Comparison of Personality Traits among Estimators, Project Managers, and the Population

Abstract

The intuitive hypothesis that construction management professionals (CMPs) must have a high level of people skills implies that they should be different than the population at large in terms of people skills. In addition, estimators do not deal with as many people as project managers; therefore, they may not have or have need of as high of people skills as project managers. This paper tests these hypotheses through the analysis of 47 personality traits of 102 experienced applicants for construction management positions and compares this analysis with the traits of the overall population. The results of the analysis suggested that (1) CMPs were different from the general population in 34 traits and they were not different in 13 other traits, and (2) construction estimators and project managers were not different except in two traits: human services and gregariousness.