Is there a way to control the AI's "Attitude" to me better?

[CaptainChiatrol]

Is there a way to control the AI's "Attitude" to me better?

I don't like the look on their face. People tend to be aggressive, threatened, or defensive to me and I have no idea how the system works. I get when they really really hate me they go outraged and get a lightning bolt but the hardest part of diplomacy for me is trying to get nations to become friendly so I can kindly eat them as a vassal instead of standard murderous methods.

Half the people I want to use become threatened by me which makes it hard to get them into good wars.

trust is simple and makes sense but attitude is a mystery to me.

 

[Kirikano]

Just my observations but AI allies tends to go threatened if you have a CB/claim on them, or share a big border relatively and trust is low. Defensive if they feel more threatened by someone else and just a little threatened by you and trust is low. Hostile if they have a lot of claims or CBs on you and/or relations is extremely low (although they can be hostile above 0 relations if they have a ton of claims on you). If you are much bigger though, they will tend to be threatened, unless they are a great power. Outraged is based on AE. Any about of AE can turn them outraged if relations is below 0, and the higher the AE they have, the more likely they are to be outraged than anything else. Note that the AI can take as much as several years to change out of outraged attitude even if you get them above 0. Neutral if they have neither a border or CB either way and relations aren't too far in either direction.

 

[Zqrfmb]

As far as my observations of austria being friendly towards me as france, friendly requires no major friction, similar forces, and few to no claims or CBs on either side, and possibly also a common enemy, like if you both rival burgundy and not each other.

 

[Squirrelloid]

Just my observations but AI allies tends to go threatened if you have a CB/claim on them, or share a big border relatively and trust is low. Defensive if they feel more threatened by someone else and just a little threatened by you and trust is low. Hostile if they have a lot of claims or CBs on you and/or relations is extremely low (although they can be hostile above 0 relations if they have a ton of claims on you). If you are much bigger though, they will tend to be threatened, unless they are a great power. Outraged is based on AE. Any about of AE can turn them outraged if relations is below 0, and the higher the AE they have, the more likely they are to be outraged than anything else. Note that the AI can take as much as several years to change out of outraged attitude even if you get them above 0. Neutral if they have neither a border or CB either way and relations aren't too far in either direction.

Not quite. If they have a single claim with a mission, that's enough to go hostile even at +50 relations or more. (I don't think they can go hostile at a certain point, but getting a mission with a claim pretty much tanks relations below whatever that is anyway).