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Motivation, values, and work design as drivers of participation in the R open source project for statistical

Patrick Mair1, Eva Hofmann2, Kathrin Gruber3

  • 1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; mair@fas.harvard.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Psychological factors, particularly intrinsic motivation and social work design, significantly drive R package author participation. These elements are key to understanding contributions to the R statistical computing system.

Keywords:
R Project for Statistical ComputingSchwartz valuesitem response theorymotivationwork design

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Computer Science
  • Statistics
  • Open Source Software Development

Background:

  • The R system for statistical computing relies heavily on a vast number of contributed packages.
  • The broad availability of statistical techniques through R packages is a cornerstone of its success.
  • No empirical studies have previously explored the psychological drivers behind R package author contributions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the psychological factors influencing author participation in the R project.
  • To identify key determinants of R package development and contribution activities.

Main Methods:

  • Collected data from R package authors on participation levels (package count, mailing list, conferences).
  • Administered psychological scales measuring motivation, values, and work design characteristics.
  • Analyzed data using item response models and generalized linear models.

Main Results:

  • A hybrid form of motivation was the most significant predictor of overall participation.
  • Social characteristics of work design were also crucial determinants of author engagement.
  • Other socio-demographic factors had less impact or influenced only specific participation aspects.

Conclusions:

  • Motivation and social work design are paramount for fostering R package author contributions.
  • Understanding these psychological drivers can inform strategies to sustain and grow the R ecosystem.
  • Further research could explore the interplay of these factors in other open-source software projects.