Hostility Bias

Abstract

Hostility biases refer to the a priori tendency to perceive and interpret social information in a hostile manner. Four types of hostility biases have been distinguished: the hostile interpretation, attribution, perception, and expectation bias. These low-level biases are thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of aggressive behavior. Consequently, they are considered as important targets for aggression treatment. This chapter provides an overview of the literature about the association between hostility biases and aggressive behavior, most often used and most influential theoretical models explaining distortions D. Smeijers (*)