A Systematic Review of Time Pressure and Cybersecurity Decision‐Making in Software Development

ABSTRACT In secure software development, time pressure has a significant impact on how people make decisions, especially when it comes to high‐stakes cybersecurity activities. As development teams adopt agile workflows and short release cycles, security‐related decisions are being made under progressively greater pressure. This paper examines the effects of time pressure on cognitive function and the caliber of decisions made in software development contexts related to cybersecurity. In addition, this review aims to identify recurrent patterns of bias, inaccuracy, and risky behavior, as well as to highlight gaps in current research and practice. Relevant articles published between 2015 and 2024 were chosen from six main academic databases, following the systematic literature review (SLR) guidelines of Kitchenham and Charters. Peer‐reviewed research on software engineering, security decision‐making, and time pressure was the emphasis of the inclusion criteria. A total of 20 core studies were analyzed using thematic synthesis. According to the review, time pressure is consistently linked to cognitive overload, stress‐induced shortcuts, and heuristic‐driven decisions, which frequently result in unsafe coding, insufficient patching, and inaccurate risk assessments. However, the impact varies depending on context, task type, and individual or team resilience. It is noteworthy that certain cognitive biases, including confirmation bias, seem to persist despite time limits, indicating that mitigation calls for more than just time management. While time pressure remains a significant risk factor in secure software development, it interacts with broader human and organizational factors. Validated therapies and team‐based and longitudinal research are lacking in the field. This review calls for human‐centered design of tools, targeted training, and cultural practices that support secure decision‐making under time pressure.