# Is there a term for assuming whatever you're used to is best? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443 "2009-09-17T14:04:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/1 "2009-09-17T14:04:14Z")
This can apply to pretty much everything. If you grow up with Miracle Whip, you’ll probably think it’s better that mayonnaise. If you live in a capitalist country, you probably think capitalism is best. Ditto communism and every other flavor of economics. Ditto again with forms of government. Americans are absolutely in love with democracy, though they’ve understandably not tried anything else. People in dictatorships often, if asked, say they prefer it that way. Constitutional monarchy, same thing. And then there’s sports teams, and school pride, and state pride, and national pride… the idea of school pride always fascinated me. “Aren’t you proud to go to Townsville High?” “It’s the only high school I’ve ever been to, so…” It seems like, in most things, when we think something is the best we’ve not actually experienced anything else. It’s “the best” because it’s “mine.” I’m not interested in discussing which of any of the above are the best (I posit _none_) I’m interested in whether this has been studied and has a name I can throw around when I’m on my next misanthropic bender. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/2 "2009-09-17T14:09:06Z")
Small ‘c’ conservatism. ---
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/3 "2009-09-17T14:09:16Z")
biased ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/4 "2009-09-17T14:10:12Z")
Fear of the dark. ---
**Author:** ![Maia\_s\_Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Maia\_s\_Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maia_s_Well)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/5 "2009-09-17T14:10:45Z")
“Republican” Sorry. I have no self-control. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/6 "2009-09-17T14:17:13Z")
[QUOTE=Maia’s Well] Sorry, I have no self-control [/QUOTE] Well that’s what you’re used to, huh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/7 "2009-09-17T14:18:07Z")
[argumentum ad antiquitatem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_tradition) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/8 "2009-09-17T14:19:30Z")
[Base rate fallacy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_rate_fallacy) - ignoring available statistical data in favor of particulars. [Choice-supportive bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias) — the tendency to remember one’s choices as better than they actually were. [Confirmation bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias) — the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions. [Mere exposure effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_exposure_effect) — the tendency for people to express undue liking for things merely because they are familiar with them. [Status quo bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias) — the tendency for people to like things to stay relatively the same (see also loss aversion, endowment effect, and system justification). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/9 "2009-09-17T14:23:26Z")
Traditionalism. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/10 "2009-09-17T14:27:08Z")
Parochial. Smug. Gruntled. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/11 "2009-09-17T14:41:53Z")
**Elendir’s** got a good one with “parochial”. I think “provincialism” or acting in a “provincial” manner is often very close in meaning to what the OP is asking for. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/12 "2009-09-17T14:58:40Z")
Ethnocentrism 1. Sociology. the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. 2. a tendency to view alien groups or cultures from the perspective of one’s own. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/13 "2009-09-17T15:18:44Z")
Life. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/14 "2009-09-17T15:32:45Z")
The two words I thought of were **ethnocentrism** and **xenophobia**. Neither exactly defines what you’re talking about, but they’re in the same ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/15 "2009-09-17T15:41:03Z")
Parochial. I use the word a lot when explaining things to Americans. Not so much when overseas, since most people are naturally more familiar with foreign customs, products, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/16 "2009-09-17T15:49:01Z")
[Chauvinism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvinism). > [@Wiki](#): > > Chauvinism, (pronounced /ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzəm/), in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a blind belief in national superiority and glory. [1] **By extension it has come to include an extreme and unreasoning partisanship on behalf of any group to which one belongs** , especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred towards a rival group. It’s **not** just a word that means “anti-feminism”… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/17 "2009-09-17T16:26:48Z")
“Complacent” sort of captures the flavor of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/18 "2009-09-17T17:15:18Z")
Human nature. Yes, even Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/19 "2009-09-17T17:32:17Z")
How about “reactionary”? As in, someone who is extremely opposed to change. J. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443/20 "2009-09-17T17:40:29Z")
I don’t think that’s quite what he means- they’re not exactly opposed to change, they’re opposed to the thought that other people’s stuff might be better. For me, the classic example is non-native New Yorkers; people who move from Iowa to Manhattan and never visit anyplace else in between… OR people who move from New York City to someplace else _okay, Florida_, and never visit anywhere else in between. They all invariably think New York is the greatest city in the world and nowhere else on earth could possibly compare… even though their experience of other cities is limited to what they’ve seen on TV. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-assuming-whatever-youre-used-to-is-best/510443.md?page=2)