Intrusive pseudo-mentalizing stems from the need to reach a definitive and absolute conclusion regarding the mental states of self or others,  thus avoiding any obscurity or uncertainty. Individuals who engage in intrusive pseudo-mentalizing often draw intricate and complex conclusions about others' mental states upon the knowledge that may not apply to the context at hand. Conclusions derived from intrusive pseudo-mentalizing often lack qualification and are not supported by concrete evidence. When the validity of mentalizing content is questioned, individuals retrieve to non-mentalizing modes, possibly due to the frustration caused by the lack of reciprocation of their exhaustive mentalizing in achieving meaningful certainty, perceptive lucidity, and objective accuracy. 

Intrusive Pseudomentalizing

An overactive form of pseudo-mentalizing manifests as a thinking pattern where individuals actively generate unfounded conclusions about others' mental states in a self-serving manner, without considering their accuracy and validity.

Overactive Form of Pseudomentalizing

Destructively inaccurate pseudo-mentalizing refers to the act of constructing a false narrative on oneself or others' mental states (e.g., emotions, thoughts, motivations, etc.) by rejecting or refusing to acknowledge objective facts that contradict or challenge an individual's personal or subjective interpretation of events or experiences. 

Destructively Inaccurate Pseudomentalizing

1. Intrusive pseudomentalizing
2. Overactive form of pseudomentalising
3. Destructively inaccurate pseudomentalising

New York University

Hypermentalizing/hypermentalization refers to the social-cognitive process of excessively inferring the mental states of others when there is insufficient concrete real-world evidence to support these inferences.

Hypermentalizing/hypermentalization

Duschinsky, R., & Foster, S. (2021). Mentalizing and epistemic trust: The work of Peter Fonagy and colleagues at the Anna Freud Centre. Oxford University Press.

5 Forms of Non-mentalizing (Duschinsky & Foster, 2021)

1. eliciting situation
2. ambiguous social cues
3. hypersensitivity to social cues
4. exclusive usage of either controlled-explicit or automatic-implicit mentalization
5. self-other mental state confusion
6. imagined other-mind reaction tendency

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