The independent and combined roles of attentional and interpretative biases in antisocial behavior, trait aggression and aggressive responses under provocation

Puzzo, I., Hamid-Saifullah, A., Cantarella, S., Fieldwalker, A., Aldridge-Waddon, L. and Kumari, V. (2026) The independent and combined roles of attentional and interpretative biases in antisocial behavior, trait aggression and aggressive responses under provocation. Aggressive Behaviour, 52 (4). e70074. ISSN 1098-2337 doi: 10.1002/ab.70074

Abstract/Summary

Aggressive behaviour has been linked to biases in social information processing, including heightened attention to threat and hostile interpretations of ambiguous social cues. The extent to which attention and interpretational biases uniquely or jointly contribute to aggression under provocation remains unclear. The present study investigated the effects of attentional bias toward angry faces and hostile interpretation bias on aggression using both self-report and behavioural measures in a non-clinical sample. Participants (n=67) completed an emotional attentional blink task and a hostile interpretation bias measure, alongside self-report indices of aggression and antisocial behaviour and an experimental measure of provoked aggression. Hostile interpretation bias was positively associated with self-reported aggression and antisocial tendencies, whereas attentional bias toward angry faces was selectively associated with behavioural aggression. Critically, these cognitive biases were examined as potentially independent, overlapping, or interactive contributors to aggression under provocation, and attentional and interpretation biases interacted to predict aggressive behaviour under conditions of high provocation, such that individuals high in both biases displayed the greatest levels of aggression. No interaction effects were observed for self-reported outcomes. These findings support social information-processing models proposing that multiple cognitive biases jointly contribute to aggression and highlight the importance of considering situational provocation and outcome modality when examining cognitive risk factors for aggressive behaviour and preventive cognitive interventions in at risk populations.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/130640
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/ab.70074
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Agri-Food Economics & Marketing Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation
Publisher	Wiley
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