Understanding Psychological Safety in Agile Software Development Teams
Resumo
Context: Psychological safety (PS) refers to individuals’ perceptions of the interpersonal risks of speaking up or making mistakes in team environments. In agile software development, PS is especially relevant due to its emphasis on collaboration, iteration, and continuous feedback. Despite growing interest in PS, there is still a limited understanding of how specific situations in agile contexts trigger psychological insecurity. Aims: This study aims to identify situations that challenge PS in agile teams, explore the causes behind these situations, and analyze their effects on team members and processes. Method: We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 54 discussions from Stack Exchange forums, focusing on real-life agile development experiences. Results: We identified five categories of challenging situations (e.g., misalignment of agile roles and responsibilities), seven categories of causes (e.g., process conflicts and bureaucracy), and five categories of consequences (e.g., team management and dynamic issues). Besides, we found frequent co-occurrence patterns between causes and consequences, revealing how PS disruptions propagate in agile teams. Conclusion: By categorizing real-world PS challenges, this study offers actionable directions for agile practitioners to recognize, anticipate, and mitigate psychologically unsafe conditions. Our taxonomy contributes to a more practical and nuanced understanding of PS in agile environments, supporting both empirical research and organizational interventions.
Palavras-chave:
Psychological Safety, Agile Software Development, Grey Literature
Referências
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Adam Alami, Mansooreh Zahedi, and Oliver Krancher. 2024. The role of psychological safety in promoting software quality in agile teams. Empirical Software Engineering 29, 5 (2024), 1–50.
Lidiany Cerqueira, Sávio Freire, João Bastos, Rodrigo Spínola, Manoel Mendonça, and José Santos. 2023. A Thematic Synthesis on Empathy in Software Engineering based on the Practitioners’ Perspective. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering (Campo Grande, Brazil) (SBES ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 332–341. DOI: 10.1145/3613372.3613407
Lidiany Cerqueira, Sávio Freire, Danilo Ferreira Neves, João Pedro Silva Bastos, Beatriz Santana, Rodrigo Spínola, Manoel Mendonça, and José Amancio Macedo Santos. 2024. Empathy and Its Effects on Software Practitioners’ Well-Being and Mental Health. IEEE Software 41, 4 (2024), 95–104. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2024.3377897
Mikkel Agerlin Christensen and Paolo Tell. 2022. Building a Toolbox forWorking with Psychological Safety in Agile Software Teams. In Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 23rd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 13–17, 2022, Proceedings. Springer, 82–98.
A. Cockburn. 2002. "Agile software development joins the ’would-be’ crowd". Cutter ITJournal 1, 15 (2002), 6–12.
John W Creswell and J David Creswell. 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
R. S. Dubey, V. Tewari, and B. Pandiya. 2017. A soft approach towards gaining employability in IT professionals. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM). 299–303. DOI: 10.1109/IEEM.2017.8289900
Amy Edmondson. 1999. Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative science quarterly 44, 2 (1999), 350–383.
Amy C Edmondson and Zhike Lei. 2014. Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior 1, 1 (2014), 23–43.
Sávio Freire, Felipe Gomes, Larissa Barbosa, Thiago Souto Mendes, Galdir Reges, Rita SP Maciel, Manoel Mendonça, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2023. Requirements Engineering Issues Experienced by Software Practitioners: A Study on Stack Exchange. In International Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality. Springer, 3–20.
Felipe Gomes, Eder Santos, Sávio Freire, Thiago Souto Mendes, Manoel Mendonça, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2023. Investigating the Point of Viewof Project Management Practitioners on Technical Debt - A Study on Stack Exchange. Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development 11, 1 (Sep. 2023), 12:1 – 12:15. DOI: 10.5753/jserd.2023.3191
Felipe Gomes, Eder Pereira dos Santos, Sávio Freire, Manoel Mendonça, Thiago Souto Mendes, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2022. Investigating the point of view of project management practitioners on technical debt: a preliminary study on stack exchange. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Technical Debt. 31–40.
Phil Hennel and Christoph Rosenkranz. 2021. Investigating the “Socio” in Sociotechnical development: The case for psychological safety in agile information systems development. Project Management Journal 52, 1 (2021), 11–30.
Dron Khanna and Xiaofeng Wang. 2022. Are Your Online Agile Retrospectives Psychologically Safe? the Usage of Online Tools. In Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 23rd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 13–17, 2022, Proceedings. Springer, 35–51.
Klaus Krippendorff. 2018. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage publications.
Per Lenberg and Robert Feldt. 2018. Psychological safety and norm clarity in software engineering teams. In Proceedings of the 11th international workshop on cooperative and human aspects of software engineering. 79–86.
Jiakun Liu, Qiao Huang, Xin Xia, Emad Shihab, David Lo, and Shanping Li. 2020. Is Using Deep Learning Frameworks Free? Characterizing Technical Debt in Deep Learning Frameworks. In 2020 IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society (ICSE-SEIS). 1–10.
Julie Yu-Chih Liu, Hun-Gee Chen, Charlie C Chen, and Tsong Shin Sheu. 2011. Relationships among interpersonal conflict, requirements uncertainty, and software project performance. International Journal of Project Management 29, 5 (2011), 547–556.
Mary L McHugh. 2012. Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochem Med (Zagreb) 22, 3 (2012), 276–282.
Lidivânio Monte, Beatriz Santana, Glauco Carneiro, Manoel Mendonça, Sávio Freire, and José Amâncio Macedo Santos. 2025. Understanding Psychological Safety in Agile Software Development Teams - Complementary Material. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16705151
Alexander Newman, Ross Donohue, and Nathan Eva. 2017. Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human resource management review 27, 3 (2017), 521–535.
Róisín O’donovan and Eilish Mcauliffe. 2020. A systematic review of factors that enable psychological safety in healthcare teams. International journal for quality in health care 32, 4 (2020), 240–250.
Antônio Carlos M. de Paula, Carlos Frederico J. Muakad, Sávio Freire, Rodrigo Spínola, and Manoel Mendonça. 2024. Burnout in Software Projects: An Analysis of Stack Exchange Discussions. In Proceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality (SBQS ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 321–330. DOI: 10.1145/3701625.3701670
Beatriz Santana, Sávio Freire, José Amancio Santos, and Manoel Mendonça. 2024. Psychological Safety in the Software Work Environment. IEEE Software (2024).
Beatriz Silva de Santana, Sávio Freire, Leandro Cruz, Lidivânio Monte, Manoel Mendonca, and José Amancio Macedo Santos. 2023. Exploring psychological safety in software engineering: Insights from stack exchange. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. 503–513.
Eder Pereira Santos, Felipe Gomes, Sávio Freire, Manoel Mendonça, Thiago Souto Mendes, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2022. Technical debt on agile projects: Managers’ point of view at stack exchange. In Proceedings of the XXI Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality. 1–9.
Adam Alami, Mansooreh Zahedi, and Oliver Krancher. 2024. The role of psychological safety in promoting software quality in agile teams. Empirical Software Engineering 29, 5 (2024), 1–50.
Lidiany Cerqueira, Sávio Freire, João Bastos, Rodrigo Spínola, Manoel Mendonça, and José Santos. 2023. A Thematic Synthesis on Empathy in Software Engineering based on the Practitioners’ Perspective. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering (Campo Grande, Brazil) (SBES ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 332–341. DOI: 10.1145/3613372.3613407
Lidiany Cerqueira, Sávio Freire, Danilo Ferreira Neves, João Pedro Silva Bastos, Beatriz Santana, Rodrigo Spínola, Manoel Mendonça, and José Amancio Macedo Santos. 2024. Empathy and Its Effects on Software Practitioners’ Well-Being and Mental Health. IEEE Software 41, 4 (2024), 95–104. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2024.3377897
Mikkel Agerlin Christensen and Paolo Tell. 2022. Building a Toolbox forWorking with Psychological Safety in Agile Software Teams. In Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 23rd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 13–17, 2022, Proceedings. Springer, 82–98.
A. Cockburn. 2002. "Agile software development joins the ’would-be’ crowd". Cutter ITJournal 1, 15 (2002), 6–12.
John W Creswell and J David Creswell. 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
R. S. Dubey, V. Tewari, and B. Pandiya. 2017. A soft approach towards gaining employability in IT professionals. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM). 299–303. DOI: 10.1109/IEEM.2017.8289900
Amy Edmondson. 1999. Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative science quarterly 44, 2 (1999), 350–383.
Amy C Edmondson and Zhike Lei. 2014. Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior 1, 1 (2014), 23–43.
Sávio Freire, Felipe Gomes, Larissa Barbosa, Thiago Souto Mendes, Galdir Reges, Rita SP Maciel, Manoel Mendonça, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2023. Requirements Engineering Issues Experienced by Software Practitioners: A Study on Stack Exchange. In International Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality. Springer, 3–20.
Felipe Gomes, Eder Santos, Sávio Freire, Thiago Souto Mendes, Manoel Mendonça, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2023. Investigating the Point of Viewof Project Management Practitioners on Technical Debt - A Study on Stack Exchange. Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development 11, 1 (Sep. 2023), 12:1 – 12:15. DOI: 10.5753/jserd.2023.3191
Felipe Gomes, Eder Pereira dos Santos, Sávio Freire, Manoel Mendonça, Thiago Souto Mendes, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2022. Investigating the point of view of project management practitioners on technical debt: a preliminary study on stack exchange. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Technical Debt. 31–40.
Phil Hennel and Christoph Rosenkranz. 2021. Investigating the “Socio” in Sociotechnical development: The case for psychological safety in agile information systems development. Project Management Journal 52, 1 (2021), 11–30.
Dron Khanna and Xiaofeng Wang. 2022. Are Your Online Agile Retrospectives Psychologically Safe? the Usage of Online Tools. In Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 23rd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 13–17, 2022, Proceedings. Springer, 35–51.
Klaus Krippendorff. 2018. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage publications.
Per Lenberg and Robert Feldt. 2018. Psychological safety and norm clarity in software engineering teams. In Proceedings of the 11th international workshop on cooperative and human aspects of software engineering. 79–86.
Jiakun Liu, Qiao Huang, Xin Xia, Emad Shihab, David Lo, and Shanping Li. 2020. Is Using Deep Learning Frameworks Free? Characterizing Technical Debt in Deep Learning Frameworks. In 2020 IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society (ICSE-SEIS). 1–10.
Julie Yu-Chih Liu, Hun-Gee Chen, Charlie C Chen, and Tsong Shin Sheu. 2011. Relationships among interpersonal conflict, requirements uncertainty, and software project performance. International Journal of Project Management 29, 5 (2011), 547–556.
Mary L McHugh. 2012. Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochem Med (Zagreb) 22, 3 (2012), 276–282.
Lidivânio Monte, Beatriz Santana, Glauco Carneiro, Manoel Mendonça, Sávio Freire, and José Amâncio Macedo Santos. 2025. Understanding Psychological Safety in Agile Software Development Teams - Complementary Material. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16705151
Alexander Newman, Ross Donohue, and Nathan Eva. 2017. Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human resource management review 27, 3 (2017), 521–535.
Róisín O’donovan and Eilish Mcauliffe. 2020. A systematic review of factors that enable psychological safety in healthcare teams. International journal for quality in health care 32, 4 (2020), 240–250.
Antônio Carlos M. de Paula, Carlos Frederico J. Muakad, Sávio Freire, Rodrigo Spínola, and Manoel Mendonça. 2024. Burnout in Software Projects: An Analysis of Stack Exchange Discussions. In Proceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality (SBQS ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 321–330. DOI: 10.1145/3701625.3701670
Beatriz Santana, Sávio Freire, José Amancio Santos, and Manoel Mendonça. 2024. Psychological Safety in the Software Work Environment. IEEE Software (2024).
Beatriz Silva de Santana, Sávio Freire, Leandro Cruz, Lidivânio Monte, Manoel Mendonca, and José Amancio Macedo Santos. 2023. Exploring psychological safety in software engineering: Insights from stack exchange. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. 503–513.
Eder Pereira Santos, Felipe Gomes, Sávio Freire, Manoel Mendonça, Thiago Souto Mendes, and Rodrigo Spínola. 2022. Technical debt on agile projects: Managers’ point of view at stack exchange. In Proceedings of the XXI Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality. 1–9.
Publicado
22/09/2025
Como Citar
MONTE, Lidivânio; SANTANA, Beatriz; CARNEIRO, Glauco de Figueiredo; MENDONÇA, Manoel; FREIRE, Sávio; SANTOS, José Amancio Macedo.
Understanding Psychological Safety in Agile Software Development Teams. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE ENGENHARIA DE SOFTWARE (SBES), 39. , 2025, Recife/PE.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 416-426.
ISSN 2833-0633.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbes.2025.9974.
