Hostile Attribution Bias

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Well, I have this pretty severely from what I can tell.

For example, when I was a little kid, some girls I didn't know would smile at me, and I would perceive them as a threat and I would run away because I thought that their smiling meant that they wanted to hurt me. People told me they were smiling because they thought I was cute. I didn't believe them. I still have this problem.

Also, someone might say something not meant to be harmful, and I'll perceive it as hostility. Laughter in the distance feels like it's directed at me derisively when it might have nothing to do with me. Eye contact with smiles makes me feel like people think I am a freak. I did body language research, and women look angry when they're attracted to someone. I cannot read people.

I think I have this, though maybe not so severely as you do. If I'm out walking, anybody I see that I'm moving towards seems to be a potential threat. It's worse at night. It's quite extreme too.

I once saw some stone gateposts in the distance one night. I couldn't work out what they were, and my gut reaction told me that they were dangerous thugs. As I walked nearer to them, I contemplated taking a side road to avoid them. I felt rather silly when I realised what they were. I'm always surprised when people politely move out of my way to let me walk by.

When my son was a small child, I was outside with him and we passed a group of slightly older kids. He made some remark about them (I don't recall what) that showed he just saw them as a group of children. It was only then that I realised I'd seen them as likely hooligans.

Like you, I often feel that when people laugh, they're laughing at me.

But knowing that I have this negative cognitive bias helped me to compensate, so these days I usually remember to question my gut feelings about people. I never completely discount such feelings though. Sometimes I'm right, and I wouldn't want to be taken by surprise by malicious individuals. I see it as defensive pessimism, because I have a similarly negative anticipation about everything, not just about people. It's said to be a coping strategy for anxiety rather than a disorder.

I'm pretty sure I have this (to a degree) too.
when most people smile at me, I do perceive it as a threat.
most of the time a passive aggressive threats, like in the feudal european courts of old. not to mention, that I've noticed that when people bully me, they smile a lot.
which does force me to conclude that a smile does not mean happiness.
nor does it mean kind-heartedness.

only on a very rare occasion does a person smile at me and it is a genuine smile.

apart from my perceptions,
since this is a very aggressive and violent species, historically, and it has been proven so, the reality is that a smile has more to do with aggression and hierarchy, that is picking order, then it has to do with kindness or happiness.

and I believe this to be the truth of the matter.

which is why I get very nervous and anxious when people smile at me for no reason.
kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop. and I think this is not because I am crazy or I am misinterpreting things, which of course they would like you to believe, you know the NTs, because NT's like to construe everything they do in a positive light. especially in the cases where they are bullying and malicing you. which unfortunately, I have experienced a lot of. so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about. and in 98 percent of the cases, I kid you not, I did absolutely nothing to them nor did I even initiate any interaction with them, when the bullying or malicing started.

so in my opinion, your interpretation of smiles in a negative fashion is not entirely inaccurate. this is a very complex and Machiavellian human ape world. we all know this, the scientists know this, the priests know this, the cops know this, the politicians know this. it's not like it's any great secret anymore.

I think it's a very common trait. Most people tend to interpret others negatively.