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social dynamics
You assume the worst when others act neutrally.
Hostile attribution bias causes people to interpret ambiguous social cues as intentionally aggressive.
If someone bumps into you on the street, you are more likely to assume they were trying to be rude rather than being clumsy. This bias creates a cycle where you react with hostility, confirming the other person's negative response.
You often manufacture enemies out of accidents through your own expectations.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Kenneth Dodge, 1980
- What the check found
- The definition provided is accurate and the attribution to Kenneth Dodge's 1980 research is correct in the context of developmental psychology.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.