Hostile Intent Research Articles

Exacerbation of paranoia-like thoughts following exposure to common misophonia trigger sounds

Paranoia-like thoughts refer to heightened suspicions and unfounded beliefs about being watched or persecuted by others. Recent research has found a significant correlation between misophonia symptoms, a form of decreased sound tolerance, and paranoia-like thoughts, both of which are linked to heightened negative emotions in clinical and non-clinical populations. Notably, it has been observed that misophonia may also be associated with the tendency to attribute hostile intent to those producing triggering sounds, a feature consistent with paranoid ideation (i.e., perceptions of intentional harm). However, existing research is based on correlational data, limiting causal inference. Therefore, an online study involving a non-clinical sample (N = 487) employed an experimental approach to examine the relationship between misophonia symptoms, negative emotional response, and paranoia-like thoughts. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four task conditions, each related to exposure to different stimulus types: orofacial human-produced sounds, non-human sounds, sounds without visual context, or visuals devoid of sound. The results of mixed model ANOVA and mediation analysis revealed that exposure to common misophonia trigger sounds with a human-related visual context raised, but not significantly, the levels of paranoia-like thoughts. However, it did lead to a significant increase in negative emotions, which, in turn, proved to be a significant mediator of an increase in paranoia-like thoughts. Conversely, exposure to non-human sounds or to only audio/visual stimuli either decreased both negative emotions and paranoia-like thoughts or showed no significant change. This emphasized the role of context and the involvement of negative emotional response to human-made sounds in amplifying paranoia-like thoughts. Importantly, this effect was observed in individuals who do not meet the provisional diagnostic criteria for misophonia, suggesting that symptoms of misophonia may extend beyond clinical diagnoses, with milder manifestations potentially being present within the general population.

К вопросу о вреде избыточного документооборота

The article deals with the problem of redundant paperwork and unnecessary reporting which have overwhelmed state-funded organisations of modern Russia and lead to huge time and effort loss of public sector employees. The purpose of the research is to analyse the causes and results of redundant paperwork using mathematical modelling and to consider the possibilities for its regulation. The model is based on the following assumptions. An agent (employee of a state-run organisation) cannot evade performing a task issued by an official, which provides for drawing up a certain document in the form of a report, plan or programme. An official (a representative of a superior organisation or state governance body) has an uncontrolled possibility to demand the subordinate organisation’s performing the entrusted task within the appointed period. The paper shows that if an official uses such documents for personal purposes he/she is interested in unlimitedly increasing the labour intensity of the reporting burden imposed on the agent. Under the paperwork pressure, the agent has to reduce his/her efforts to comply with the officially prescribed paid duties up to minimising them to a level which completely excludes any activity and initiatives. The obtained results show that there is no reason, nevertheless, to accuse an official seeking to maximise his/her utility function of any hostile intentions. The article discusses four practical measures to limit and regulate the official’s paperwork activity: 1) compensation of efforts of the controlled organisation employees to draft the required documents; 2) imposing an adjustment tax upon the controlling organisation on the use of the controlled organisation’s labour resources; 3) the controlling organisation’s staff reduction with the preservation of all functions and the wage fund; 4) introduction of legislative restrictions on the number, types and volume of documents the controlling organisation has the right to demand from the controlled organisation.

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.

A randomised controlled test in virtual reality of the effects on paranoid thoughts of virtual humans’ facial animation and expression

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in the study and treatment of paranoia. This is based on the finding that people who mistakenly perceive hostile intent from other people also perceive similar threat from virtual characters. However, there has been no study of the programming characteristics of virtual characters that may influence their interpretation. We set out to investigate how the animation and expressions of virtual humans may affect paranoia. In a two-by-two factor, between-groups, randomized design, 122 individuals with elevated paranoia rated their perceptions of virtual humans, set in an eye-tracking enabled VR lift scenario, that varied in facial animation (static or animated) and expression (neutral or positive). Both facial animation (group difference = 102.328 [51.783, 152.872], p < 0.001, ηp2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\eta }_{p}^{2}\\hspace{0.17em}$$\\end{document}= 0.125) and positive expressions (group difference = 53.016 [0.054, 105.979], p = 0.049, ηp2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\eta }_{p}^{2}\\hspace{0.17em}$$\\end{document}= 0.033) led to less triggering of paranoid thoughts about the virtual humans. Facial animation (group difference = 2.442 [− 4.161, − 0.724], p = 0.006, ηp2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\eta }_{p}^{2}\\hspace{0.17em}$$\\end{document}= 0.063) but not positive expressions (group difference = 0.344 [− 1.429, 2.110], p = 0.681, ηp2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\eta }_{p}^{2}\\hspace{0.17em}$$\\end{document}= 0.001) significantly increased the likelihood of neutral thoughts about the characters. Our study shows that the detailed programming of virtual humans can impact the occurrence of paranoid thoughts in VR. The programming of virtual humans needs careful consideration depending on the purpose of their use.

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.

Everyday ostracism experiences of depressed individuals: Uncovering the role of attributions using experience sampling

BackgroundDepression is linked to more frequent experiences of ostracism (being excluded and ignored). Here, we examine attributions of everyday ostracism that may play an important role in individuals’ experience of and reactions to ostracism. Based on interpersonal and attribution theories of depression, we hypothesize that internal (compared to external) attributions of ostracism and attributions to being burdensome are particularly frequent among depressed individuals. MethodsWe use an experience sampling approach including retrospective reports of ostracism (N = 490) and event-contingent reports of ostracism (n = 323, k = 1107 experiences in 14 days) to analyze the frequency of everyday ostracism experiences, subsequent need threat, and attributions of ostracism by depressed individuals (i.e., individuals with stronger current depressive symptoms and those who had been diagnosed with depression before). ResultsDepressed individuals report more frequent retrospective ostracism, and more frequent everyday ostracism, as well as higher need threat following everyday ostracism. Depressed individuals do not attribute ostracism more internally, but they attribute being ostracized more frequently to being burdensome, as well as to hostile intent of the ostracizer(s). LimitationsThis research used a non-clinical sample and self-reports of current depressive symptoms and previous diagnoses of depression. Future research in patient populations and longitudinal designs will fruitfully complement the present findings. ConclusionsMaladaptive attributions of everyday ostracism may perpetuate the cycle between ostracism experiences and depression. This warrants attention from clinical practitioners, specifically in interventions against cognitive biases in depression.

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.

Patterns of saliency and semantic features distinguish gaze of expert and novice viewers of surveillance footage

When viewing the actions of others, we not only see patterns of body movements, but we also "see" the intentions and social relations of people. Experienced forensic examiners – Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) operators – have been shown to convey superior performance in identifying and predicting hostile intentions from surveillance footage than novices. However, it remains largely unknown what visual content CCTV operators actively attend to, and whether CCTV operators develop different strategies for active information seeking from what novices do. Here, we conducted computational analysis for the gaze-centered stimuli captured by experienced CCTV operators and novices' eye movements when viewing the same surveillance footage. Low-level image features were extracted by a visual saliency model, whereas object-level semantic features were extracted by a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), AlexNet, from gaze-centered regions. We found that the looking behavior of CCTV operators differs from novices by actively attending to visual contents with different patterns of saliency and semantic features. Expertise in selectively utilizing informative features at different levels of visual hierarchy may play an important role in facilitating the efficient detection of social relationships between agents and the prediction of harmful intentions.

RPRA: Reputation-based prioritization and resource allocation leveraging predictive analytics and vehicular fog computing

Predictive analytics and vehicle fog computing (VFC) have emerged as important methodologies for enabling seamless and instantaneous access to storage and information in real-time and facilitating the execution of resource-hungry smart applications. VFC-enabled IoT devices that use predictive analytics efficiently can process data in a timely manner. However, besides time sensitivity, better security and privacy solutions for several such smart systems, such as smart healthcare systems, are essential but have rarely been developed so far. With the nature of healthcare information being personal-specific and trust being of paramount significance, our research aims to fill a gap by proposing reputation-based prioritization and resource allocation (RPRA). It is a VFC-enabled framework for time-sensitive, computationally resource-deficient smart healthcare IoT devices that uses latency and energy as key constraints. RPRA is a subjective logic-based heuristic approach that uses context-dependent, indirect, and perceived reputation-based trust. Our method minimizes trust bias and trust-based assaults and uses static weight allocation and a specialized algorithm that guarantees utility maximization. We employed three distinct key metrics, i.e., individual perception, real-time perception, and marginal perception, to identify rogue nodes with hostile intent and remove them from active participation. In a dynamic VFC-enabled healthcare system, our approach outperforms in terms of utility-based reputation values with the highest range on the scale of [0,70] and the least algorithmic complexity.

ИНДИЯ В ВОЕННОЙ ПРОПАГАНДЕ ПАКИСТАНА: ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ОБРАЗА ВРАГА

The relations between Pakistan and India have always been hostile. The disagreements between them had a significant impact on the formation of the images of these countries. Pakistani leaders’ perception of India is an example of the enemy image concept. The constant attribution to India of hostile intentions towards Pakistan is the evidence of it. In addition, the religious factor that was basic for the creation of Pakistan, contributed to the division of Muslims and Hindus into “friends” and “foes” and, as a result, added to the opposition between Pakistanis and Indians in the main. The generals who had ruled Pakistan directly for almost 30 years contributed to the creation of the enemy image of India. General Muhammad Ayub Khan was the first to start using the idea of an “aggressive neighbor” in order to unite the Pakistanis. The journals of the Pakistan army, as well as the political autobiographies of the military leaders, indicate that the development of the enemy image of the neighboring state was gradual: the generations of Pakistani officers perceived India differently. However, the tendency to demonize India can be seen as growing within every generation. The image of the neighboring country has a direct impact on the policy of Pakistan towards that country.

Supporting detection of hostile intentions: automated assistance in a dynamic decision-making context

In a dynamic decision-making task simulating basic ship movements, participants attempted, through a series of actions, to elicit and identify which one of six other ships was exhibiting either of two hostile behaviors. A high-performing, although imperfect, automated attention aid was introduced. It visually highlighted the ship categorized by an algorithm as the most likely to be hostile. Half of participants also received automation transparency in the form of a statement about why the hostile ship was highlighted. Results indicated that while the aid’s advice was often complied with and hence led to higher accuracy with a shorter response time, detection was still suboptimal. Additionally, transparency had limited impacts on all aspects of performance. Implications for detection of hostile intentions and the challenges of supporting dynamic decision making are discussed.

The Relationship Between Hostile Intent Attribution and Aggression in Japanese Children

The Relationship Between Hostile Intent Attribution and Aggression in Japanese Children

On the impact of excessive document flow on the labor activity of a budgetary organization employee

The causes and results of the formation of excessive workflow in budgetary organizations are analyzed with the help of mathematical modeling. The model was built taking into account the opinion of the former head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin, according to whom excessive reporting consumes a huge amount of resources, and therefore can be generated with a hostile intent to create an obstacle to achieving national goals. The model is based on the following assumptions: An agent (an employee of a budgetary organization) cannot refuse to carry out the reporting burden. An official (an employee of a higher ranking organization or a representative of government bodies) has an uncontrolled and unlimited opportunity to demand that the controlled organization draw up documents in the form proposed by him and provide them within the specified time. The utility of the official increases with receipt of these documents. It is shown that under such conditions the official benefits by unlimitedly increasing labor intensity of the reporting burden imposed on the agent. As a result of an increase in the amount of unpaid effort spent by an agent on reporting, his activity, which is determined by the part of paid efforts that exceed their minimum volume, drops to zero. The activity of two officials is compared: one of them has no hostile intentions and simply increases his work’s utility, while the other pursues a hostile goal to paralyze the work of the controlled organization. It is shown that there is only a quantitative difference in the results of their activities: the threshold value of the complexity of tasks, the achievement or exceeding of which destroys the activity of the agent, is lower in the case of a hostile official. Three possible ways of limiting the activity of an official are discussed: taxing the controlling organization with a corrective tax, full compensation for the costs of the controlled organization, and legislative restriction of document flow.

Cyberbullying: A study of its extent, coping resources, and psychological impact among college students.

Bullying is an aggressive act with a hostile intent to dominate, abuse, or intimidate an individual(s) with a lesser social or physical power, repeatedly over a period of time. Though bullying can manifest in any social situation, its pernicious presence in the educational institutions has become a source of concern to all stakeholders. With their self-esteem and world view entwined in cyberspace, the present generation of young adults derive their social status and self-worth through affirmations through the internet via social networking sites. Cyberspace is an ideal environment for bullies as it is relatively anonymous, allows the participation of a large audience, and is almost impossible to supervise. To estimate the extent, coping resources, and psychological impact of cyberbullying among Indian college students. This cross-sectional study was carried out among undergraduate medical students of Sikkim. Cyberbullying, cybervictimization, coping strategies used by students, self-esteem, and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were estimated using standardized self-report scales. Out of 213 medical students, more than half of the college students (60.6%) were victims of cyberbullying. Coping strategies commonly used by cybervictims were technical coping, support from friends, and assertively confronting the bully online. Victims of cyberbullying had significantly more depression, anxiety, stress, and lower self-esteem (p values <0.05) compared to students who did not experience cyberbullying. This study illuminates the extent and nature of cyberbullying among Indian medical students. The negative mental health consequences of cyberbullying are worrying. Mental health professionals and stakeholders need to create an awareness and formulate strategies to combat cyberbullying in colleges.

Military Deterrence vs Foreign Interference? Record of the Cold War

Academic literature is largely skeptical regarding the role of military deterrence in addressing low-level coercion. The stability-instability paradox suggests that increasing destructiveness of the armed forces (especially with the emergence of nuclear weapons) diminishes their utility in response to limited wars, proxy conflicts or economic sanctions. Recent debates often extend the same logic to foreign interference in internal affairs, as they position it as a supplement for forcible rivalries. This article seeks to advance understanding of the linkage between military deterrence and foreign interference in internal politics by exploring the record of the early Cold War starting from 1948 to the mid-1950s. The analysis attests that concern over the Soviet military capabilities had a major restraining effect on Washington. As a result, the US pursued more cautious activities against the Soviet Union in comparison to the campaigns targeting less capable states. This historical record reveals that interference is more amenable to military deterrence than other types of low-level coercion. It differs from them, as covert operations produce an existential danger to the political leaders of a target state, inciting overreaction on their behalf. Therefore, they create escalation risks when threatening a great power. Interference exacerbates confrontation even between adversaries that perceived each other as malign beforehand. Apart from signaling hostile intentions, it aggravates a sense of urgency on finding a response. Although military capabilities do not provide a direct solution to political threats, they serve as a repellent against potential subversive activities. These conclusions do not depend on the specific type of interference pursued by external agents. The findings of the article demonstrate that cross-domain deterrence is more prevalent than stability-instability paradox envisages.

Play face in Japanese macaques reflects the sender’s play motivation

Animals often initiate social interactions by exchanging signals. Especially when initiating amicable interactions, signaling one’s friendly stance toward others in advance may be important to avoid being misunderstood as having hostile intentions. We used data on dyadic play fighting in a group of Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, to examine the function of “play face” at the opening of a play session. We found no support for the previously proposed hypothesis that play face expression is likelier before entering risky situations (e.g., before gaining an undue advantage over the partner) to avoid being misunderstood. The results showed that play face expression was likelier in male juveniles before initiating play with other males than in females before initiating play with males or other females and that juveniles were likelier to express play face before initiating play with others closer in age. As male Japanese macaques play more frequently than females, and juveniles prefer to play with individuals closer in age, play face expression before play initiation may reflect the individual’s motivation for subsequent play interactions. This interpretation is supported by our observation that play bouts lasted longer when initiated with bidirectional play face by both participants than when initiated without play face. We also argued that since there was no tendency that play face was likelier to be expressed toward individuals with low play propensity (e.g., females) or infrequent partners to play with (e.g., individuals more distant in age), Japanese macaques may not tactically deploy this signal to recruit reluctant partners.

Assessment of hostile intent attributions across escalating conflict stories.

Previous research suggests the importance of intent attributions in the development and maintenance of aggressive behavior. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop a measure assessing increases in attributions of hostility in response to escalating social conflict scenarios that were relational and instrumental in nature and to determine whether hostility trajectories were associated with relevant social experiences and behavior. A sample of primarily emerging adults (n = 750; M age = 19.97, SD = 3.60; 49.4% women, 48.3% men, 2.3% nonbinary or transgender; 69.9% Caucasian) responded to surveys regarding social behavior, peer victimization, and reports of hostile attribution biases in addition to the developed measure. Findings indicated that individuals adjusted their intent attributions across the conflict escalation stories, as reflected in linear increases in hostility ratings. Hostile attribution trajectories were also related to hostile attribution biases, peer victimization, and social behavior, including physical and relational aggression and prosocial behavior.

Smartphone-assisted guided self-help cognitive behavioral therapy for young people with distressing voices (SmartVoices): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe long-standing view that auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) or hearing voices is a sign of schizophrenia has been challenged by research demonstrating that they lie on a continuum ranging from normal to pathological experience related to distress and need for care. Hearing voices is more prevalent in adolescence than in later life, and hearing voices during adolescence indicates a risk for severe psychopathology, functional impairments, and suicide later in life. While there is increasing evidence for the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for voices (CBTv) in adults with schizophrenia, research on psychological treatments for youth with distressing voices has been scarce. The aim of the current study is to examine the efficacy of CBTv, delivered using smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment Intervention (EMI) in a transdiagnostic sample of youth.MethodsThis is a superiority randomized controlled trial comparing 8 weeks of CBTv-based EMI in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) versus TAU only. TAU covers both no treatment and any form of psychiatric/psychological treatment. In the EMI condition, participants will be prompted twice a day to complete an EMA survey, and receive one intervention proposal per assessment. One-hundred fifty-four youth aged 14–25 years with distressing voices will be recruited from psychiatric clinics, local private practices, internet forums, and advertisements in print and social media. Before and after the intervention phase, participants will undergo a 9-day EMA. Single-blinded assessments will be conducted at baseline (T0) and at 3-month (T1) and 6-month (T2) follow-up. The primary outcome is the distress dimension of the Auditory Hallucinations subscale of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales at T1. Secondary outcomes include perceived hostile intention, power, and dominance of voices, passive, aggressive, and assertive relating to voices, and negative core beliefs about the self.DiscussionAdolescence provides a crucial window of opportunity for early intervention for hearing voices. However, youth are notoriously reluctant help-seekers. This study offers a low-intensity psychological intervention for youth with distressing voices beyond diagnostic boundaries that, using a mobile technology approach, may match the treatment preferences of the generation of “digital natives.”Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register DRKS00026243. Registered on 2 September 2021

Applying a bifactor model to the functions of relational aggression: Associations with hostile attribution biases and difficulties with emotion regulation.

Previous research suggests that reactive and proactive aggression likely have distinct underlying mechanisms that uniquely contribute to the perpetration of each as a result of faulty cognitive and emotional processes. Still, very little work has examined the association of the functions of relational aggression with emotion dysregulation and hostile attribution biases. In addition, it is important to examine relational aggression in its pure and co-occurring functions given that past work finds reactive and proactive aggression to occur both jointly and distinctly. Thus, the current study employed a bifactor model to distinguish between pure reactive, pure proactive, and co-occurring relational aggression in emerging adulthood (N = 647, Mage = 19.92, SD = 2.83), a developmental time period for which relational aggression is particularly prominent. To further address gaps in the relational aggression literature, indirect pathway models revealed that relational hostile attribution biases emerged as a concurrent indirect path in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and pure reactive relational aggression. Furthermore, emotion dysregulation was directly positively associated with both pure functions as well as co-occurring relational aggression, and hostile attribution biases for relational provocations were directly associated with both pure functions of relational aggression, though the association was negative for pure proactive and positive for pure reactive relational aggression. Findings highlight the potential influence of emotion dysregulation and attributing hostile intent to social situations on engaging in the different functions of relational aggression.

Effects of intellectual disability and attachment on hostile intent attribution bias

ABSTRACT Understanding hostile intent attribution (HIA) seems important for prevention of problems in social adaptation. This study aimed to explore whether HIA in childhood is determined by both a cognitive factor (i.e. intellectual disability) and an affective factor (i.e. attachment representations). One hundred and eight 8- to 12-year-old children (54 with intellectual disability and 54 with typical development) passed the Attachment Story Completion Task and the Intention Attribution Test for Children. Results indicated that in ambiguous situations, attachment disorganization was associated with HIA, whereas intellectual disability was not. In nonintentional situations, both attachment hyperactivation and intellectual disability were linked with HIA. These results highlight the importance of helping children develop organized attachment representations and optimal activation of their attachment system to prevent social maladaptation.