Hostility is a strong and long-lasting feeling of dislike or anger that happens when people have conflicts or disagreements. This different from regular anger, which is a short-lived emotion. Hostility can make someone want to hurt or harm another person. Dodge (1985) and Dodge et al. (1990), found that people who often feel angry may have a way of thinking called the ‘Hostility Bias.’ This bias can show up in four main ways:
1. Seeing neutral things as provoking or upsetting.
2. Finding it hard to come up with non-angry reasons for why something happened.
3. Struggling to think of peaceful ways to handle a situation.
4. Believing that violence is an acceptable way to solve problems.
Abrams (2010) has suggested that helping athletes change how they think can be helpful in managing anger and hostility.
Abrams, M. (2010). Anger management in sport: Understanding and controlling violence in athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Dodge, K., Price, J., Bachorowski, J., & Newman, J. (1990). Hostile attributional biases in severely aggressive adoles- cents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 385 392.
Dodge, K. A. (1985). Attributional bias in aggressive children. In P. C. Kendall (Ed.), Advances in cognitive behavioral research and therapy (Vol. 4). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
