This is easily explained by Zajonc's Social Facilitation Theory. http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33455/1/0000859.pdf http://deepblue.lib.umich.

This is easily explained by Zajonc's Social Facilitation Theory. http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33455/1/0000859.pdf http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33455/1/0000... Developers usually have less social interaction due to the nature of the activity. Because others usually have more human interaction instead of sitting in front of a computer all day, their dominant (or widely accepted) behaviors are encouraged, while deviant behavior is discouraged. This makes developers look weird by comparison.