Hostile Attribution Bias Research Articles

Perception of emotional facial expressions in aggression and psychopathy.

Altered affective state recognition is assumed to be a root cause of aggressive behavior, a hallmark of psychopathologies such as psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. However, the two most influential models make markedly different predictions regarding the underlying mechanism. According to the integrated emotion system theory (IES), aggression reflects impaired processing of social distress cues such as fearful faces. In contrast, the hostile attribution bias (HAB) model explains aggression with a bias to interpret ambiguous expressions as angry. In a set of four experiments, we measured processing of fearful and angry facial expressions (compared to neutral and other expressions) in a sample of 65 male imprisoned violent offenders rated using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R, Hare, R. D. (1991). The psychopathy checklist-revised. Toronto, ON: Multi-Health Systems) and in 60 age-matched control participants. There was no evidence for a fear deficit in violent offenders or for an association of psychopathy or aggression with impaired processing of fearful faces. Similarly, there was no evidence for a perceptual bias for angry faces linked to psychopathy or aggression. However, using highly ambiguous stimuli and requiring explicit labeling of emotions, violent offenders showed a categorization bias for anger and this anger bias correlated with self-reported trait aggression (but not with psychopathy). These results add to a growing literature casting doubt on the notion that fear processing is impaired in aggressive individuals and in psychopathy and provide support for the idea that aggression is related to a hostile attribution bias that emerges from later cognitive, post-perceptual processing stages.

Hostile Attribution Bias and Working Memory in the Link Between Trauma Exposure and Violence in Justice-Involved Youth

Background Youth involved with the justice system are more vulnerable to trauma exposure and engaging in violent behavior. Trauma exposure is linked to increases in youth violence, however, the pathway from trauma to violence, including neurocognitive and neuropsychological mechanisms, is not well understood. The current study sought to test the influence of hostile attribution bias (HAB) and working memory on violence and whether these factors play a role in the link between trauma and violence among justice-involved youth. Methods Participants included 237 detained youth (Male = 81.0%, Mage = 15.22) who completed self-report surveys and working memory tasks. Results Trauma was significantly associated with violent behavior. HAB was related to physical violence; however, when trauma exposure was entered into subsequent models, HAB was no longer associated with violence. Lower levels of working memory were found to interact with HAB to increase the risk of physical violence. Mediation was not supported. Implications The current study supports universal trauma screening and trauma-informed care in justice facilities and suggests that neurocognitive functioning assessment and remediation are important to consider in treatment programming.

Understanding Romantic Relational Aggression in Emerging Adults Using Latent Profile Analysis of Jealousy and Hostile Attribution Bias.

The present study sought to identify profiles of 753 emerging adults (62.5% females) with different levels of hostile attribution bias (HAB) and jealousy dimensions (i.e., cognitive, emotional, behavioral) and examined differences in their levels of romantic relational aggression (RoRAgg) across profiles. Participants were recruited from Greek universities and completed and online survey. Using a person-centered approach, Latent Profile Analysis indicated the presence of three profiles of participants: a) jealous and hostile intent attributers who had high scores on jealousy dimensions and HAB, b) low risk who scored low on jealousy and HAB, and c) emotionally jealous and moderate hostile intent attributers with moderate cognitive and behavioral jealousy as well as HAB, and high emotional jealousy. As predicted, jealous and hostile intent attributers scored higher on RoRAgg compared with emotionally jealous and moderate hostile intent attributers and low risk. The findings confirm previous research and are discussed in terms of their implications. Interventions targeting relational aggressor's hostile attributions, cognitive suspicions, and negative thoughts should be implemented to reduce RoRAgg.

The relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior in middle school students: the mediating role and intervention of hostile attribution bias

BackgroundThe reactive aggressive behavior in individuals typically shows a rapid growth trend as individuals enter adolescence, and peaks during middle-school period. According to the Comprehensive Cognitive Model of Trait Anger, trait anger and hostile attribution bias play important roles in the development of reactive aggressive behavior. Based on this, current study explored the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior in middle school students, as well as the mediating role of hostile attribution bias and interventions.MethodsThe current study consisted of three sub-studies. Study 1 recruited 87 middle school students with an average age of 12.367 ± 0.889 years, investigated the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior, as well as the mediating role of trait hostile attribution bias. Study 2 recruited 62 middle school students with an average age of 13.376 ± 0.963 years, investigated the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior, as well as the mediating role of state hostile attribution bias. Study 3 recruited 80 middle school students with an average age of 13.392 ± 0.977 years, implemented an intervention targeting trait hostile attribution bias in middle school students with high trait anger to reduce their reactive aggressive behavior. In current study, data management was performed using SPSS 22.0. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and path analysis were used for statistical analysis.FindingsThe results of Study 1 showed that trait anger predicted reactive aggressive behavior through trait hostile attribution bias. The results of Study 2 indicated that trait and state hostile attribution bias played mediating role intermediary, and trait hostile attribution bias had a stronger mediating effect than state hostile attribution bias. The results of Study 3 suggested that the intervention effectively decreased trait hostile attribution bias and reactive aggressive behavior.ConclusionsTrait anger can predict the reactive aggressive behavior of junior high school students, with trait hostility attribution bias and state hostility attribution bias mediating this relationship. Intervening in the hostility attribution bias of high-anger junior high school students can effectively reduce their reactive aggressive behavior.

Is high exposure to antisocial media content associated with increased participation in malicious online trolling? exploring the moderated mediation model of hostile attribution bias and empathy

Malicious online trolling is prevalent among Chinese college students and has recently garnered extensive attention from researchers due to the substantial harm it causes to the victims and the damage it inflicts on the online environment. Most previous studies have focused on examining how personal traits related to malicious online trolling. Further comprehensive research is needed to explore the mechanisms linking external environmental factors (antisocial media exposure) and malicious online trolling. A total of 1259 Chinese college students completed questionnaires regarding malicious online trolling, antisocial media exposure, hostile attribution bias, and empathy. The results indicated a positive association between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling among Chinese college students, with hostile attribution bias serving as a mediating factor. Furthermore, the direct and mediated paths between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling were moderated by empathy. Specifically, as the level of empathy increased among college students, the relations between the variables all weakened. Excessive exposure to antisocial media content among college students may trigger hostile attribution bias and lead to more malicious online trolling behavior. However, the relation between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling, hostile attribution bias and malicious online trolling, was attenuated when college students’ empathy levels were high.

Emotional Invalidation and Relationship Quality: A Mediational Model Through a Social Learning Lens.

While we know childhood experiences are influential on a child's later socioemotional awareness and behavior, we are still searching for specific mechanisms that influence the transferability of childhood experiences and adult relationship functioning. In this study, we seek to further this area of investigation by examining the interpretation of ambiguous social interactions and perceptions of emotional invalidation as potential mediators of the relationship between perceptions of childhood emotional invalidation and current relationship quality. Participants completed online measures of hostile intent attributions, perceptions of childhood emotional invalidation, and current relationship quality with a significant other. They read emotionally provocative interpersonal scenarios and then reported likely emotionally invalidating reactions from their significant other to measure current perceptions of emotional invalidation. Results supported our hypotheses that perceptions of current emotional invalidation in a close, personal relationship would mediate the relationship between perceptions of childhood maternal emotional invalidation and both current relationship support and relationship conflict. Furthermore, the strength of this mediational pathway outweighed the influence of a more general hostile attribution bias. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention strategies designed to enhance interpersonal functioning.

The mediating role of hostile attribution bias in social exclusion affecting aggressive behavior.

Aggression is one of the public social issues affecting campus harmony and stability, and social exclusion is an important interpersonal contextual factor among many factors affecting aggression. However, studies examining the influence of social exclusion on aggression and its mediating mechanism are not systematic enough. Based on the general aggression model (GAM), we intend to explore the role of hostile attribution bias (HAB) in both trait and state levels of social exclusion, which leads to aggression through a combination of questionnaire and experimental methods. Study 1 surveyed 388 current high school students (Mage = 16.09, SD = 1.01) and found that HAB mediates the relationship between long-term social exclusion (trait level) and aggression tendency. Study 2 experimented with 181 high school students (Mage = 16.95, SD = 1.13) to examine whether short-term social exclusion (state level) after initiating the Cyberball paradigm could still influence aggressive behavior through the mediating role of HAB. Results found that the mediating role of HAB still holds. The findings of the study further enrich the GAM and have important implications for a more targeted approach to aggression prevention and intervention.

The mediating role of social stress sensitivity on the relationship between hostile attribution bias and paranoia: An experience sampling study

IntroductionHeightened affective responses to daily life stressors, referred to as elevated affective reactivity to stress (or ‘stress sensitivity’), have been proposed as a putative mechanism of schizophrenia. Previous studies on stress sensitivity mainly used a case-control design; given that schizophrenia is heterogeneous its relationship with specific symptoms (e.g. paranoia) is yet to be addressed. In view of the continuum approach of understanding psychotic symptoms, the relationship between stress sensitivity (especially ‘social stress sensitivity’) and paranoia in the general population is important. Supported by emerging evidence of the relationship between hostile attribution bias (i.e. a tendency to interpret others’ actions as hostile and intentional) and paranoia, we hypothesized that social stress sensitivity mediates the relationship between hostile attribution bias and momentary experiences of paranoia.Objectives Using experience sampling method, this study aimed to examine the association between social stress sensitivity, hostile attribution bias and momentary paranoia in non-clinical young adults. We also tested the role of social stress sensitivity as mediator of the relationship between hostile attribution bias and momentary paranoia.MethodsConsented participants free from any past and current psychiatric diagnoses (confirmed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders) completed the measure of hostile attribution bias (i.e. abbreviated Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire). Participants then filled in an ESM questionnaire measuring momentary levels of paranoia, social stress (i.e. pleasantness of and preference for being alone or with others) and negative affect on a mobile phone app repeatedly, ten times per day over six days. Social stress reactivity was calculated as the within-moment correlation between social stress and negative affect. The associations between social stress sensitivity, hostile attribution bias and momentary paranoia, and the mediating role of social stress sensitivity, were tested with multilevel modelling.Results The final sample consisted of 131 participants (57.3% female, mean age= 20.36 (SD= 2.93)). The mean compliance rate was 71.9% (SD= 0.16). Social stress sensitivity was positively associated with momentary paranoia (B= 0.03, p= .002). Hostile attribution bias was associated with momentary paranoia (B= 0.41, p< .001), as well as social stress reactivity (B= 0.10, p= .003). The mediating effect from hostile attribution bias to momentary paranoia via social stress sensitivity was significant (ab= 0.05, 95% CI [0.03-0.07]).ConclusionsSocial stress sensitivity was related to momentary paranoia, as well as hostile attribution bias. Our finding suggests social stress reactivity as a potential mechanism underlying the relationship between hostile attribution bias and paranoia.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Exploitative Leadership and Vertical Knowledge Withholding: Examining Multiple Mediational Effects

This study analyzes the relationship between employee’s perceptions of exploitative leadership and their vertical knowledge withholding and the mediating roles of employee’s perception of job insecurity, organizational injustice, and hostile attribution bias. A time lag study was conducted to test hypotheses by data collection in three phases from the 402 employees working in three service sectors (i.e., banking, telecommunication, and higher education) of Pakistan. Results of statistical analysis showed that (i) employees who experience high levels of exploitation from leaders are more likely to withhold knowledge; (ii) exploitative leadership has a significant influence on hostile attribution bias, perceived job insecurity, organizational injustice; (iii) perceived job insecurity and perceived organization injustice function as strong mediators between the relationship of exploitative leadership and vertical knowledge withholding; and, (iv) hostile attribution bias acts as a strong mediator between exploitative leadership and perceived job insecurity. This study explains the connection between employees’ perceptions of exploitative leadership and resultant knowledge withholding tendency, with specific consideration of individual and organizational factors to explain this process. The organizations should develop a culture within the organization that discourages knowledge withholding practices and motivates positive leader-employee relationships.

Helping School Students Deal with Peer Provocations and Avoid Hostile Attribution Bias with the CATZ Cross-Age Teaching Zone Intervention

AbstractCross-age tutoring and co-operative group work have been shown to help student tutors and tutees acquire academic and non-academic skills and knowledge. A novel intervention (Cross-Age Teaching Zone, CATZ) that combined them was tested for its effects on student tutors’ thinking skills associated with (i) dealing pro-socially with peer provocations and (ii) avoiding hostile attribution bias. Small co-operative groups of 11- and 15-year-old students (N = 228) designed a CATZ lesson on these themes and delivered it to younger students. The CATZ tutors, but not matched controls (N = 189), showed significant improvements on both outcome measures. Participants aged 9 to 15 years (N = 469) were also asked about: (1) their willingness to act as CATZ tutors/tutees, (2) how effective they think such CATZ activities would be, (3) how much they valued autonomy in how they might deliver CATZ, and (4) their relative preference for being taught by older students versus teachers. Overall, participants expressed positive views of CATZ, which also helped students learn patterns of thinking that can help them avoid aggressive and conflict behavior. This initial evidence on the effectiveness of CATZ calls for further research to use CATZ across a range of social, emotional, and behavioral domains to support its wider uptake in schools.

Opportunistic silence: ignited by psychological contract breach, instigated by hostile attribution bias

PurposeDrawing on social exchange literature, this study explores the mediating role of affective commitment between employees' assessments of contract breaches and opportunistic silence, along with the invigorating effect of hostile attribution bias.Design/methodology/approachWe tested the hypotheses using multi-wave data collected from employees working in higher education institutions in Pakistan.FindingsPerceived contract breaches elicit intentional, selfish and retaliatory motives of silence, largely because employees lack emotional attachments to their organization. This mechanism is more prominent among employees who tend to blame others and perceive them as antagonistic even when they are not.Practical implicationsFor human resource managers, this investigation highlights a crucial feature – affective commitment – by which employees' perceptions of psychological contract breaches facilitate opportunistic silence. Our results suggest that this process is more likely to intensify when employees have distorted thinking, motivating them to attribute the worst motives to their employer's actions.Social implicationsPerceived contract breaches within universities can have far-reaching societal consequences, affecting trust, reputation, economic stability, and the overall quality and accessibility of education and research. Addressing and preventing such breaches is essential to maintaining the positive societal role of universities.Originality/valueThis study provides novel insights into the process that underlies the connection between perceived contract breach and opportunistic silence by revealing the hitherto overlooked role of employees' hostile attribution bias, which renders them more susceptible to experiencing unfavorable forms of social exchange.

Serial Multiple Mediation of Anxiety and Hostile Attribution Bias in the Relationship Between Need for Uniqueness and Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Perpetration: A Two-Wave Study

Serial Multiple Mediation of Anxiety and Hostile Attribution Bias in the Relationship Between Need for Uniqueness and Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Perpetration: A Two-Wave Study

Autistic Traits and Aggressive Behavior in Chinese College Students: A Serial Mediation Model and the Gender Difference.

The existence of aggressive behavior in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) raises questions about whether cognitive and emotional factors in social information processing play a role between autistic traits (ATs) and aggressive behavior in the general population, especially in the context of Chinese culture. Moreover, given a possible gender difference in these variables, the study aimed to examine the effect of ATs on aggressive behavior, and the potential mediating role of hostile attribution bias and alexithymia on this association, as well as gender difference. 850 Chinese college students participated in the assessment, including their ATs, hostile attribution bias, alexithymia, and aggressive behavior. Pearson correlation, mediation effects analyses, and multiple-group comparison were conducted. The results indicated that ATs indirectly predicted increased aggressive behavior through attribution bias and alexithymia. Gender difference in mediating effects was revealed: ATs indirectly predicted increased aggressive behavior through the serial mediating effect only in males. Hostile attribution bias and alexithymia completely mediated the association between ATs and aggressive behavior, which contained the separate mediating effects of (a) hostile attribution bias and (b) alexithymia and the serial mediating effect of (c) hostile attribution bias and alexithymia. Gender differences in mediating effects were found only in the serial mediating effect, which was significant in males but not in females. The findings revealed the internal mechanism of ATs affecting aggressive behavior and gender difference, which have implications for the intervention of aggressive behavior of individuals with autism and those with high levels of ATs.

Validation of a new assessment of hostile attribution bias in romantic relationships: The Hostile Attributions in Romantic Relationships Test.

While hostile attributional bias (a tendency to interpret others' behaviors as intentionally hostile) is associated with negative outcomes in romantic relationships, no measure has been developed specifically for this context. Here, we describe the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire across three studies, named Hostile Attribution in Romantic Relationships Test. Study 1 introduces the development and preliminary validation (N = 152). Study 2 tests the validity and test-retest stability of the modified version revised based on findings in Study 1 (N = 151). Study 3 reports the translation and validation of a Chinese version (N = 630). The final 9-vignette scale is the first to specifically measure hostile attribution bias in romantic relationships, with good internal reliability, test-retest stability, and convergent validity. Factor analysis reveals a three-factor structure reflecting direct hostile attribution, indirect hostile attribution, and benign attribution to partners' behaviors. Implications regarding couple dynamics and clinical therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Cognitive and social-cognitive factors as mediators of aggression using structural equation modeling

ABSTRACT Violence and aggression continue to be both public health and economic concerns. In an effort to better understand, predict, and prevent violence and aggression, a number of models have been proposed that include both static and dynamic risk factors and indicators. Despite research demonstrating links between cognitive and social-cognitive factors with violence and aggression, their role in understanding violence is still unclear. The current study developed a multi-faceted model of aggression including social-cognitive, cognitive, personality, and psychiatric factors. A community, male sample (N = 1,192) collected through Amazon’s Mturk responded to a series of self-report measures and a cognitive task. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM), we created a latent variable path analysis model predicting aggression. Several important paths were significant including from entity theory to aggression, mediated by hostile attribution bias, schizotypy to aggression, mediated by both hostile attribution bias and disinhibition, substance use to aggression mediated by disinhibition, and psychopathy to aggression directly. This model provides a framework for future research that focuses on process factors of violence and aggression, including social-cognitive and cognitive, that may eventually prove valuable for risk reduction.

Hostile Attribution Bias Shapes Neural Synchrony in the Left Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex during Ambiguous Social Narratives.

Hostile attribution bias refers to the tendency to interpret social situations as intentionally hostile. While previous research has focused on its developmental origins and behavioral consequences, the underlying neural mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, we employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the neural correlates of hostile attribution bias. While undergoing fNIRS, male and female participants listened to and provided attribution ratings for 21 hypothetical scenarios where a character's actions resulted in a negative outcome for the listener. Ratings of hostile intentions were averaged to measure hostile attribution bias. Using intersubject representational similarity analysis, we found that participants with similar levels of hostile attribution bias exhibited higher levels of neural synchrony during narrative listening, suggesting shared interpretations of the scenarios. This effect was localized to the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and was particularly prominent in scenarios where the character's intentions were highly ambiguous. We then grouped participants into high and low bias groups based on a median split of their hostile attribution bias scores. A similarity-based classifier trained on the neural data classified participants as having high or low bias with 75% accuracy, indicating that the neural time courses during narrative listening was systematically different between the two groups. Furthermore, hostile attribution bias correlated negatively with attributional complexity, a measure of one's tendency to consider multifaceted causes when explaining behavior. Our study sheds light on the neural mechanisms underlying hostile attribution bias and highlights the potential of using fNIRS to develop nonintrusive and cost-effective neural markers of this sociocognitive bias.

Hostile attributional biases in severe alcohol use disorder: replication, gender specificity, and mechanistic insights.

Despite their importance in the emergence and persistence of severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD), social cognition impairments remain understudied in this population. Hostile attributional biases (HAB), a key component of social cognition, may be involved in interpersonal problems and SAUD maintenance. However, current evidence for HAB in SAUD is highly preliminary, as it relies on a single study based on a small sample and on a task that cannot dissociate increased hostile from reduced benign attributions. We therefore used an improved methodology to further characterize this bias and disentangle underlying mechanisms. In addition, we explored potential gender differences. A total of 56 patients (28 women) diagnosed with SAUD and 66 (27 women) demographically matched controls completed the Word-Sentence Association Paradigm-Hostility, which provides a valid, spontaneous, and relatively implicit assessment of both hostile and benign social attributions related to ambiguous situations. They also completed self-report measures of psychopathology and interpersonal problems. At the group-level, patients with SAUD presented higher HAB than controls, without group differences for benign attributions. Gender analyses revealed that this effect selectively emerged in men with SAUD. Further, patients' benign attributions did not differ from their hostile attributions. Finally, HAB (not benign attributions) were associated with interpersonal problems and state anxiety in patients. The association between SAUD and HAB at the group level is genuine and replicable across samples and tasks. This association may further selectively emerge in men. Our results also confirm the functional significance of HAB in SAUD, and point to potential mechanisms and clinical recommendations.

The effect of peer victimization on adolescents' revenge: the roles of hostility attribution bias and rumination tendency.

Although previous studies revealed that peer victimization was closely related to revenge, mechanisms underlying this association have been unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of hostility attribution bias (HAB) and the moderating role of rumination tendency in the relationship between peer victimization and revenge. The data were collected from 6,622 adolescents. The PROCESS macro of SPSS 26.0 was used to examine the hypotheses. The results show that peer victimization positively associates with revenge. Hostile attribution bias play a partial mediating role between peer victimization and revenge. Both the direct effect of peer victimization on revenge and the first half of the mediating effect of HAB are moderated by rumination tendencies. Specifically, both direct and indirect effects of peer victimization on revenge are stronger in individuals with concrete experiential rumination (CER) tendency than in those with abstract analytic rumination (AAR) tendency.

The impact of patients’ hostile attribution bias on aggression in doctor-patient interactions

BackgroundDoctor-patient conflict is trending in social attention research. However, the existing literature rarely explores whether a patient's hostile attribution bias (HAB) in the doctor-patient interaction affects the aggression level against doctors. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the relationship and mechanism between different types of HAB and aggression in patients. MethodIn Study 1, 80 patients completed the word sentence association paradigm for hostility (WSAP-Hostility), and their explicit and implicit aggression levels were measured using the hot sauce paradigm and the single-category implicit association test (SC-IAT), respectively. In Study 2, 63 patients were randomly divided into an experimental (rejection) and a control group. Their state hostile attribution bias (SHAB) was activated through social rejection materials. They completed the SHAB questionnaire and anger expression inventory, and their explicit and implicit aggression levels were measured as in Study 1. ResultsIn both studies, results indicated that patients' trait and state HAB were significantly related to explicit aggression but not implicit aggression. Hostile interpretation positively predicted explicit aggression, whereas benign interpretation had a negative predictive effect on explicit aggression. Patients’ anger played a mediating role between SHAB and explicit aggression. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that patients' HAB affects explicit aggression toward doctors and anger plays a mediating role.

Is Peer Victimization Associated with Higher Online Trolling among Adolescents? The Mediation of Hostile Attribution Bias and the Moderation of Trait Mindfulness

Is Peer Victimization Associated with Higher Online Trolling among Adolescents? The Mediation of Hostile Attribution Bias and the Moderation of Trait Mindfulness