The Risk-Taking Software Engineer: A Framed Portrait
Lorenz Graf-Vlachy
TL;DR
The paper investigates why software engineers take risks by testing framing effects (gain vs. loss) and personality (Big Five) in a randomized survey with 124 engineers, analyzing risk-taking decisions with proportion tests and probit regression. It finds a robust framing effect: loss framing increases risk-taking (p=0.006), while gain framing decreases it; however, Big Five traits do not show reliable associations after adjusting for multiple tests. The work highlights framing as a dominant external determinant of risk-taking in SE and discusses debiasing and managerial implications. This has practical relevance for improving decision-making processes and guiding future research into risk-related decisions in software practice.
Abstract
Background: Risk-taking is prevalent in a host of activities performed by software engineers on a daily basis, yet there is scant research on it. Aims and Method: We study if software engineers' risk-taking is affected by framing effects and by software engineers' personality. To this end, we perform a survey experiment with 124 software engineers. Results: We find that framing substantially affects their risk-taking. None of the "Big Five" personality traits are related to risk-taking in software engineers after correcting for multiple testing. Conclusions: Software engineers and their managers must be aware of framing effects and account for them properly.