{"ID":2887884,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.00462","arxiv_id":"2508.00462","title":"Managing Power Gaps as an Element of Pair Programming Skill: A Grounded Theory","abstract":"Background: In pair programming, Togetherness (the partners understand each other's mental state well) is a main success factor. Maintaining high Togetherness is an element of pair programming skill. Some sessions appear to go badly although Togetherness appears good. Objective: Understand under what circumstances this is possible. Method: Grounded Theory Methodology based on 21 recorded pair programming sessions with 22 developers from 5 German software companies and 6 interviews with different developers from 4 other German companies. Results: We explain how a Power Gap can make a session dysfunctional despite the presence of high Togetherness, how it comes into existence due to a Knowledge Gap and Hierarchical Behavior, why its consequences (Defensive Behavior and Disengaging Behavior) are problematic, and how it can be reduced or prevented by Equalizing Behavior. Conclusions: Pair programming practitioners can improve their pair programming skill by unlearning problematic behaviors related to Power Gaps and by learning to recognize Power Gaps and apply Equalizing Behavior.","short_abstract":"Background: In pair programming, Togetherness (the partners understand each other's mental state well) is a main success factor. Maintaining high Togetherness is an element of pair programming skill. Some sessions appear to go badly although Togetherness appears good. Objective: Understand under what circumstances this...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.00462","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.00462v2","authors":"[\"Linus Ververs\",\"Janina Berger\",\"Lutz Prechelt\"]","published":"2025-08-01T09:34:20Z","proceeding":"cs.SE","tasks":"[\"cs.SE\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}