Parataxic distortion is a
psychiatric term first used by
Harry S. Sullivan to describe the inclination to skew
perceptions of others based on
fantasy. The "distortion" is a faulty perception of others, based not on actual experience with the other individual, but on a projected fantasy attributed to the individual. For example, when one falls in love, an image of another person as the “perfect match” or “soul mate” can be created when in reality, the other person may not live up to these expectations or embody the imagined traits at all.