Psychology Atlas

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Psychological Phenomena

Psychological Inertia

Decision-Making and Judgment Biases

Psychological inertia is the tendency to maintain the status quo or a default option unless compelled by a psychological motive to intervene or reject it. It is distinguished from status-quo bias by its focus on the inhibition of action itself rather than on avoidance of loss, and it has been documented as affecting investment decisions, healthcare choices, workplace behavior and criminal justice contexts.

Facts
Core Claim
The tendency to maintain the status quo or default option unless compelled by a psychological motive to intervene or reject it 1
Classification
Type of Phenomenon
Cognitive Phenomenon 1
Connections

In Branch

Sources
1. Psychological inertia - Wikipedia
  • Intro, sentence 1
    the tendency to maintain the status quo (or default option) unless compelled by a psychological motive to intervene or reject this
  • lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
    Psychological inertia is similar to the status-quo bias but there is an important distinction in that psychological inertia involves inhibiting any action, whereas the status-quo bias involves avoiding any change as it would be perceived as a loss.
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