By Brianna Cheney, M.A.

Children diagnosed with ADHD often exhibit a pattern of thinking which has been labelled the Hostile Attribution Bias (or HAB for short).  This cognitive bias consists of inferring that someone’s irritating or otherwise unpleasant behavior was done purposefully to you with hostile intent.  As one might expect, Hostile Attribution Bias can be problematic in that frequently believing you are being attacked can lead to unhealthy negative emotions (e.g., anger and anxiety) and, in turn, to aggressive, retaliatory behaviors.

It only takes one drive on a high-traffic highway or a commute through the crowded New York City subway to know that this thinking tendency extends far beyond the scope of children diagnosed with ADHD.  For many of us, HAB is a cognitive habit that we may not be aware of.  In REBT, we often skip evaluating and restructuring HAB-type thoughts (as inferences could be true) and instead focus on evaluations we make if our inferences were true.  However, it can also be helpful to take ask ourselves if we engage in this type of thinking and, if so, how it affects our emotional well-being.  For instance, if someone shoves to get in front of you while waiting for the train, is your first thought to accuse the person of purposely wronging you (What is wrong with her?!  I can’t believe she would push me just to get a seat!) or to consider situational factors that may have led to the behavior (Maybe she doesn’t use the subway frequently and is afraid she’ll miss getting on the train)?  The first accusatory thought (i.e., the HAB thought) is much more likely to lead to anger (and possibly aggressive pushing back) than is the second thought.

Habitually assuming that others’ actions are hostile likely causes us to experience more negative emotion than is necessary and, ironically, may lead us to behave in a more hostile and aggressive manner!  Questioning your inferences about others’ behaviors may help to transform certain situations (like crowded subway rides) into less frustrating experiences.

Brianna Cheney