Skip to main content

Category

Cognitive Biases

Impact level

2 / 5

Category Cognitive Biases

Impact 2 / 5

COGNITIVE BIASES

Status Quo
Bias

A preference for the current state of affairs. The current baseline (or status quo) is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss.

Share this

X / TwitterLinkedInFacebook

Cognitive processing

System 1 (fast, intuitive). Biases often lean on quick judgments (System 1) unless you slow down and analyze (System 2).

Evidence & time

Evidence strength: experimental. Typical read: about 3 min.

Catch it next time

Practical steps for Status Quo Bias

1
Evaluate the cost of doing nothing
medium effectivenessmoderate difficulty

Tape this to your desk.

02

Common triggers

Making a change

Choosing defaults

03

Typical contexts

Subscription renewals

Policy changes

04

Mitigation strategies

Evaluate the cost of doing nothing

Effectiveness: medium

Difficulty: moderate

05

Potential decision harms

Missed opportunities for improvement

moderate Severity

Stagnation

moderate Severity