  Context: Requirements engineering (RE) is an important part of Software
Engineering (SE), consisting of various human-centric activities that require
the frequent collaboration of a variety of roles. Prior research has shown that
personality is one such human aspect that has a huge impact on the success of a
software project. However, a limited number of empirical studies exist focusing
on the impact of personality on RE activities. Objective: The objective of this
study is to explore and identify the impact of personality on RE activities,
provide a better understanding of these impacts, and provide guidance on how to
better handle these impacts in RE. Method: We used a mixed-methods approach,
including a personality test-based survey (50 participants) and an in-depth
interview study (15 participants) with software practitioners from around the
world involved in RE activities. Results: Through personality test analysis, we
found a majority of the practitioners have a high score on agreeableness and
conscientiousness traits and an average score on extraversion and neuroticism
traits. Through analysis of the interviews, we found a range of impacts related
to the personality traits of software practitioners, their team members, and
external stakeholders. These impacts can be positive or negative, depending on
the RE activities, the overall software development process, and the people
involved in these activities. Moreover, we found a set of strategies that can
be applied to mitigate the negative impact of personality on RE activities.
Conclusion: Our identified impacts of personality on RE activities and
mitigation strategies serve to provide guidance to software practitioners on
handling such possible personality impacts on RE activities and for researchers
to investigate these impacts in greater depth in future.
