concepts
Definition The hostile attribution bias (HAB) is the tendency to interpret the behavior of others, across situations, as threatening, aggressive, or both. People who exhibit the HAB think that ambiguous behavior of others is hostile and often directed toward them, while those who do not exhibit the HAB interpret the behavior in a nonhostile, nonthreatening way. [Source: Encyclopedia of Social Psychology; Hostile Attribution Bias]
hostile attribution bias
social cognition