Hostile Attribution Bias
The tendency to interpret ambiguous actions by others as intentionally hostile or mean-spirited, especially when feeling threatened or stressed.
A cognitive bias in which a person interprets neutral or ambiguous behavior from others as deliberately hostile or aggressive. It occurs when someone assumes negative intent behind actions that could have multiple explanations, often triggered by stress, threat perception, or prior negative experiences. Common in conflict situations and among those experiencing anxiety or resource scarcity.
What this means in real life
A coworker doesn't respond to your email for hours. Under normal circumstances you'd assume they're busy, but when you're stressed about a deadline, you interpret the silence as them deliberately ignoring you to sabotage your project.
What it isn’t
This is not the same as being generally suspicious or paranoid. It's specifically about misreading the *intent* behind ambiguous actions—not about seeing threats everywhere or believing in grand conspiracies against you.
Commonly misused online
People often use it to dismiss anyone who feels hurt by others' behavior as 'biased,' when the bias is actually about *interpreting ambiguity as hostility*—not about having legitimate grievances with clearly unkind actions.