12. Status Quo Bias
What Is Status Quo Bias?
The status quo bias refers to people’s preference for decisions and behaviours that preserve the current state of affairs over ones that lead to change, even if those alternative choices and behaviours may lead to better outcomes (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). This usually involves doing nothing or simply continuing to do what you have been doing in the past (in similar situations).
Example: Mobile phone provider
Status quo bias is what keeps you with the same mobile phone provider year after year, even though your bill keeps increasing, and you can get a better plan for less from other providers.
Similarly to the confirmation bias, the mechanism underlying the status quo bias has also been studied at the neural level (Fleming et al., 2010).
The following video presents another example of status quo bias. It also explains the relationship between this bias and loss aversion (covered in the next section).
Video Link: Status Quo Bias [4:45 min] by Fascinating Psychology (2016).
