Change Management: Why People Resist Change

According to Prosci's 12th Edition of Best Practices in Change Management, released in 2023, the number one challenge facing the discipline of change management was cited as 'resistance to change.' Why do people seem to resist change at all costs, though, even when it promises a better future? With the rapid development and integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, understanding the human side of change, the underlying needs that drive resistance, is more important than ever.

For change and project management professionals, it's not just about implementing the latest tools—it's about addressing the fears and concerns that people have, which need to be acknowledged for any change to succeed.

A common thought is that people are just naturally resistant to change, but research shows that it's much more nuanced than that. In this article, we'll explore some of the key factors behind why people resist change.

The Myth of Inherent Resistance to Change

Change is often viewed as something people inherently resist, and this belief has become a common narrative in both professional and personal settings. The idea that 'people just don't like change' persists because of the discomfort and uncertainty that change tends to bring. However, this assumption is overly simplistic and doesn't capture the complexities of human behavior.

Resistance isn't an inevitable response to all change. In many situations, people embrace change willingly when they perceive the benefits clearly outweigh any potential risks. Think about how someone might take on a new job that offers better career prospects or move to a new home that provides an improved quality of life. In these cases, the positive aspects are visible and desirable, reducing resistance and fostering enthusiasm for change.

To truly understand why people resist certain change, it's important to go beyond the myth of inherent resistance and consider the specific factors that influence people's reactions. The human brain is hardwired to respond more deeply to perceptions of threats than to potential rewards—a phenomenon rooted in evolutionary psychology that has helped us survive by being cautious about potential dangers.

This hardwiring means that, when confronted with change, individuals are often more focused on what they might lose rather than what they could gain. For example, in an organizational context, employees might perceive adoption of artificial intelligence as a threat to their job security, or implementing a new process might be disruptive to their established routines, even if those changes promise future benefits.

So resistance is less about change itself and more about what that change represents—a potential threat to status, comfort or stability, autonomy, relatedness, or fairness. Recognizing this nuance in human behavior and psychology allows change and project leaders to craft more effective strategies that address the root causes of resistance.

Why People Resist Change: Key Factors

Resistance involves both rational and emotional responses to perceived rewards and threats. David Rock, a neuroscientist and organizational development consultant who founded the field of study called "neuroleadership", developed the SCARF model which identifies five domains that drive human behavior and motivation: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness.

Basically, the more we have of each of these domains, the more motivated we are to move towards something as a reward. However, if there is a loss, or even just a perception of loss or potential for loss in the future, in any of those categories, humans initiate threat responses and begin to resist. 

Let's explore a few of the primary psychological factors, cognitive biases, and social dynamics that contribute to resistance to change.

• Lack of Trust in Leadership: Everything begins with trust, which stems from a leader's authenticity, logic, and empathy. A study by PwC reported that 55% of CEOs think that a lack of trust is a threat to their organization’s growth, and trust in leadership and leadership involvement are often cited as a top factor in successful change initiatives. When people lack trust, the brain initiates threat responses that include the production of cortisol, preventing the production of oxytocin which is required for humans to develop trust in the first place. In fact, according to the 2023 Edelman "Trust Barometer", distrust drives polarization. The trust problem is pretty bad, too. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 33% of study participants said they don’t trust their employer. The need for trust is further highlighted in Gartner research, which shows that employees who report high trust have an average capacity for change that is 2.6 times greater than those with low trust. 

  
  

• Fear of the Unknown: Humans know that change is one of the few constants in life, but we prefer structure to help navigate life's daily complexities, as well as the ability to forecast and plan for the future. Change often involves stepping into uncharted territory, violating our basic need for certainty which triggers anxiety and makes individuals hesitant to embrace change.

  
  

• Loss of Control: Change can make individuals feel that they are losing control over their environment or work. This often ties directly to both the status and autonomy domains in David Rock's SCARF model. When individuals feel that their input is not valued or welcome, it can threaten their sense of status within the organization. People also value autonomy, and when that is threatened, they are more likely to push back, as it challenges both their self-worth and their position within the group. The attack on autonomy can go both ways, too. Too much oversight or too little oversight can have the same effect. This indicates that people are not necessarily resistant to change, but they tend to be very resistant to imposed change.

  
  

• Perceived Loss: The fear of losing something valuable—such as job security, face time with senior management, respect or status, a sense of fairness, or inclusion in the group—is a major driver of resistance. This ties closely to the concept of "loss aversion", which is a cognitive bias that describes how people tend to prefer avoiding losses rather than acquiring equivalent gains. This means that individuals are more sensitive to potential losses brought on by change, even if there are possible benefits.

  
  

• Breaking Habits: Humans are creatures of habit. Our brains prefer structure and patterns, and habits provide us with a sense of efficiency and comfort. So when people are asked to break established routines, it requires a significant amount of cognitive effort, which can be stress inducing. The discomfort associated with changing well-established habits contributes significantly to resistance. Cognitive biases, like the "status quo bias", also play a role. People tend to prefer things to stay the same and perceive the current state as less risky compared to an unknown future state. This bias reinforces resistance because individuals often assume that maintaining the status quo is safer, even if change may lead to improvements in efficiency or effectiveness.

  
  

• Organizational Culture: Deeply ingrained norms and values within an organization can act as significant barriers to change. Organizational culture defines what is seen as acceptable or unacceptable behavior, and when a change initiative challenges these norms, it can lead to resistance. For example, in a company where a top-down management approach is the norm, a change that encourages employee empowerment and decentralized decision-making through an agile transformation may face resistance because it contradicts established power dynamics and creates a fear of a loss of status, influence, or the comfort of familiar processes.

  
  

  Furthermore, culture shapes employees' collective mindset about what the organization values. If a culture emphasizes stability and minimizing risk, any initiative that involves uncertainty or experimentation may be met with pushback. Employees may also resist change if they feel it threatens their sense of identity within the organization, especially if they take pride in the existing way of doing things. Understanding the cultural context is essential for change leaders, as aligning change initiatives with core cultural values—or gradually reshaping those values—can make a significant difference in overcoming resistance.

• Change Fatigue: Change fatigue occurs when employees are exposed to continuous, overlapping, or poorly managed change initiatives, leaving them overwhelmed and exhausted. When people experience too many changes in rapid succession without adequate time to adapt, they can become resistant as a self-protective measure. It's not wonder, then, that a Prosci study found that middle managers are the group most resistant to change.

  
  

  This type of exhaustion diminishes employees' motivation and capacity to engage with new changes. As a result, change fatigue can lead to widespread disengagement, cynicism, and resistance, making future initiatives more challenging to implement successfully. In fact, Gartner’s research found that employees’ willingness to support organizational change dropped from 74% in 2016 to just 43% in 2022.

What Does Resistance to Change Look Like?

Resistance to change can manifest in a variety of behaviors, emotions, and attitudes. According to a survey by Prosci, here are some common ways resistance presents itself:

• Emotion: Resistance often evokes emotions such as fear, loss, sadness, anger, anxiety, frustration, depression, and a focus on self rather than the collective goals.

• Disengagement: Employees may disengage by remaining silent, ignoring communications, exhibiting indifference, or showing apathy and low morale.

• Work Impact: Resistance may lead to reduced productivity, decreased efficiency, non-compliance, increased absenteeism, and more frequent mistakes.

• Acting Out: In some cases, resistance manifests as conflict, arguments, sabotage, or overbearing, aggressive, or passive-aggressive behavior.

• Negativity: Negative behaviors such as spreading rumors, gossip, miscommunication, constant complaining, a focus on problems, or even celebrating failures are common signs of resistance.

• Avoidance: Employees may ignore the change altogether, revert to old behaviors, create workarounds, or abdicate their responsibilities.

• Building Barriers: Individuals may make excuses, develop counterapproaches, recruit others to dissent, act in secrecy, or cause a breakdown in trust.

• Controlling: Some may respond to change by attempting to control the situation, such as asking many questions, trying to influence outcomes, defending the current state, or using their status to actively resist the change.

  
  

Conclusion

Facing resistance is common in every project. You’re not likely going to avoid the issue. So ultimately, the goal is not to eliminate resistance but to understand it and use it as a guide to lead change more effectively. Resistance to change is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon driven by various emotional, psychological, and cultural factors. Understanding why people resist change is the first step in addressing it effectively. By recognizing the root causes of resistance, change and project leaders can foster empathy and create strategies to support employees through the transition process, changing the way people experience change to improve business outcomes.

If you want to learn more about the psychology behind individual and team dynamics and develop science-backed strategies to address the human side of change, sign up for our classes on leadership and negotiating and influencing in partnership with NC State University today!