mentalize

English

Alternative forms

• mentalise

Etymology

mental +‎ -ize

Verb

mentalize (third-person singular simple present mentalizes, present participle mentalizing, simple past and past participle mentalized)

1. (usually in passive) To make mental in nature, rather than physical
   • 1899, Henry Theophilus Finck, Primitive Love and Love-Stories‎^[1]:

     It is interesting to observe, furthermore, that among the higher barbarians and civilized races, lust has become to a certain extent mentalized through hereditary memory and association.

   • 1919, Robert Sterling Yard, The Book of the National Parks‎^[2]:

     During this time also life evolved from its inferred beginnings in the late Archean to the complicated, finely developed, and in man's case highly mentalized and spiritualized organization of To-day.

2. (psychology) To understand the behavior of others as a product of their mental state
   • 1999 November 26, Chris D. Frith, Uta Frith, “Interacting Minds--A Biological Basis”, in Science‎^[3], volume 286, number 5445, →DOI, pages 1692–1695:

     Specific impairments of mentalizing in both developmental and acquired disorders suggest that this ability depends on a dedicated and circumscribed brain system.

   • 1999 November 26, Chris D. Frith, Uta Frith, “Interacting Minds--A Biological Basis”, in Science‎^[4], volume 286, number 5445, →DOI, pages 1692–1695:

     Next Review Interacting Minds--A Biological Basis Chris D. Frith, 1 * Uta Frith 2 The ability to "mentalize," that is to understand and manipulate other people's behavior in terms of their mental states, is a major ingredient in successful social interactions.

Derived terms

• mentalization
• submentalize

Related terms

• dementalize

See also

• Mentalization on Wikipedia.Wikipedia