Hate crime has become an increasingly familiar term within global scholarship, with advancements in conceptual understanding and empirical knowledge helping to generate improved policy responses across many parts of the world. However, the continued demonization of \'other\' identities, the escalating volume of hate incidents worldwide and the prevailing climate of rising tensions, decreasing resources and political de-prioritization all suggest that many urgent challenges remain. Contributors to this special issue have dismantled common stereotypes and misperceptions which hamper our collective capacity to address contemporary expressions of hate and violence. In doing so, they draw from their research evidence to identify \"hidden\" challenges which should be at the forefront of attempts to address the causes, effects, and prevention of all forms of violence. This call for reconfiguration is the unifying theme which runs through each article, and which paves the way for more nuanced analyses that offer new frameworks for responding to the diverse and changing patterns of violence. These are challenges which straddle disciplinary boundaries, geographical borders, and the physical/digital world, and which demand the international, intersectional, and interdisciplinary perspectives evident within this special issue.

BACKGROUND: The reactive aggressive behavior in individuals typically shows a rapid growth trend as individuals enter adolescence, and peaks during middle-school period. According to the Comprehensive Cognitive Model of Trait Anger, trait anger and hostile attribution bias play important roles in the development of reactive aggressive behavior. Based on this, current study explored the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior in middle school students, as well as the mediating role of hostile attribution bias and interventions.
METHODS: The current study consisted of three sub-studies. Study 1 recruited 87 middle school students with an average age of 12.367 ± 0.889 years, investigated the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior, as well as the mediating role of trait hostile attribution bias. Study 2 recruited 62 middle school students with an average age of 13.376 ± 0.963 years, investigated the relationship between trait anger and reactive aggressive behavior, as well as the mediating role of state hostile attribution bias. Study 3 recruited 80 middle school students with an average age of 13.392 ± 0.977 years, implemented an intervention targeting trait hostile attribution bias in middle school students with high trait anger to reduce their reactive aggressive behavior. In current study, data management was performed using SPSS 22.0. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and path analysis were used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS: The results of Study 1 showed that trait anger predicted reactive aggressive behavior through trait hostile attribution bias. The results of Study 2 indicated that trait and state hostile attribution bias played mediating role intermediary, and trait hostile attribution bias had a stronger mediating effect than state hostile attribution bias. The results of Study 3 suggested that the intervention effectively decreased trait hostile attribution bias and reactive aggressive behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: Trait anger can predict the reactive aggressive behavior of junior high school students, with trait hostility attribution bias and state hostility attribution bias mediating this relationship. Intervening in the hostility attribution bias of high-anger junior high school students can effectively reduce their reactive aggressive behavior.

UNASSIGNED: Shame-proneness, particularly in adolescence, is a critical psychological construct linked to aggressive behavior. This study addresses the gap in understanding the specific mechanisms of this relationship within the cultural context of Chinese adolescents.
UNASSIGNED: The study aims to explore the mediating roles of hostility and externalization of blame in the connection between shame-proneness and aggression among Chinese adolescents.
UNASSIGNED: A comprehensive sample of 1489 Chinese adolescents participated in the study. They completed the Test of Self-Conscious Affect for Adolescents to assess shame-proneness and an aggression questionnaire to measure aggressive behaviors. The study utilized network analysis and mediational analysis, to unravel the complex interactions between shame-proneness, externalization of blame, hostility, anger, and aggression.
UNASSIGNED: The results identified two distinct pathways linking shame-proneness to aggression: one mediated by hostility and the other by externalization of blame. The pathway via hostility was particularly pronounced, marking it as a central node in the shame-aggression relationship. Interestingly, the study also revealed a direct, though less pronounced, inhibitory effect of shame-proneness on aggression, indicating a dualistic role of shame in adolescent behavior. These findings were consistent across different demographic subgroups, suggesting a generalizable pattern in the studied population.
UNASSIGNED: The dual nature of shame-proneness, as both an inhibitor and a facilitator of aggression, underscores the need for culturally sensitive approaches in psychological interventions and future research. The central role of hostility in this relationship points to potential targets for therapeutic interventions aimed at mitigating aggression in adolescents.

Malicious online trolling is prevalent among Chinese college students and has recently garnered extensive attention from researchers due to the substantial harm it causes to the victims and the damage it inflicts on the online environment. Most previous studies have focused on examining how personal traits related to malicious online trolling. Further comprehensive research is needed to explore the mechanisms linking external environmental factors (antisocial media exposure) and malicious online trolling. A total of 1259 Chinese college students completed questionnaires regarding malicious online trolling, antisocial media exposure, hostile attribution bias, and empathy. The results indicated a positive association between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling among Chinese college students, with hostile attribution bias serving as a mediating factor. Furthermore, the direct and mediated paths between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling were moderated by empathy. Specifically, as the level of empathy increased among college students, the relations between the variables all weakened. Excessive exposure to antisocial media content among college students may trigger hostile attribution bias and lead to more malicious online trolling behavior. However, the relation between antisocial media exposure and malicious online trolling, hostile attribution bias and malicious online trolling, was attenuated when college students\' empathy levels were high.

Nursing is considered indigent and oppressed because of uneven organizational hierarchies and unsatisfactory work environments. This study aimed to highlight the critical aspects of organizational culture in the nursing profession and, in general, those propagating hostile behaviours among female nursing staff that result in dissatisfaction and intention to leave the organization. A quantitative research approach was applied and a survey research strategy was used to collect the data. Convenience sampling was applied and data were collected from female nurses who were easily accessible and willing to participate in the research. A total of 707 questionnaires were collected from 14 hospitals and the data was analyzed using SmartPLS 4. Lack of administrative support and gender discrimination positively affected person-related hostility. In contrast, person-related hostility mediated the relationship between gender discrimination and lack of administrative support with the intention to leave. Direct or indirect person-related hostility factors can severely damage organizational reputation and quality and may cause the loss of employees with specific organizational knowledge and exposure. Losing an experienced employee to a newer one cannot replace the costs incurred on hiring, training, and providing knowledge to older employees. HR managers in organizations should devise strategies and policies that allow for the timely resolution of issues of nursing staff based on fair work performance.

In 2017, the Gulf crisis led to a blockade that severely restricted Qatar\'s air, land, and sea access. This political crisis had far-reaching consequences, particularly affecting cross-national families and children. This qualitative analysis explores the effects of the blockade\'s political instability on individuals and families, specifically for Qatari citizens married to non-Qatari spouses and their cross-national children. Applying the General Aggression Model and Social Learning Theory, we interviewed 24 individuals residing in Qatar from nations directly affected by the crisis (Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). Two main themes emerged: first, the characteristics of aggressive and bullying behaviour, and second, the impacts on the well-being of cross-national families. The results showed that Qatari women and their children suffered disproportionately due to gender-based citizenship rights issues. The impacts on their well-being included heightened anxiety, depression, feelings of danger, uncertainty, and division within individuals, families, and communities. Recommendations include increasing collaborative efforts between governments, educational institutions, and community-based organizations, which are crucial to addressing aggressive and bullying behaviour across all age groups fostering a more harmonious and resilient society.

Affective polarization measures account for partisans\' feelings towards their own party versus its opponent(s), but not for how likely partisans are to encounter co-partisans versus out-partisans. However, the intensity of out-party dislike and the probability with which this comes into play both determine the social impact of cross-party hostility. We develop an affective fractionalization measure that accounts for both factors, and apply it to longitudinal survey data from 20 Western publics. From this perspective, countries with fewer dominant parties may be more harmonious because partisans have lower probabilities of interacting with political opponents. At the party level, partisans of smaller, more radical parties are particularly troubled because they strongly dislike out-partisans and have few co-partisans. Affective fractionalization has increased in most Western publics over time, primarily because of growing party-system fragmentation.

BACKGROUND: The majority of people experience anger at some point in their lives when confronted with unpleasant situations. In social settings, anger can lead to aggressive and hostile in the absence of adequate social competences. Our study aims to examine the moderating role of perceived social competences in the association between psychological distress and anger expression (trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) among a sample of Lebanese adults.
METHODS: 403 participants above 18 years (the mean age was 24.56 ± 8.46) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study with 73% female participants. The candidates were asked to complete a structured questionnaire including the following scales: (1) Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form (BPAQ-SF), (2) the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-8), (3) Perceived Social Competencies (PSC), and (4) The De Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale.
RESULTS: The interaction psychological distress by perceived social competence was not significantly associated with physical aggression, verbal aggression, or hostility but was significantly associated with anger. After adjusting the results over variables that showed a p <.25 in the bivariate analysis, this association was significant at low (Beta = 0.24; p <.001), moderate (Beta = 0.20; p <.001) and high (Beta = 0.16; p <.001) levels of perceived social competencies, where higher psychological distress was significantly associated with more anger. On another note, with higher perceived social competence, we find a decrease in levels of psychological distress in our sample.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence that perceived social competencies such as communication skills, empathy and prosocial behaviors act as moderators in the association between psychological distress and anger. In future works, investigating and building advanced program in order to develop social competences of individuals might prove important. It is crucial to implement such strategies and projects in schools: this educational setting could be fruitful in a way that social skills could be instilled during childhood and anger-aggressive behaviors could be managed throughout adulthood.

BACKGROUND: The increasing costs of nurses\' occupational-stress, conflicts, and violence within healthcare services have raised international interest. Yet, research/interventions should consider that perceived stress and conflicts- but also potential resources- within the wards can crossover the healthcare settings, impacting nurses\' private lives and viceversa, potentially creating vicious circles exacerbating stress, conflicts/violence or, conversely, virtuous circles of psychological/relational wellbeing. Based on the Demands-Resources-and-Individual-Effects (DRIVE) Nurses Model, and responding to the need to go in-depth into this complex dynamic, this study aims to explore potential vicious circles featured by the negative effects of the interplay (main/mediating effects) between perceived stressors in nursing linked to interpersonal conflicts (Conflicts-with-Physicians, Peers, Supervisors, Patients/their families), work-family inter-role conflicts (Work-Family/Family-Work-Conflicts), and work-related stress (Effort-Reward-Imbalance) on nurses\' psychological/relational health (Anxiety, Depression, Somatization, Interpersonal-Sensitivity, Hostility). The potential moderating role of work-resources (Job-Control, Social-Support, Job-Satisfaction) in breaking vicious circles/promoting virtuous circles was also explored.
METHODS: The STROBE Checklist was used to report this cross-sectional multi-centre study. Overall, 265 nurses completed self-report questionnaires. Main/mediating/moderating hypotheses were tested by using Correlational-Analyses and Hayes-PROCESS-tool.
RESULTS: Data confirmed the hypothesized detrimental vicious circles (main/mediating effects), impairing nurses\' psychological health conditions at individual level (Anxiety, Depression, Somatization), but also at relational level (Hostility and Interpersonal-Sensitivity). The moderating role of all work resources was fully supported.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings could be used to implement interventions/practices to effectively prevent the maintenance/exacerbation of vicious circles and promote psychological/relational wellbeing in healthcare settings and beyond.

This study assessed changes in measures of personality traits across a 12-month combat deployment in a sample of conventional US Army soldiers. Results revealed Impulsive Sensation-Seeking (ImpSS) and Sociability (Sy) decreased significantly, whereas Neuroticism-Anxiety (N-Anx) increased. Changes in ImpSS scores were mainly attributed to age, but were inversely related to increases in traumatic stress symptoms. Combat exposure, concussion, age, education, and changes in traumatic stress scores all independently contributed to changes in N-Anx scores. Changes in Sy were not associated with any of the data available from pre-deployment or deployment measures. Changes in Aggression-hostility (Agg-Hos) and Activity (Act) across the deployment were not significant. The findings suggest significant variability in the stability of personality traits when exposed to combat stress and injury while deployed, which may be influenced by factors such as age and education.