This is a Freudian defense mechanism known as “idealization,” the process in which we elevate someone to near perfection in our minds, often setting ourselves up for disappointment.

The images are never-ending: Celebrities like Kim Kardashian posting one sultry shot after another on social media. But new research warns this constant barrage of "perfect" bodies can undermine ...

And what's more, they feel the same way about us. The early phase of romantic love is possible because of "idealization," an act of imaginative exaggeration that always includes some sort of yearning.

So they developed three experiments to determine whether there is an optimal level of idealization of a partner. In the first, 99 couples (all heterosexual, except for one lesbian couple ...

In the idealized myth, mothers and babies spend their days discovering the wonders of life, reading, playing and laughing. Mom wears her baby in a sling, never raises her voice and of course has ...