Interpretive bias

Interpretive bias or interpretation bias is an information-processing bias, the tendency to inappropriately analyze ambiguous stimuli, scenarios and events.[1] One type of interpretive bias is hostile attribution bias, wherein individuals perceive benign or ambiguous behaviors as hostile. For example, a situation in which one friend walks past another without acknowledgement. The individual may interpret this behavior to mean that their friend is angry with them.

  1. ^ Mathews, A. & MacLeod, C. (2005). "Cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders". Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 1: 167–195. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.143916. PMID 17716086.