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COMPEL Glossary / status-quo-bias

Status-quo bias

A cognitive pattern favoring continued current behavior absent strong disconfirming evidence — even when an alternative is demonstrably superior.

What this means in practice

In AI change management, status-quo bias explains why individually rational workers resist adoption despite published productivity benefits; countermeasures include default-option reframing and low-risk pilot exposure.

Synonyms

status quo bias , default-option bias

See also

  • AI-specific resistance — Resistance patterns distinct to AI transformation — fear of role replacement, distrust of algorithmic opacity, prior adverse experience with automation, and legitimate ethical concern about bias or surveillance.
  • Transformation fatigue — The cumulative psychological toll of sustained change across multiple initiatives that reduces employees' receptivity to additional change.