Schedule - PGDay Napoli 2025
Postgres & People: The Neuroscience of Why We Stick Around
Date: 2025-09-25
Time: 16:20–17:10
Room: Delle Colonne
Level: Beginner
What makes someone stick around in an open source community, or quietly drift away? The answer often isn’t technical. It’s psychological.
In this talk, we’ll explore the science of belonging and how it applies to PostgreSQL communities. We’ll draw on insights from neuroscience, social psychology and real-world experience to unpack how seemingly small interactions can make or break someone’s sense of inclusion I’ll break down the invisible cues that influence whether someone feels welcome, valued, and seen. We’ll look at research on identity, group dynamics, and community rituals, and how these map onto everything from CFPs to first pull requests.
Whether you're running a user group, organizing a conference, or just trying to grow engagement in your open source team, you’ll leave with science-backed strategies to foster stronger, stickier PostgreSQL communities. Because sometimes, the difference between participation and disengagement comes down to whether people feel like they truly belong.
