Element element element element element what should be investigated?

Self-serving bias
KEY TERMS
Self-serving bias
“A tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to personal strengths, such as talent, and their 
failures to external circumstances, such as bad luck.”
Oxford Dictionary of English
This cognitive bias will protect self-esteem – if people attribute 
positive results to their individual characteristics, it can be 
a much-needed confidence boost. By attributing failures to 
outside conditions or forces, it protects that self-esteem and 
absolves the individual of personal responsibility.
This can be counter-productive in an investigation. If the 
internal investigation team are willing to blame external factors 
for everything, they potentially bypass the opportunity to affect 
improvement. The team may believe there is little they can do 
to influence or change the situation as it is perceived to be ‘out 
of their control’.
For an effective investigation to be carried out, it is important 
for the investigation team to look at the organisation first, before considering any other external factors.
Attributing positive results to own personal effort and talent

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NEBOSH HSE Introduction to Incident Investigation
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1.4
ELEMENT 1.4
ELEMENT 1.2
ELEMENT 1.5
ELEMENT 1.1
ELEMENT 1.3
ACTIVITY
What behaviours might a witness display during an interview that could be self-serving bias?

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NEBOSH HSE Introduction to Incident Investigation
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1.4
ELEMENT 1.1
ELEMENT 1.4
ELEMENT 1.2
ELEMENT 1.3
ELEMENT 1.5
Fundamental attribution error