This article explores the concept of decision inertia, the human tendency to repeat previous choices even when faced with similar situations. It highlights how this tendency can be both beneficial and detrimental, saving us time but potentially leading to missed opportunities.
For small decisions, it can save you time.Many decisions are made time and again. Imagine you go out for drinks with your friends every Friday. How do you decide where to go? You do not want to waste your time thinking about alternative places every Friday, so you will probably soon pick a favorite and go there every time. Nothing wrong with that.
In two experiments published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2016, my co-authors and I gave participants many similar, small decisions which could earn them money if they figured out the correct reaction to certain cues. They could never tell for sure what the right answer was, but the cues helped them make the choice that was more likely to be correct. This kind of experiments are designed to study human mistakes.
This happened for decisions that people made in rapid succession, and which required little effort. Now imagine how often you will fall for decision inertia for decisions which take a lot of effort. Ready to check the alternative offers for your private insurance any time soon?Suppose that you walk to any destination within a mile from home, but take the bike everywhere further away than a mile.
It could be worse. Our brain slowly but surely adapts to our current situation. So if your job becomes slightly worse every year, you might never break free from your decision inertia, and you might spend way too much time in a bad situation before realizing that you can and should do something about it.
Decision Making Cognitive Bias Habit Inertia Psychology
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