Status quo bias

From ACT Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Behavioural skills - cognitive bias.

Status quo bias includes the tendencies to:

  • Favour inaction over action; and
  • Continue to support previously made decisions.


Examples include the substantial differences between the proportions of people making the identical choices, depending whether the choice is structured as an "opt in" or "opt out".

Opt out policy design results in signficantly higher participation rates, because of the status quo bias to take no action.


Status quo bias is also known as default bias.


See also