Project managers: old, grumpy and suspicious or just “once bitten, twice shy?”

Purpose

This research aspires to contribute in the area of exploration of the psychological traits evolving by practitioners within the project management profession. Specifically, it investigates whether there is any difference in optimism levels among experienced project management practitioners and newcomers in the profession.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used the life orientation test-revised (LOTR) (Scheier et al., 1994) to calculate respondents’ optimism scores. With these scores at hand, the researchers could then apply inferential statistics in order to deduce any differences observed among optimism score and the respondents’ characteristics (age, years of experience etc.).

Findings

Based on the results of this research, several demographic variables were shown to be statistically significant with optimism. These were (1) the number of years of experience the respondent had in managing projects, (2) working in a government organisation and (3) possessing specific project management certifications, all of which were found to adversely affect the respondent’s optimism score.

Originality/value

This research was unique in applying a well-known psychological test instrument (LOTR) to provide insight into the psychological impacts of a career as an information technology (IT) project manager. It is also highly likely that this correlation between the length of time working as a project manager and the adverse impact on their optimism would also apply to not just IT project managers but all experienced project managers.