> The asking of questions is often regarded as hostile by those whose worldview or self-interest is threatened by the reasonable responses those questions may elicit

Actually, it's a broader set of people. Most ordinary people don't like too many questions under ordinary circumstances. Every book on effective communications that I've read said that asking leading questions will trigger hostility and even if you're asking out of pure curiosity people will misinterpret them as leading questions. You have to develop the skill of signaling curiosity and asking in a manner that doesn't induce hostility.

In my lifetime I've been shouted at multiple times due to using the Socratic method. It would always take me by surprise - I was always asking in good faith. Only when I read these books did I realize that it wasn't the people who were flawed but the method.

There Are limited domains where it is effective - like between a teacher and a student or between two people engaging in rhetorical debate. But in most situations it's a bad idea.