You read in more than is there

What this means

Of the three parts this test scores, reading in stands out in your answers. You see feelings that turn out not to be there. You ask "are you angry with me?" and the answer is that they were tired. A short or late text reads as cold and turns out to be nothing. A look or a tone stays with you for hours, and the other person does not remember it. Neutral faces tend to look as if they are hiding something.

What your answers describe is not a failure to notice. It is noticing plus filling in. When the signal is unclear, your mind supplies a feeling, and it usually supplies a negative one, often about you.

Why the gaps get filled

Faces at rest, short messages and quiet moments carry very little information, and minds dislike blanks. What fills them is expectation. If you are anxious, tired or worried about a relationship, the blank gets filled with threat: annoyance, disappointment, distance. People who have had to watch others closely, a volatile parent or a partner whose moods mattered a great deal, are especially quick to fill gaps this way. It was a useful skill once.

Where it costs you

Over-reading costs you energy, because you are responding to feelings that are not there. It also costs relationships in a quieter way. If you regularly ask people whether they are upset with you, they can start to feel that their neutral moments are being monitored, and that being tired is not allowed. Some people respond by over-explaining their moods, which is its own kind of exhausting.

What this is not

It is not the same as overthinking, though the two often travel together. Overthinking is the loop. Reading in is the first misread that starts it. If the looping is the bigger part, the overthinking test looks at it directly. And it is not paranoia; most over-readers know, on reflection, that they were probably wrong.

What to do next

Take neutral as neutral. When a face, a pause or a text is unclear, remind yourself that unclear is the default for most people most of the time.

Give it a time limit. If a look or a message is still bothering you after an hour, ask once, lightly, without leading with your fear: "All good with you today?" Then believe the answer.

Notice your state. If over-reading clusters on tired or anxious days, the fix may be sleep and calm rather than better reading.

If a message is sitting with you and you want to look at it with fresh eyes before you reply, Lovon can help you separate what was said from what you filled in.