The hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a tendency to interpret malevolent intentions when confronted by ambiguous actions of others. This project examines the relationship between HAB and trait anxiety and whether a metacognitive manipulation reduces HAB. In Study 1, our results showed that trait anxiety and HAB had a positive correlation using both methods of detecting hostility, even when negative affect was accounted for. In Study 2, overall analyses revealed that compared to a true control condition, the metacognition manipulation reduced the link between trait anxiety and HAB. This study needs to be replicated before we can definitively draw conclusions, but still guides us to a potential new method for reducing HAB in anxious individuals
