Ontology for Cognitive Interference and Resistance to Change in Agile Transformations

Agile transformations face significant resistance to change, often driven by cognitive overload. Although cognitive psychology, specifically the Stroop effect, offers objective metrics to measure cognitive interference, there is no formal conceptual representation linking these psychological concepts to organizational resistance and Critical Success Factors (CSF) in software engineering. The lack of a shared vocabulary makes it difficult to integrate reaction time data, survey responses, and cultural metrics, and to organize knowledge about CSF. This project addresses this gap by proposing the development of an ontology for Cognitive Interference and Resistance to Change in Agile Transformations, to be built through the OntoView method. The expected result is a shared, machine-readable vocabulary that bridges two fields and supports researchers and practitioners in understanding and mitigating resistance in agile transformations.