research-article

From Organizations to Individuals: Psychoactive Substance Use by Professional Programmers

Authors:

Madeline Endres,

Westley Weimer,

Brittany JohnsonAuthors Info & Claims

ICSE '23: Proceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering

Pages 665 - 677

https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE48619.2023.00065

Published: 26 July 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Psychoactive substances, which influence the brain to alter perceptions and moods, have the potential to have positive and negative effects on critical software engineering tasks. They are widely used in software, but that use is not well understood. We present the results of the first qualitative investigation of the experiences of, and challenges faced by, psychoactive substance users in professional software communities. We conduct a thematic analysis of hour-long interviews with 26 professional programmers who use psychoactive substances at work. Our results provide insight into individual motivations and impacts, including mental health and the relationships between various substances and productivity. Our findings elaborate on socialization effects, including soft skills, stigma, and remote work. The analysis also highlights implications for organizational policy, including positive and negative impacts on recruitment and retention. By exploring individual usage motivations, social and cultural ramifications, and organizational policy, we demonstrate how substance use can permeate all levels of software development.

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Cited By

He WParikh MWeimer WEndres MRoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)High Expectations: An Observational Study of Programming and Cannabis IntoxicationProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3639145(1-12)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597503.3639145

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

ICSE '23: Proceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering

May 2023

2713 pages

ISBN:9781665457019

General Chair:
John Grundy
Department of Software Systems and Cybersecurity, Faculty of IT, Monash University, Australia
,
Program Co-chairs:
Lori Pollock
University of Delaware, DE, USA
,
Massimiliano Di Penta
University of Sannio, Italy

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SIGSOFT: ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering

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IEEE CS

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IEEE Press

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Published: 26 July 2023

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ICSE '23

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ICSE '23: 45th International Conference on Software Engineering

May 14 - 20, 2023

Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

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Overall Acceptance Rate 276 of 1,856 submissions, 15%

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2025 IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering

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Cited By

He WParikh MWeimer WEndres MRoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)High Expectations: An Observational Study of Programming and Cannabis IntoxicationProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3639145(1-12)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597503.3639145

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