Status quo bias impedes active travel policy by changing the process of opinion formation

Publication dates:  Version 1 published 2 August 2023; Version 2 published 3 March 2025

This paper demonstrates how status quo bias (SQB) constitutes a strong psychological obstacle to climate policy and investigates the psychological mechanisms behind it. Four experiments measure the strength of SQB, illuminate likely causes, and test ways to mitigate it. Large, nationally representative samples evaluated town layouts designed to promote cycling and walking instead of driving, where the layout was either planned or already in place. The identical layout was evaluated more negatively when planned. This SQB effect was stronger than the influence of being a cyclist or motorist. SQB was unrelated to psychological scales measuring general resistance to change, loss aversion, and uncertainty aversion. Measures of participant’s information search and thought processes during opinion formation were instead consistent with a Query Theory account of SQB. This insight informed tests of alternative descriptions of plans, one of which partially mitigated SQB by emphasising the restoration of previously lost benefits. The findings have implications for pro-climate policies and speaks to the importance of understanding the psychological mechanisms behind societal acceptance of change.