Happy Software Developers Solve Problems Better

First time accepted submitter HagraBiscuit (2756527) writes Researchers from the Faculty of Computer Science, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy, have quantified and analysed affective mood index against objective measures of problem-solving effectiveness for a group of software developers. From the report abstract: "The results offer support for the claim that happy developers are indeed better problem solvers in terms of their analytical abilities. The following contributions are made by this study: (1) providing a better understanding of the impact of affective states on the creativity and analytical problem-solving capacities of developers, (2) introducing and validating psychological measurements, theories, and concepts of affective states, creativity, and analytical-problem-solving skills in empirical software engineering, and (3) raising the need for studying the human factors of software engineering by employing a multidisciplinary viewpoint.

Comments

True of any job.

[timrod]

It's not just software development, but any job. If the employees are happy about how they're being treated, they'll do the best job they can, because they want to stay with the company. If they're not, they're going to do the bare minimum to stay employed while they look for another job at a better company.

Re:True of any job.

[disposable60]

It's not just work.

Happy people just plain _human_ better.

Playing on FUD (and creating it if there isn't enough) is what turns people into monsters.

Re:True of any job.

[blue9steel]

And you would know this how? In my experience there are no perpetually happy people.

Re:True of any job.

[Ziggitz]

Happy doesn't mean never ever stressed or unchallenged.

Re:True of any job.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not necessarily. I have had jobs where I was quite unhappy, but I gave every project my best effort, as I had coworkers/managers, etc who were not responsible for the sucky job conditions that depended on my work. Most employees know that it is wise to leave a good impression, as it may bring opportunities down the road. Being unhappy or dissatisfied with your job but busting your ass anyway is a trait that tends to be remembered.

Re:True of any job.

[jellomizer]

They are Happy people, but it isn't Preschool version of happiness. It is a more complex form of happy.

Happy employees doesn't me smiley chipper people, who are high on their own good feelings. A happy employee can be down to earth, and dealing with some stresses. However the stresses are well managed, so they feel empowered to work threw the problems, not cower in fear of the problems.

For example if you have a bully boss, you will avoid her as much as you can. Give enough to get them off your back. Because their bulling will is something you cannot control, so you stress out having to deal with them, so you will do your best to avoid them.

Re:True of any job.

[nine-times]

It's not just about putting in more effort to stay with the company, or putting in more effort out of loyalty. Both of those can play a role in increase efficiency, but it's also the fact that your brain's ability to function is impacted by mood. You will think differently when you're under stress, panicked, depressed, worried, happy, horny, angry, or hungry. Being in a "happy" state is often good for solving the kinds of problems that present themselves at work.

Some people make the mistake of saying something like, "You make better decisions when you're happy." That's not altogether true. Being in a different state of mind will alter your thinking in ways that may be useful for certain situations. Being angry might make you more ready for a physical fight. Being hungry might distract you from other concerns in favor of finding food, which can be useful in keeping you from starving. These are useful things until you're in the wrong state of mind for the things you want to get done.

Re:True of any job.

[funwithBSD]

Beatings will continue until you are happy and productive.

Re:True of any job.

[matbury]

Not true of any job but very true of jobs where analytical and critical thinking are necessary/important. Also a major factor in learning outcomes in education. Unless we accept that software developers are a separate and distinct species to homo sapiens, we've had conclusive science on this issue for decades, e.g. Stephen Krashen published his findings and formed the Affective Filter hypothesis for second language acquisition back in 1982: http://sdkrashen.com/content/b...

How many MBAs and HR degrees include affective factors on their programmes? My guess is they don't know, don't want to know. It just doesn't fit in with mainstream capitalist values.

Re:True of any job.

[ultranova]

If the employees are happy about how they're being treated, they'll do the best job they can, because they want to stay with the company. If they're not, they're going to do the bare minimum to stay employed while they look for another job at a better company.

More to the point, if your employees hate you, the urge to harm you in revenge is going to be part of everything they do. There isn't necessarily any calculation, or even conscious decisions, things just start going wrong. People will do their job exactly as told, refuse to notice any deviations from equilibrium while they're still small, and the chaotic nature of life takes care of the rest.

Re:True of any job.

[NickGnome]

"It's not just software development, but any job. If the employees are happy about how they're being treated, they'll do the best job they can, because they want to stay with the company."
...

It also means they've got "buy-in". They approve of what you're having them do. The goals/aims are ones they want to work toward; they're worthwhile. They might see themselves as having a chance to have a proportional share in the firm's success.

But if the firm is doing bad things; if set A are getting the big bonuses or otherwise getting ahead, while set B of workers are knocking themselves out for nothing... they're not likely to be happy.

At the same time, if
1. someone does something or sees someone do something of no note but garners extravagant praise and other rewards; and/or
2. if he does something great or sees someone else do something great and the person/people who did it gets no praise or no rewards; and/or
3. if he sees people getting hollow praise but no other rewards for doing worthwhile things,
it kills his enthusiasm and his happiness, and undermines his ability to improve himself in his job, and most likely in his career for the long-run.

Therefore...

[BenSchuarmer]

The beatings will continue until morale improves

Re:Therefore...

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

I want to know where they found happy software developers in the first place.

Re:Obvious solution

[Anonymous Coward]

you can give as many as you like :D

Re:Obvious solution

[DoofusOfDeath]

you can give as many as you like :D

Since I'm on /., you can reasonably assume I'm male. And therefore... yuck.

Re:Obvious solution

[disposable60]

I'm a woman, you insensitive clod!

Happy means less bs

[In-HoYi]

For developers to be happy in the first place, there's gotta be less administrative and politics bs to begin with. No wonder programmers are more efficient in such environment

Introducing HappyLang++

[AnontheDestroyer]

public happylittle HelloWorld : hugs Object {
        public ecstatic ambitious main(String[] compliments :-) {
                weee (int i =) 0 ; i 10; i++ :-) {
                        Compy.outAndProud.prettyplease.print("Hello, World!!!!" :-);
                }
        }
}

Re:Obvious solution

[geekoid]

Tuesday is you day in the barrel.

Re:News flash

[twdorris]

People who are happy do better at things.

Its more like individuals achieve better performance when they are happy. Either way that is really good news. :-)

OMFG...why do people have to reply like that? "It's more like", "Not only that, but", "It's worse than that because". Ugh. The one-up-manship drives me nuts.

How is "individuals achieve better performance when they are happy" any better than "people who are happy do better at things"? Seriously? How is one "more like" the article than the other when the whole purpose was to provide a sarcastic summary of a long-winded project to show some obvious results?

And the little smiley at the end does NOT make it all OK. It's not smart. It's not humorous. It's nothing but a bunch of drivel so you could hear your keyboard clack away.

And while you're at it, get off my damn lawn!

Re:Happy Software Developers Solve Better Problems

[Anonymous Coward]

Whores do what the customer wants, professionals do what the customer needs.

Re:News flash

[techhead79]

I'm just going to make a guess here...but you're not a happy software developer are you?

Re:My anecdote

[david_thornley]

Note also that, if they show disrespect to you in your work, they're almost certainly not going to be loyal to you. One way not to have bad marks on a performance review is to get another job before the review.