Have you ever planned to change something in your life? Maybe your routine, habits, or decisions, but ended up doing the same thing anyway? It happens with everyone, we do not accept changing something that is in our core routine, it could be anything- a job that you know you want to quit, a habit you know is not good for you and you need to change but you still end up doing the same thing anyway!
This tendency is not just procrastination; it’s a psychological pattern known as status quo bias. Let’s dive deeper and know what it is and how does it work.
Table of Contents
What is Status Quo Bias?
Status quo bias is the tendency to prefer things to remain the same. People often stick to their current situation, even when better alternatives are available. You keep following the same daily routine, even when you know it’s not productive. Changing it requires effort, so you continue with what feels familiar.
Where this bias occurs?
Deo buys a new smartphone. When he sets it up, it automatically enables a bunch of features like location tracking, app notifications, background data usage, and even subscriptions to certain services.
He could go into settings and customize everything, turn off unnecessary notifications, disable tracking, or cancel subscriptions that cost money. But honestly, it feels like too much effort.
So, he just taps “Continue” on everything and starts using the phone as it is. Months later, he’s annoyed by constant notifications and higher data usage but still doesn’t change anything.
Why Does It Happen?
- Comfort with familiarity: Most of us have this tendency of seeking comfort with things and then never getting away with it even when they know they need to change this thing. We find it difficult to move from familiar things to new ones.
- Fear of uncertainty: Not everybody is risk-minded, most of us fear that what if we changed and moved to something else and it end up turning much bad then the earlier one.
- Effort required to change: When you are having a comfortable space with your things, you find it difficult in terms of efforts to move to a new thing.
How to Overcome It
To overcome the status quo bias,
- Start with small changes
- Question your current choices
- Focus on long-term benefits instead of short-term comfort
- Be open to experimenting with new options
