Construct · 1 fields · 1 citations

mentalization: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · one construct, one field Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
mentalization1 CONSTRUCTMentalizationFONAGY & TARGET · 1997

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Clinical & developmental psychology

Reading behaviour in terms of mental states

In developmental and clinical psychology, mentalization is the capacity to understand oneself and others in terms of intentional mental states (beliefs, feelings, wishes, and intentions) and to see behaviour as arising from such states. Fonagy and Target's 1997 Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self-organization linked this capacity (operationalised as reflective function) to secure attachment and the development of a coherent self, and it became the target of mentalization-based treatment. The referent is a measurable social-cognitive capacity whose failure is implicated in borderline and other disorders.[1]

Unit
The capacity to represent behaviour in terms of underlying mental states
Recovery means
Mentalizing capacity can be strengthened through mentalization-based treatment and tends to break down under high emotional arousal
Measured by
Assessed by the Reflective Functioning Scale applied to attachment interviews and related tasks

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Nearby constructs

attachment2 fields · 6 citationsjingle · one word, two constructscapacity5 fields · 8 citationsjingle · one word, four limits

References

  1. Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1997). Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self-organization. Development and Psychopathology, 9(4), 679–700. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579497001399

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