A Systematic Literature Review of Studies Related to Mental Activities of Software Developers

In this paper we have performed a systematic review of studies related to the mental states of people engaged in software development, particularly programmers. This review underscores consensus relating to some more thoroughly studied areas, such as the relationship between emotional state and productivity. It also highlights emerging trends such as the use of biosensors, and many areas of limited understanding that might be fruitful topics for the application of new emerging techniques.