Personality Theory as a Predictor for Agile Preference

Since their arrival on the software development scene, agile software development methods have been a source of intense study. One promising aspect of research in relation to agile methods is personality theory. Although there have been some studies utilizing personality theory, to date no research has been performed to investigate the potential link between personality attributes and preference for agile methods. This study seeks to explore this research gap using a quantitative survey based approach. The outcome of this study provides evidence that there may not be a correlation between personality and agile methods, at least in terms of personality characteristics as measured by the Five Factor Model. In addition to this finding, the research provides a contribution in the form of an instrument to measure agile software development methodology preference.