Interconexões entre resiliência e bem-estar de desenvolvedores de software na pandemia e pós-pandemia: um estudo qualitativo

Abstract

Resilience is a term introduced by the exact sciences, and in psychology its use is recent, but has been shown to be relevant to understand phenomena in different areas. Studies point out that resilience at work explains desirable organizational outcomes and brings benefits to the organization and the worker. In common sense language, well-being is conceived as happiness, and in the academic field, well-being at work is defined as the balance between positive and negative affects, general satisfaction with life and work, and achievement at work. There is evidence that a high degree of resilience and well-being at work are associated with aspects such as productivity, engagement, successful social relationships, creativity, proactivity, ability to solve problems, in addition to good physical and mental health. Especially among health professionals, such relationships are confirmed. However, there are professional categories that are little investigated, such as technology and private sector professionals. These studies would be important because resilience and well-being at work are recently built constructs and are still maturing, therefore, the more volume and variety of methods in researching these themes, the more progress will be made towards the integrated knowledge within Organizational and Work Psychology. In light of this, software developers take an important prominent place in expanding knowledge of these two phenomena, since technology organizations are increasingly present and relevant in today's world. Therefore, the objective of this research project is to deepen knowledge about the mental health of software developers, considering variables such as resilience at work and well-being in a pandemic and post-pandemic context. For this purpose, a convenience sample of 11 software developers was used, and individual semi-structured interview instruments were applied, with data analysis being carried out according to Bardin (2011). The results showed 21 subcategories, grouped into three major categories: 1) "Well-being: Factors related to the promotion of professionals' well-being"; 2) "Developer Work Adversities: Negative factors that may harm the individual's overall health"; 3) "The Developer Profession". The data indicates that although developers express high satisfaction due to autonomy, flexibility, and rewards, the profession requires resilience to cope with the fast pace of new technologies and their learning, the pressure for delivery, and the high cognitive load of problem-solving. It is expected that the improved results will contribute to the advancement of academic knowledge on resilience and well-being in promoting workplace health for software developers, as well as benefiting people and organizations by providing information on factors influencing the mental health of this neglected occupational group, considering the searches carried out for this work.