The Attribution of Hostile Intent in Mothers, Fathers and Their Children

Abstract

Child externalising symptoms are associated with a bias towards attributing hostile intent to others. We examined the role of parental attributions in the development of this hostile attribution bias in children. The parents of 134 children aged 5-7 years responded to hypothetical social scenarios examining a) their general tendency to attribute hostile intent to the ambiguous behaviour of others, and b) hostile attributions made specifically to their child. Children's own attributions of hostile intent and levels of externalising symptomatology were assessed. The results indicated that child externalising symptoms were positively associated with both a generalised tendency towards the attribution of hostile intent and child-specific hostile attributions in parents. Child externalising symptoms were themselves associated with hostile attributions made by the child. However, no direct associations were observed between parental and child attributions of hostile intent. Thus, although the results suggest a role for parental social information processing biases in the development of child externalising symptoms, a direct transmission of such biases from parent to child was not supported.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Maternal Influences on the Development of Child Hostile Attributions and Aggression

“…Although this null finding must be interpreted cautiously in the light of the sample size, our observations echo similarly mixed results across previous studies, in which direct parent-child correlations in hostile attributions have proved difficult to establish. Thus, in addition to numerous null findings (Halligan et al, 2007;Bickett et al, 1996;MacKinnon-Lewis et al, 1999), where positive associations have been identified they have typically been limited to a subset of the sample studied and of the indices of hostile attributions obtained (MacBrayer et al, 2003;Nelson et al, 2008). Variations in the approach taken to the measurement of parental attributions may have contributed to mixed findings, including in the current study.…”

“…This effect was not found for mothers and sons, suggesting that attributional style could be transmitted along gender lines (MacBrayer, Milich, & Hundley, 2003). However, Halligan and colleagues (Halligan, Cooper, Healy, & Murray, 2007) found no direct association between parental and child attributions, even when mother-daughter and father-son associations were considered separately. Conversely, Nelson and colleagues (Nelson, Mitchell, & Yang, 2008), found that maternal, but not paternal, hostile attributions were related to child hostile attributions, regardless of child gender.…”

“…The current study In sum, previous research has demonstrated that parents who interpret their child's behaviour in a hostile way show more negative parenting characteristics (Nix et al, 1999). There is also preliminary evidence for a direct link between parenting behaviour and child hostile attributions (Gomez et al, 2001;Nelson & Coyne, 2009), as well as partial support for a direct link between parental and child hostile attribution tendencies (Nelson et al, 2008;Halligan et al, 2007). Nonetheless, numerous questions remain.…”

An empirical test of social information processing theory and emotions in violent situations

“…Исследования прошлых лет, касающиеся вопро-сов интерпретации намерений, показали, что в не-однозначных ситуациях агрессивные молодые люди наиболее склонны приписывать другим враждебные намерения [21][22][23]. Это свойство получило название «предубежденность о враждебности другого» [24].…”

Does Response Evaluation and Decision (RED) Mediate the Relation between Hostile Attributional Style and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence?

“…Furthermore, aggressive children are more likely to attribute hostile and mean-spirited content to social cues that are ambiguous with respect to their underlying intentions (e.g., Dodge 1980;Trachtenberg and Viken 1994). That is, in situations in which it is unclear as to the intent of the stimulus actor and the meaning of the cue, aggressive youths are inclined to interpret them as provocative (e.g., Crick 1995;Halligan et al 2007). This finding has been replicated across varied populations, contexts, and developmental periods (Orobio de Castro et al 2002).…”