Defining Cheating
Emotional Cheating
An operationalized definition of emotional cheating or infidelity is nonsexual extradyadic activity outside of an existing relationship in the pursuit of deep emotional connection.
What does it look like: A partner may be pursuing the attention, romantic love, or time from another individual that is not their current partner.
What this might feel like: Individuals who experience their partners emotionally cheating often report feeling their partner “falling out of love” or losing the deep emotional connection within the relationship. Emotional infidelity is commonly associated with feeling betrayed by a partner. |
Physical Cheating
Physical Cheating
Cheating or infidelity that is physical is the act of being sexually intimate with someone other than your significant other or spouse.
Views of what constitutes physical cheating vary, but most commonly include:
- Intercourse
- Oral Sex
- Vaginal Sex
- Sexual Touching
- Kissing