Early predictors of children's hostile attribution bias: Relational conflict, executive functions, and gender differences.

Hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a well-established predictor of aggression and related psychopathologies. Yet the early factors shaping its development are not yet fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear (1) how early conflictual relationships with significant adults and children's cognitive capacities contribute to later HAB, and (2) whether these pathways differ by gender. The present study addressed these gaps in a longitudinal sample of 279 Arab and Jewish children (138 girls; 106 Arabs; 173 Jews), assessed in early (Mage = 5.7, SD = 0.53; range: 4.3-7.0) and late (Mage = 10.6, SD = 0.86, range: 9.0-12.75 years) childhood. Mother- and teacher-child conflict, executive functions (EFs), and early HAB were assessed in early childhood and HAB was assessed in late childhood. Multi-group analyses revealed gender-differentiated pathways: among boys, one EF (cognitive flexibility) predicted lower HAB (β = -0.24); among girls, higher teacher-child conflict predicted higher HAB (β = 0.36). These findings refine social information processing theory by showing that relational inputs to children's social database are ecologically specific and that the balance between relational and cognitive pathways to HAB is gender-differentiated.