psychologize

American  

[sahy-kol-uh-jahyz] / saɪˈkɒl əˌdʒaɪz /

especially British, psychologise

verb (used without object)

psychologized, psychologizing

1. to make psychological investigations or speculations, especially those that are naive or uninformed.

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psychologize British  

/ saɪˈkɒləˌdʒaɪz /

verb

1. to make interpretations of behaviour and mental processes

2. to carry out investigation in the field of psychology

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Other Word Forms

• overpsychologize verb
• psychologizer noun

Etymology

Origin of psychologize

First recorded in 1820–30; psycholog(y) + -ize

Example Sentences

More so than with other directors, it’s always tempting to overly psychologize Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, looking for traces of his personal development and hints of autobiography: the father figures of “Magnolia” or “The Master,” the partnership of “Phantom Thread,” parenthood in the new “One Battle After Another.”

From Los Angeles Times

Whether fake-wrestling or barhopping with women or trying to psychologize each other, neither guy really knows what’s fun or illuminating anymore.

From Los Angeles Times

He oozes capability, of the mental and physical sorts, and though he has a tragic backstory he doesn’t seem particularly marked by it, as much as other characters might want to psychologize him.

From Los Angeles Times

As often as not, his portraits suppress our impulse to psychologize by showing their subjects dead-eyed or asleep.

From Washington Post

In any case, it’s dramatically counterproductive to humanize or psychologize him, though Bang does at least try to bring some shading to a thoroughly despicable character; he plays him as soft-spoken, letting his height and weight comprise an implicit threat against the the small, reed-thin Duff.

From Los Angeles Times