Status Quo Bias: Is it Human Habit to Prefer the Current Situation and Abhor Changes?

Abstract

Status quo bias is a cognitive bias found in many fields including business, economics, political science, sociology, and psychology just to mention a few. It is a situation where people choose to do nothing or maintain current or previous decisions without a change. However, in today’s world, change is one among the things that are constant; thus, organizations and individuals need to develop the capability to change so as to capitalize on new opportunities that emerge from changes.

The study in this paper has used content analysis to arrive to its findings which were obtained from books, peer review journals, reports and Internet information sources.

The research question to be examined is whether the preference of status quo bias is a human nature or the laziness of human consciousness on making sound decisions. Findings show that status quo bias, though preferred most does not help rational decision making when individuals choose among alternatives. Thus, in order to make rational and informed decisions, individuals shouldn’t have a bias towards sticking to the old but should show some characteristics that advance positive changes.

Keywords: Status quo bias, Changes, Rational decision making.