Aggression and attributions of hostile intent: Validation of a scale of beliefs about the prevalence of aggression in the social world

The role of beliefs about the perceived prevalence of hostility and violence in the social world was examined in relation to the expression of hostile attributional biases in aggression. An assessment instrument directed at the identification and measure of these beliefs was developed and validated in the present investigation.;Two samples of undergraduate college male students were used. Beliefs along the dimensions of interest were assessed from both samples, and measurement scales for three specific type of beliefs were developed and assessed in their reliabilities, internal consistencies, and convergent and discriminant validity. Data on attributional behavioral triggered as response to hypothetical scenarios of provocations were also collected from one of the two samples.;The findings revealed that aggression is meaningfully related, and can be accounted for by, the types of beliefs assessed in the present investigation. In particular, more aggression is related to higher perception of social threats directed to self, and to stronger beliefs of a violent world. The findings did not strongly support the hypothesis of hostile attributional biases in aggression, but they revealed that stronger hostile attributions are related to both aggression and people's beliefs of threats to the self.