In time we found we hadn't a clue what they were really thinking. They may even have welcomed our encouragement and listening ear. When it comes to imagining what others think of us, it's easy to fall into a pattern of expecting the worst. Paranoia is what we often call it lightheartedly today. This is slang, of course, for paranoia in the clinical sense is a serious psychological problem.
True paranoids are pathologically suspicious of others' motives.
Many suffer psychotic delusions about being watched or persecuted. Most of us are not about to join a local militia to defend ourselves against encroaching evil forces of government. Nor do we imagine that aliens have implanted listening devices under our skin. Yet we do spend a lot of energy worrying about what others think of us. We may assume instinctively that others don't like us, even when no evidence suggests it.