variance and are higher than in the general population.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking HEXACO personality traits to developers' need for cognition using a large-scale survey and Bayesian analysis.

Findings

Approximately 33% of variation in need for cognition explained by personality traits.

Openness to experience, conscientiousness, honesty-humility, and emotionality are key predictors.

Software engineers have higher need for cognition compared to the general population.

Abstract

There is considerable anecdotal evidence suggesting that software engineers enjoy engaging in solving puzzles and other cognitive efforts. A tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful thinking is referred to as a person's 'need for cognition.' In this article we study the relationship between software engineers' personality traits and their need for cognition. Through a large-scale sample study of 483 respondents we collected data to capture the six 'bright' personality traits of the HEXACO model of personality, and three `dark' personality traits. Data were analyzed using several methods including a multiple Bayesian linear regression analysis. The results indicate that ca. 33% of variation in developers' need for cognition can be explained by personality traits. The Bayesian analysis suggests four traits to be of particular interest in predicting need for cognition: openness to experience, conscientiousness, honesty-humility, and emotionality. Further, we also find that need for cognition of software engineers is, on average, higher than in the general population, based on a comparison with prior studies. Given the importance of human factors for software engineers' performance in general, and problem solving skills in particular, our findings suggest several implications for recruitment, working behavior, and teaming.