Why do we tend to leave things as they are?

Status Quo Bias

, explained.
Bias

What is the Status Quo Bias?

The status quo bias describes our preference for the current state of affairs, resulting in resistance to change.

A cartoon illustrating status quo bias. On the left, a stick figure offers a shovel, asking 'Would you like a shovel?' On the right, another figure holds a spoon, replying, '...But I'm already using this spoon!' A bird above comments 'LOL' as the figure struggles to dig with the spoon.

Where this bias occurs

Sam is a college student, gearing up to start a new semester. Her school automatically enrolls students in medical and dental insurance. Of course, there is the option of opting out, which would decrease the total sum of her school fees. Sam isn’t even sure whether or not she needs health insurance, since she might be already covered by one of her parent’s plans. However, she doesn’t give it much thought and pays her tuition anyway.

This is an example of status quo bias because Sam decides to leave things as they are rather than investigate further and opt out of health insurance. If things were reversed, and the school did not automatically include insurance in the total fees, far fewer students would probably choose to be covered. However, the school uses the status quo bias to their advantage, knowing that students are more inclined to stick to the original plan instead of going out of their way to pay less.

Related Biases

Sources

  1. Bar-Eli, M., Azar, O.H., Ritov, I., Keidar-Levin, Y., and Schein, G. (2007). “Action bias among elite soccer goalkeepers: The case of penalty kicks.” Journal of Economic Psychology. 28(5), 606-621. DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2006.12.001
  2. Davidai, S., Gilovich, T., & Ross, L. D. (2012). The meaning of default options for potential organ donors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(38), 15201–15205. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211695109
  3. Samuelson, W. & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1(1), 7–59.
  4. Dean, M., Kıbrıs Özgür, & Masatlioglu, Y. (2017). Limited attention and status quo bias. Journal of Economic Theory, 169, 93–127. doi: 10.1016/j.jet.2017.01.009
  5. Nebel, J. M. (2015). Status quo bias, rationality, and conservatism about value. Ethics, 125(2), 449–476.
  6. Leventhal, H., Singer, R., & Jones, S. (1965). Effects of fear and specificity of recommendation upon attitudes and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2(1), 20-29. doi: 10.1037/h0022089
  7. Murphy, T. (2019, July 9). New Coke didn't fail. it was murdered. Mother Jones. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.motherjones.com/food/2019/07/what-if-weve-all-been-wrong-about-what-killed-new-coke/ 
  8. Coca-Cola. (n.d.). The story of one of the most memorable marketing blunders ever - news & articles. The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company/history/the-story-of-one-of-the-most-memorable-marketing-blunders-ever
  9. Knoll M. A. (2010). The role of behavioral economics and behavioral decision making in Americans' retirement savings decisions. Social security bulletin, 70(4), 1–23.
  10. Belknap, L. L. (n.d.). The 5-day workweek is bad for business. Here’s why. Ethos3. https://ethos3.com/the-5-day-workweek-is-bad-for-business-heres-why/ 
  11. Hasnain, A. (2023, May 25). Netflix implements strict rules to curb password sharing: Global crackdown controversy. Digital Information World. https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2023/05/netflix-implements-strict-rules-to-curb.html

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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