Status Quo Bias

Last Updated on September 29, 2021

The more I dive into the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, the more I am starting to notice my own status quo bias. I catch myself thinking that some of the transformation enabled by these technologies just won’t be able to happen because it’s too far from the status quo… however I think that’s probably wrong and some kind of bias.

What is status quo bias?

Status quo bias is the human tendency towards expecting or wanting things stay the same. It also can include incorrectly perceive any change to the status quo as a loss.

Researchers have found we have a tendency to prefer to keep the current state of affairs as it is, and a reluctance to take any action that will change this state. (One of the best studies came is from Samuelson & Zeckhauser and can be read here).

For more, here’s my mental model issue on Status Quo bias.