19 September Today's term from psychology is Status Quo bias.

19 September

Today's term from psychology is Status Quo bias.

In simple terms the Status Quo bias is the tendency to like things to stay relatively the same. It's defined as an emotional bias, a preference for the current state of affairs. The current situation or "status quo" is taken as a reference point, and any change from that point is thought of as some form of a loss.

The feeling the sameness in an environment represents a form of security, while change is a sign of potential danger, seems to be innate to many different species of animals. In this respect, it is an obvious survival mechanism because change in an environment could be the first sign of the presence of a predator, thus being the earliest sign of danger.

Individual animals, including humans, who are wary of any change in their environment have, in general, a higher probability of survival. The Status Quo Bias is essentially a survival mechanism.