Reversal Test

The “status quo bias” refers to a collection of psychological leanings that favor the current default over alternative permutations (even those that might objectively seem to be more favorable).

The concept of “loss aversion” falls under this header (our experience of loss feels more potent and substantial than a gain of exactly the same), as does the “endowment effect” (which says we tend to imbue things we own with more perceived worth than the actual value of said things) and “regret avoidance” (which may cause us to do things that don’t make a lot of sense, but which may later help us avoid feeling regret).

Within this larger jumble of concepts, the “Reversal Test” is a method for assessing whether a judgement we’re making is being influenced by one of those many biases, and the name comes from the nature of the test: you reverse whatever it is you’re considering and see if your assumptions are still legit.