Status Quo Bias: Why We Resist Change Even When It’s for the Better

I know guys. Calm down. I’m not doing 5 days of psychology posts in a row. Today, this bias is a part of behavioral economics (I love me some loopholes).

Status quo bias is a cognitive bias that leads people to prefer things to remain as they are rather than making changes, even when change might lead to better outcomes. People tend to feel more comfortable with what they know, and any deviation from the norm can feel risky or overwhelming. This bias arises from psychological factors like loss aversion, fear of uncertainty, and cognitive effort avoidance. 

I’ve already discussed loss aversion in 2 posts before, so let’s skip over that. Fear of uncertainty is pretty self-explanatory. It refers to the anxiety or discomfort people experience when faced with unknown outcomes. Humans naturally seek predictability because it gives us a sense of control. When we don’t know what will happen, our brains perceive potential threats—even if no real danger exists. Humans have evolved to behave that way: our base emotion is survival above all. Unfamiliar environments, thus, seem dangerous and less apt for survival. A common example is job lock. Apart from financial troubles and commitments, some people stay in their
unfulfilling jobs even without those problems because a new environment scares them.

The second reason is cognitive effort avoidance. Cognitive effort avoidance is the tendency to avoid mentally demanding tasks whenever possible. The human brain is wired to conserve energy, and complex decision-making requires effort. Since sticking with the status quo requires little thought, people often default to familiar choices rather than evaluating alternatives.

So, where can you see this bias? Like I mentioned before, a common example is in the workplace. Another popular example is subscription services. When’s the last time you watched a series on CBS? You barely have enough time to watch youtube, but that CBS subscription keeps going. You never cancel. Why? Status Quo Bias. People prefer old policies to new ones, despite it having potential to have long term-benefits. 

Humans hate change; it is one of the natural barriers that everyone has to overcome.