Analysing your IQ
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AKA: "Default Effect"
A preference for keeping things the way they are, even when change is beneficial.
Status Quo Bias affects everyone, including (especially) people who think they're immune. The first step to fixing it is understanding how it works.
You stay in a mediocre job or relationship because switching feels risky and effortful.
Status Quo Bias isn't just an abstract concept—it affects real decisions about money, relationships, career, and health. The cost of ignoring it compounds over time.
This error is driven by Change creates uncertainty; the brain treats uncertainty as threat and overweights switching costs..
This bias exists because human brains evolved for survival, not accuracy. Change creates uncertainty; the brain treats uncertainty as threat and overweights switching costs. served our ancestors well. In modern contexts, it often misfires.
In investing: Status Quo Bias leads to holding losing positions too long or selling winners too early.
In relationships: This bias causes people to interpret ambiguous signals in ways that confirm existing beliefs about partners.
In work: Status Quo Bias makes it harder to update strategies when market conditions change.
In health: People ignore symptoms that contradict their self-image as "healthy" or "young."
Status Quo Bias has been studied extensively since the cognitive revolution. Research consistently shows that even warned subjects fall for it—awareness alone doesn't provide immunity.
Run a "fresh start" thought experiment: if you had to choose today, would you choose this again?
Seek disconfirming evidence: Actively look for data that challenges your current belief.
Use decision journals: Write down predictions before outcomes are known, then review accuracy.
Consult diverse perspectives: People with different backgrounds spot different biases.
Implement decision rules: Pre-commit to criteria before emotionally charged situations arise.
Time-box decisions: Revisit important conclusions after a cooling-off period.
Some brains are more susceptible to this than others. Test your Discipline to find out.
A preference for keeping things the way they are, even when change is beneficial.
The alternate name "Default Effect" captures the intuitive essence of the bias. Status Quo Bias is the formal psychological term, while "Default Effect" describes what it feels like in practice.
Run a "fresh start" thought experiment: if you had to choose today, would you choose this again?
The underlying mechanism is change creates uncertainty; the brain treats uncertainty as threat and overweights switching costs.. Human brains evolved heuristics for speed and survival, not accuracy in modern contexts.
Yes. Intelligence doesn't provide immunity—sometimes it makes the bias worse because smart people are better at rationalizing. Awareness and structured decision processes are more protective than raw IQ.
You stay in a mediocre job or relationship because switching feels risky and effortful.