Violent and prosocial music: Evidence for the impact of lyrics and musical tone on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Although there is a large research base on the psychological impacts of violent and prosocial visual media, there is little research addressing the impacts of violent and prosocial music, and which facets of the music have the greatest impact. Four experiments tested the impact of lyrics and/or musical tone on aggressive and prosocial behavior, and on underlying psychological processes, using purpose-built songs to avoid the effect of music-related confounds. In study one, where mildly aggressive, overtly aggressive and violent lyrics were compared to neutral lyrics, any level of lyrical aggression caused an increase in behavioral aggression, which plateaued for all three aggression conditions. Violent lyrics were better recalled than other lyrics one week later. In studies two-three no significant effects of lyrics, or of aggressive versus nonaggressive musical tone, were found on aggressive or prosocial behavior. In terms of internal states, violent lyrics increased hostility/hostile cognitions in all studies, and negatively impacted affective state in three studies. Prosocial lyrics decreased hostility/hostile cognitions in three studies, but always in tandem with another factor. Aggressive musical tone increased physiological arousal in two studies and increased negative affect in one. In study four those who listened to violent lyrics drove more aggressively on a simulated drive that included triggers for aggression. Overall, violent lyrics consistently elicited hostility/hostile cognitions and negative affect, but these did not always translate to aggressive behavior. Violent music seems more likely to elicit behavioral aggression when there are aggression triggers and a clear way to aggress. Implications are discussed.

How warm are political interactions? A new measure of affective fractionalization.

Affective polarization measures account for partisans' feelings towards their own party versus its opponent(s), but not for how likely partisans are to encounter co-partisans versus out-partisans. However, the intensity of out-party dislike and the probability with which this comes into play both determine the social impact of cross-party hostility. We develop an affective fractionalization measure that accounts for both factors, and apply it to longitudinal survey data from 20 Western publics. From this perspective, countries with fewer dominant parties may be more harmonious because partisans have lower probabilities of interacting with political opponents. At the party level, partisans of smaller, more radical parties are particularly troubled because they strongly dislike out-partisans and have few co-partisans. Affective fractionalization has increased in most Western publics over time, primarily because of growing party-system fragmentation.

Role of narcissism in parental alienation phenomenon. A narrative review.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a term addressed to describe negative, psychopathological feelings, thinking and behaviours, including hostility and fear, exhibited by children who have been alienated from one parent by the other parent. Despite its relevance in the clinical psychology field, theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding and deepening the many facets of this concept are still few. In particular, literature aimed at disentangling the alienating parent's psychological characteristics is scarce and fragmented. Our contribution encompasses a narrative review of scientific literature since the term PAS was coined in 1987 by Gardner, to delineate narcissistic proneness in alienating parents. Namely, considering the narcissistic drift the western society is going toward, we hypothesised that narcissism has a pivotal role in parents' alienating behaviours against the alienated ones. Firstly, the elements that emerged from our literature search confirmed our theoretical hypothesis, in terms of the likely role of narcissism/narcissistic marked traits in alienating parents. In the second section, we contextualised the phenomenon in a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theoretical framework. Finally, based on previous findings/considerations, the developmental trajectories of children with PAS have been traced. An improved theoretical knowledge of this phenomenon, also in terms of the psychopathology associated with its genesis, means to refine the diagnostic and treatment tools to prevent it.

Perceived social competencies as moderators: examining the relationship between psychological distress and aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adults.

INTRODUCTION: The majority of people experience anger at some point in their lives when confronted with unpleasant situations. In social settings, anger can lead to aggressive and hostile in the absence of adequate social competences. Our study aims to examine the moderating role of perceived social competences in the association between psychological distress and anger expression (trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) among a sample of Lebanese adults. METHODS: 403 participants above 18 years (the mean age was 24.56 ± 8.46) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study with 73% female participants. The candidates were asked to complete a structured questionnaire including the following scales: (1) Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form (BPAQ-SF), (2) the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-8), (3) Perceived Social Competencies (PSC), and (4) The De Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale. RESULTS: The interaction psychological distress by perceived social competence was not significantly associated with physical aggression, verbal aggression, or hostility but was significantly associated with anger. After adjusting the results over variables that showed a p <.25 in the bivariate analysis, this association was significant at low (Beta = 0.24; p <.001), moderate (Beta = 0.20; p <.001) and high (Beta = 0.16; p <.001) levels of perceived social competencies, where higher psychological distress was significantly associated with more anger. On another note, with higher perceived social competence, we find a decrease in levels of psychological distress in our sample. CONCLUSION: This study provided evidence that perceived social competencies such as communication skills, empathy and prosocial behaviors act as moderators in the association between psychological distress and anger. In future works, investigating and building advanced program in order to develop social competences of individuals might prove important. It is crucial to implement such strategies and projects in schools: this educational setting could be fruitful in a way that social skills could be instilled during childhood and anger-aggressive behaviors could be managed throughout adulthood.

Borderline personality disorder and aggressive behavior: A study based on the DSM-5 alternative model.

INTRODUCTION: Unplanned reactive aggressive acts are a clinical feature of particular interest in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The early identification of personality traits correlated to aggressive behavior is certainly desirable in BDP populations. This study analyzes a clinical sample of 122 adult outpatients with BPD referred to Adult Mental Health Services of the Department of Mental Health of Bologna, in Italy. METHODS: The study examines the relationship with personality facets of the DSM-5 alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD), Personality Inventory for DSM (PID-5), with respect to the four main components of aggression measured by the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ): hostility, anger, verbal and physical aggression. Using robust regression models, the relationships between PID-5 facets and domains and the aggression components under consideration were identified. RESULTS: Verbal and physical aggression in our sample of BPD outpatients is mainly associated to PID-5 antagonism domain. Physically aggressive behavior is also related to callousness facet. CONCLUSIONS: The traits most consistently associated with aggression were the domain of Antagonism and the facet of Hostility. The study findings highlight the need for clinicians working with individuals with BPD to pay particular attention to traits of hostility, callousness, and hostility to understand aggression.

On being unpredictable and winning.

In theory, it can be strategically advantageous for competitors to make themselves unpredictable to their opponents, for example, by variably mixing hostility and friendliness. Empirically, it remains open whether and how competitors make themselves unpredictable, why they do so, and how this conditions conflict dynamics and outcomes. We examine these questions in interactive attacker-defender contests, in which attackers invest to capture resources held and defended by their opponent. Study 1, a reanalysis of nine (un)published experiments (total N = 650), reveals significant cross-trial variability especially in proactive attacks and less in reactive defense. Study 2 (N = 200) shows that greater variability makes both attacker's and defender's next move more difficult to predict, especially when variability is due to occasional rather than (in)frequent extreme investments in conflict. Studies 3 (N = 27) and 4 (N = 106) show that precontest testosterone, a hormone associated with risk-taking and status competition, drives variability during attack which, in turn, increases sympathetic arousal in defenders and defender variability (Study 4). Rather than being motivated by wealth maximization, being unpredictable in conflict and competition emerges in function of the attacker's desire to win "no matter what" and comes with significant welfare cost to both victor and victim. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Hostile attributional biases in severe alcohol use disorder: replication, gender specificity, and mechanistic insights.

AIMS: Despite their importance in the emergence and persistence of severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD), social cognition impairments remain understudied in this population. Hostile attributional biases (HAB), a key component of social cognition, may be involved in interpersonal problems and SAUD maintenance. However, current evidence for HAB in SAUD is highly preliminary, as it relies on a single study based on a small sample and on a task that cannot dissociate increased hostile from reduced benign attributions. We therefore used an improved methodology to further characterize this bias and disentangle underlying mechanisms. In addition, we explored potential gender differences. METHOD: A total of 56 patients (28 women) diagnosed with SAUD and 66 (27 women) demographically matched controls completed the Word-Sentence Association Paradigm-Hostility, which provides a valid, spontaneous, and relatively implicit assessment of both hostile and benign social attributions related to ambiguous situations. They also completed self-report measures of psychopathology and interpersonal problems. RESULTS: At the group-level, patients with SAUD presented higher HAB than controls, without group differences for benign attributions. Gender analyses revealed that this effect selectively emerged in men with SAUD. Further, patients' benign attributions did not differ from their hostile attributions. Finally, HAB (not benign attributions) were associated with interpersonal problems and state anxiety in patients. CONCLUSIONS: The association between SAUD and HAB at the group level is genuine and replicable across samples and tasks. This association may further selectively emerge in men. Our results also confirm the functional significance of HAB in SAUD, and point to potential mechanisms and clinical recommendations.

Relations between childhood psychological maltreatment and mental health dimensions within a higher-order model / Relaciones entre el maltrato psicológico infantil y las dimensiones de salud mental dentro de un modelo de orden superior

Background: Experiences of childhood psychological maltreatment have been found to be associated with various mental health outcomes, and this association persists into adulthood.Objective: This study investigated whether some types of psychological maltreatment are more harmful than others; whether the harms associated with different types of psychological maltreatment are generalized or specific to particular domains of psychopathology; and whether the associations vary by gender. Method: Participants (N = 544, 63.9 % mother as primary caregiver) were Chinese adults from various regions in China. Participants completed measures of childhood psychological maltreatment experiences perpetrated by their primary caregiver and the mental health outcomes of depression, anxiety, anger, physical aggression, and hostility. The data were analyzed in a hierarchical model in which depression and anxiety were defined as indicators of an internalizing factor, while anger, physical aggression, and hostility were defined as indicators of an externalizing factor. Internalizing and externalizing then defined a higher-order general psychopathology factor. The results suggested equivalent harms of psychological abuse and psychological neglect. Further, the associations between psychological maltreatment and mental health were not unique to specific symptom domains but showed broadband associations with general psychopathology. Results: These findings suggest that trans-diagnostic interventions may be the most effective approach for addressing the mental health impacts of psychological maltreatment. Conclusion: Childhood psychological maltreatment may pose a broadband risk for any and all forms of psychopathology.(AU)

An obscured obstacle—Prevalence and nature of micro aggressions amongst healthcare professionals / Un obstáculo oscurecido. Prevalencia y naturaleza de las microagresiones entre los profesionales de la salud

Introduction: Microaggressions create negative consequences on the mental health of individuals who experience them, such as feelings of alienation, frustration and low self-esteem. Physicians worldwide are negatively impacted by the detrimental effects of microaggressions and implicit bias. It is imperative to establish the prevalence specificity of the problem hence the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, nature and determinants of microaggressions amongst healthcare professionals. Method: The study used an online anonymous survey to collect data including demographics, awareness of the term, experience of microaggression, acts and response. The research findings were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses using Chi-square test and binary logistic regression respectively. Result: A total of 443 participants (40.9% males, 59.1% females) included 403 physicians (91%), 21 dentists (4.7%), 15 nurses (3.4%) and 4 pharmacists (0.9%). More than half of the participants (59.8%) were aware of the term micro-aggression. The percentage was significantly higher among respondents from the western region of Saudi Arabia than the Gulf/Middle Eastern countries. Approximately 38.1% of the participants experienced microaggression and more than half (55.62%) did not report experiencing microaggression. The most common form of microaggression was passive-aggressive behavior (80.5%) followed by invalidation of an opinion (73.4%). Among those who experienced microaggression, (12.9%) reported anger as the most predominant emotional response. Conclusion: Microaggression is a universal phenomenon. Further research is necessary to determine its prevalence in other countries to establish a comprehensive understanding of its cultural context.(AU)

Introducción: Las microagresiones crean consecuencias negativas en la salud mental de las personas que las experimentan, como sentimientos de alienación, frustración y baja autoestima. Los médicos de todo el mundo se ven afectados negativamente por los efectos perjudiciales de las microagresiones y el sesgo implícito. Es imperativo establecer la especificidad de prevalencia del problema, por lo que el objetivo de este estudio es determinar la prevalencia, la naturaleza y los determinantes de las microagresiones entre los profesionales de la salud. Método: El estudio utilizó una encuesta anónima en línea para recopilar datos demográficos, conocimiento del término, experiencia de microagresión, actos y respuesta. Los resultados de la investigación se analizaron mediante análisis univariados y multivariados mediante la prueba de Chi-cuadrado y la regresión logística binaria, respectivamente. Resultado: Un total de 443 participantes (40,9% hombres, 59,1% mujeres) incluyeron 403 médicos (91%), 21 dentistas (4,7%), 15 enfermeras (3,4%) y 4 farmacéuticos (0,9%). Más de la mitad de los participantes (59,8%) conocían el término microagresión. El porcentaje fue significativamente mayor entre los encuestados de la región occidental de Arabia Saudita que entre los países del Golfo/Medio Oriente. Aproximadamente el 38,1% de los participantes experimentaron microagresión y más de la mitad (55,62%) informaron no haber experimentado microagresión. La forma más común de microagresión fue el comportamiento pasivo-agresivo (80,5%), seguido de la invalidación de una opinión (73,4%). Entre quienes experimentaron microagresión, 12,9% reportaron ira como la respuesta emocional predominante. Conclusión: La microagresión es un fenómeno universal. Se necesita más investigación para determinar su prevalencia en otros países a fin de establecer una comprensión integral de su contexto cultural.(AU)

Hostile Attribution Bias Shapes Neural Synchrony in the Left Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex during Ambiguous Social Narratives.

Hostile attribution bias refers to the tendency to interpret social situations as intentionally hostile. While previous research has focused on its developmental origins and behavioral consequences, the underlying neural mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, we employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the neural correlates of hostile attribution bias. While undergoing fNIRS, male and female participants listened to and provided attribution ratings for 21 hypothetical scenarios where a character's actions resulted in a negative outcome for the listener. Ratings of hostile intentions were averaged to measure hostile attribution bias. Using intersubject representational similarity analysis, we found that participants with similar levels of hostile attribution bias exhibited higher levels of neural synchrony during narrative listening, suggesting shared interpretations of the scenarios. This effect was localized to the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and was particularly prominent in scenarios where the character's intentions were highly ambiguous. We then grouped participants into high and low bias groups based on a median split of their hostile attribution bias scores. A similarity-based classifier trained on the neural data classified participants as having high or low bias with 75% accuracy, indicating that the neural time courses during narrative listening was systematically different between the two groups. Furthermore, hostile attribution bias correlated negatively with attributional complexity, a measure of one's tendency to consider multifaceted causes when explaining behavior. Our study sheds light on the neural mechanisms underlying hostile attribution bias and highlights the potential of using fNIRS to develop nonintrusive and cost-effective neural markers of this sociocognitive bias.

Interpretation bias modification for hostility to facilitate smoking cessation in a sample with elevated trait anger: A randomized trial.

Problematic anger is linked with multiple adverse smoking outcomes, including cigarette dependence, heavy smoking, and cessation failure. A smoking cessation intervention that directly targets anger and its maintenance factors may increase rates of smoking cessation. We examined the efficacy of an interpretation bias modification for hostility (IBM-H) to facilitate smoking cessation in smokers with elevated trait anger. Participants were 100 daily smokers (mean age = 38, 62% female, 55% white) with elevated anger were randomly assigned to eight computerized sessions of either IBM-H or a health and relaxation video control condition (HRVC). Participants in both conditions attempted to quit at mid-treatment. Measures of hostility, anger, and smoking were administered at pre-, mid-, post-treatment, as well as at up to three-month follow-up. Compared to HRVC, IBM-H led to greater reductions in hostile interpretation bias, both at posttreatment and follow-up. IBM-H also led to statistically significant reductions in hostility only at posttreatment, and trait anger only at three-month follow-up. Both conditions experienced reductions in smoking, although they did not differ in quit success. We discuss these findings in the context of literature on anger and smoking cessation and provide directions for future research.

Validation of a new assessment of hostile attribution bias in romantic relationships: The Hostile Attributions in Romantic Relationships Test.

While hostile attributional bias (a tendency to interpret others' behaviors as intentionally hostile) is associated with negative outcomes in romantic relationships, no measure has been developed specifically for this context. Here, we describe the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire across three studies, named Hostile Attribution in Romantic Relationships Test. Study 1 introduces the development and preliminary validation (N = 152). Study 2 tests the validity and test-retest stability of the modified version revised based on findings in Study 1 (N = 151). Study 3 reports the translation and validation of a Chinese version (N = 630). The final 9-vignette scale is the first to specifically measure hostile attribution bias in romantic relationships, with good internal reliability, test-retest stability, and convergent validity. Factor analysis reveals a three-factor structure reflecting direct hostile attribution, indirect hostile attribution, and benign attribution to partners' behaviors. Implications regarding couple dynamics and clinical therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Adverse childhood experience and young adult's problematic Internet use: The role of hostility and loneliness.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have explored the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and problematic Internet use (PIU) during young adulthood. Moreover, even fewer studies have explored the roles of loneliness (social and emotional) and hostility in this relationship. METHODS: This study used data from the Taiwan Youth Project (2011-2017). The analytical sample included 1885 participants (mean age = 31.3 years). PIU was measured using the short form of Chen's Internet Addiction Scale (2017). ACEs were assessed at the baseline of the adolescent phase (mean age = 14.3 years); this indicator has undergone recent revision. Hostility (three items from the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised) and loneliness (six items from the De Jong Gierveld scale) were measured in 2011 and 2014, respectively. RESULTS: ACEs were associated with hostility and loneliness (emotional and social). Additionally, hostility (ß = 0.62, p < .01) and emotional loneliness (ß = 0.44, p < .01) were significantly associated with PIU. Most mediating paths (e.g., ACE → hostility → PIU) were significant, based on the bootstrapping results. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that ACEs have a long-term shadow effect on PIU in young adults. ACEs show an indirect association with PIU through both hostility and loneliness, as well as involving the relationship between them.

Parental differential warmth, hostility, and sibling differences in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis.

Parental differential treatment (PDT) of siblings is associated with differences in children's behavioral adjustment. The current meta-analysis examined the extent to which associations between relative PDT and sibling differences in behavior problems differ by type of parenting behavior (i.e., differential hostility vs. differential warmth) and type of behavior problems (i.e., differential externalizing vs. internalizing behavior problems). In September 2021, we systematically searched APA PsycInfo and Web of Science, yielding 2,259 unique hits with 19 eligible publications reporting on 215 effect sizes from 13 unique samples. The overall association between relative PDT (i.e., receiving less warmth and more hostility than one's sibling) and sibling differences in behavior problems was small but significant. Associations were stronger for differential hostility compared to differential warmth and for differential externalizing compared to differential internalizing behavior problems. Particularly marked was the finding that siblings who received more hostility from their parents showed higher levels of externalizing behavior problems. Future research investing in further dismantling the association between within-family PDT and sibling differences in adjustment is warranted to better understand why parents treat siblings differentially and to guide family support initiatives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Aggression by omission: Redefining and measuring an understudied construct.

Researchers of aggression have classically focused on what has been previously called active aggression-the deliberate infliction of harm through the direct application of deleterious consequences. However, the counterpart to this, what was originally called passive aggression, has gone understudied, and its definition has mutated beyond its original conceptualization. The present two studies (N's 196 and 220, respectively) attempted to examine passive aggression as originally defined-the deliberate withholding of behavior to ensure that a target is harmed-and renaming it aggression by omission (ABO), in contrast to aggression by commission (ABC). These studies found that both fit within a similar nomological network of antagonism, Sadism, and trait aggression. Study 2 additionally found that both were equally affected by provocation and were considered equally harmful. These findings encourage further research into ABO to capture this construct concretely, especially in the context of common paradigms (e.g., the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, Hot Sauce, Point-Subtraction Aggression Paradigm), and trait aggression scales, which typically measure ABC.

The inner workings of anger: A network analysis of anger and emotion regulation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the interrelations between emotion regulation strategies and different types of anger using network analysis. METHOD: Data were drawn from a cross-sectional sample of 538 adults (55% females; mean age = 39.8 years, SD = 12.3) seeking treatment for anger. Data were collected between March and November 2019 in Sweden. Participants completed measures of anger problems (anger expression, anger suppression, angry reactions, anger rumination, trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) and emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, anger relaxation, and five mindfulness strategies). To determine whether distinct clusters of anger nodes would emerge, exploratory graph analysis was employed. Based on clustering of nodes, we estimated separate networks including all measures of emotion regulation. RESULTS: Two clusters emerged: one consisting primarily of cognitive components of anger, and another of behavioral. Across networks, anger nodes were strongly interconnected, and anger rumination and anger suppression were especially influential. Several direct links were found between specific emotion regulation strategies and cognitive components of anger, whereas most strategies were only indirectly related to angry behavior. Cognitive reappraisal showed no direct link with any of the anger nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal potential pathways by which different emotion regulation strategies may influence different types of anger, which could serve as therapeutic targets.

Two Islamophobias? Racism and religion as distinct but mutually supportive dimensions of anti-Muslim prejudice.

Debates about Islamophobia have been blighted by the question of whether the prejudice can be defined as a form of racism or as hostility to religion (or a combination of the two). This paper sheds light on this debate by presenting the findings of a new nationally representative survey, focused on the UK, that contrasts perceptions of Muslims not only with perceptions of other ethnic and religious minorities but also with perceptions of Islam as a religious tradition. We find that prejudice against Muslims is higher than for any other group examined other than Travellers. We also find contrasting demographic drivers of prejudice towards Muslims and towards Islam. Across most prejudice measures we analyse, intolerant views are generally significantly associated with being male, voting Conservative and being older, although not with Anglican identity. We find, however, that class effects vary depending on the question's focus. Anti-immigration sentiment - including support for a 'Muslim ban' - is significantly correlated with being working-class. However, prejudice towards Islam as a body of teachings (tested using a question measuring perceptions of religious literalism) is significantly correlated with being middle-class, as is negative sentiment towards Travellers. Using these findings, the paper makes an argument for supplementing recent scholarship on the associations between racism and Islamophobia with analyses focusing on misperceptions of belief.

Daily aggression domains differentially relate to daily affect and self-esteem.

How do daily fluctuations in aggression relate to daily variability in affect and self-esteem? Although research has examined how trait aggression relates to affect and self-esteem, state aggression has received little attention. To this end, we had 120 US undergraduates participate in a 14-day daily diary study where they responded to state-level measures of aggression, affect, and self-esteem. Crucially, we used multifaceted state measures of both aggression (anger, hostility, verbal aggression, physical aggression) and affect (positive vs. negative, activated vs. deactivated). Multilevel models revealed that daily anger and hostility related positively to daily negative affect and negatively to daily positive affect. Similarly, daily anger and hostility related negatively to daily self-esteem. In contrast, daily verbal and physical aggression were largely unrelated to daily affect and self-esteem; however, unexpectedly, daily physical aggression related positively to daily positive activated affect, but only when controlling for the other daily aggression domains. Overall, daily attitudinal aggression measures-anger and hostility-related to daily affect and self-esteem in theoretically consistent ways, whereas daily behavioral aggression measures-verbal and physical aggression-did not. Our findings support expanding the General Aggression Model to incorporate state-level processes.

Longitudinal Associations Between Interpersonal Distrust and Social Aggression During College: Disentangling the Within-Person Process from Stable Between-Person Differences.

There is a dearth of information on the relationship between interpersonal distrust and social aggression in the youth, although both may lead to negative interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, scholars have not explored whether interpersonal distrust influences later social aggression over time at the within-person level. This study used five wave longitudinal data to investigate the longitudinal association between interpersonal distrust and social aggression and the role of hostile attribution bias in this relationship; notably, it used a relatively rigorous approach-the random intercept cross-lagged panel model-to disentangle within-person processes from stable between-person differences. The final number of participants included 1053 undergraduate students (677 female students and 376 male students), and 64.3% were female students, with a mean age of 18.45 years (SD = 0.95) at first measurement. Participants completed assessments for interpersonal distrust, hostile attribution bias, and social aggression at five time points across 6-month intervals. At the within-person level, the results revealed that interpersonal distrust was a predictor of later social aggression and that hostile attribution bias acted as a longitudinal mediator in this relationship. This result indicates that to enhance interpersonal harmony and reduce individual hostility and aggression toward others, intervention programs should aim to reduce interpersonal distrust.