Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Feindselig / Español: Hostil / Português: Hostil / Français: Hostile / Italiano: Ostile

In psychology, hostile refers to attitudes, feelings, or behaviors that are antagonistic, aggressive, or overtly unfriendly towards others. It is a term that describes a range of negative interactions or perceptions that can manifest in various social, personal, and professional contexts.

Description

Hostile behaviors or attitudes in psychology often stem from underlying anger, resentment, or frustration. Such behaviors can be either passive or active. Passive hostility might manifest as sarcasm, silent treatment, or subtle attempts to undermine others, whereas active hostility may involve more overt aggression such as yelling, insulting, or physical aggression.

Hostility is a significant focus in psychological research and clinical practice because of its impact on interpersonal relationships and overall mental health. Chronic hostility is linked to a range of psychological and physical health problems, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stress-related conditions, and poorer mental health outcomes.

Application Areas

Understanding and addressing hostile behaviors and attitudes is important in several psychological fields, including:

• Clinical psychology: Therapists work with individuals to manage and reduce hostility, which is often a component of anger management issues.
• Health psychology: Researching the impact of hostile attitudes on physical health, particularly in relation to stress and cardiovascular risk.
• Occupational psychology: Addressing hostility in the workplace to improve employee relations and reduce conflict.

Well-Known Examples

Psychological research has identified hostility as a key component in:

• Type A behavior pattern: Originally identified as a potential risk factor for heart disease, Type A behavior is characterized by competitive drive, impatience, and often, a hostile outlook.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): Used to address the cognitive distortions that lead to hostile behaviors, helping individuals develop more constructive responses to stress and conflict.

Treatment and Risks

Hostility can severely impact an individual’s social interactions and personal well-being. Psychological interventions often focus on cognitive-behavioral strategies to help individuals recognize and modify hostile thoughts and behaviors. The risks of untreated hostility include deteriorating relationships, professional difficulties, and increased likelihood of health issues, emphasizing the importance of addressing these behaviors in therapy.

Similar Terms

In psychology, related terms include:

• Aggression: Often used interchangeably with hostility, although aggression implies intent to harm, which can be physical or psychological.
• Anger: A strong feeling of displeasure or antagonism, which often underlies hostile behaviors but is more transient and situation-specific.

Articles with 'Hostile' in the title

• Hostile aggression: Hostile aggression refers to an act of aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain. It is a type of aggression driven by anger and performed as an end in itself (also called affective aggression)
• Hostile attribution bias: Hostile attribution bias refers to a tendency to assume that provocation is intentional. It is the tendency to perceive ambiguous actions by others as aggressive- tendency to view harm done under ambiguous circumstances as having stemmed fr . . .
• Hostile attributional bias: Hostile attributional bias: hostile attributional bias refers to the tendency of aggressive children to attribute negative intent to others, especially when the intentions of another child are unclear (eg
• Hostile environment harassment: Hostile environment harassment refers to a type of sexual harassment that occurs when an individual is subjected to unwelcome repeated sexual comments, innuendoes, or visually offensive material or touching that interferes with school or wo . . .
• Hostile expectation bias: Hostile expectation bias refers to the tendency to assume that people will react to potential conflicts with aggression.
• Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment: Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment is defined as a workplace which promotes or tolerates sexual harassment
• Hostile statement: Hostile statement is a statement that reflects anger in interviewing
• Hostile Attribution: Hostile Attribution in the psychology context refers to the tendency to interpret others' behaviors as having hostile intent, even when the behavior is ambiguous or benign

Summary

In psychology, hostile describes behaviors and attitudes that are antagonistic and aggressive. Addressing hostility is crucial for improving interpersonal relationships and personal health, and it is a common focus in psychological assessments and therapeutic interventions.

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