School bullying predicts malevolent creativity in middle school students through anger and hostile attribution bias

School bullying has been recognized as a risk factor for the growth of malevolent creativity. However, its underlying mechanisms and moderators remain under-explored. This study examined the effects of school bullying on malevolent creativity, focusing on the chain mediating effects of anger and hostile attribution bias. Using convenience sampling, we surveyed 1,038 middle school students with the Delaware Bullying Victimization Scale, the Anger Rumination Scale, the Hostile Attribution Bias Scale, and the Malevolent Creativity Scale. A Chain mediation model was estimated in Mplus written by Bengt Muthén and Linda Muthén of the University of California, Los Angeles. Results showed that school bullying significantly is positively associated with malevolent creativity (β = 0.525, p < 0.001, 95% CI=[0.492,1.016]). Besides, school bullying also indirectly was associated with malevolent creativity through anger (β = 0.017, p < 0.001, CI=[0.037, 0.231]), hostile attribution bias (β = 0.318, p < 0.001, CI=[0.042, 0.135]), and the chain-mediated pathway between the above two (β = 0.135, p < 0.001, [0.002,0.009]). These findings indicate that, among victimized adolescents, anger and hostile attribution bias amplify the positive association between school bullying and malevolent creativity. These findings suggest that anger and hostile attribution bias play crucial roles in the relationship between school bullying and malevolent creativity, providing important insights for interventions.