Some people may not realize, but there are different ways that you can cheat that isn’t just physical. They can actually be emotional.
Today I figured we would dive into emotional cheating, the signs of an emotional affair, and why emotional cheating can be problematic.
9 Top Emotional Affair Signs | What is emotional cheating?
What is emotional cheating?
Emotional cheating involves being emotional with someone outside of your relationship in a way that is inappropriate or would be hurtful towards your significant other.
Examples of an emotional affair
Spending time swith someone and lying to your partner about where you were or who you were with
If you feel the need to lie, there’s something wrong. There is no reason why you should have to lie about what you’re doing unless it’s wrong. Your partner should know about the people in your life.
Sharing your relationship problems with someone outside of your relationship i.e. sharing private details of your relationship
So the thing is a lot of people will share the issues they have in their relationship with everyone outside of the relationship, but they won’t take the time to talk to their partner about the issues that they are having. It’s like they’re taking the time to be vulnerable with someone. This could be problematic for a few different reasons.
- Speaking with someone about your problems within the relationship allows them to be able to interject their own thoughts which may not be good if you want to build your relationship.
- Some people have ulterior motives. They may use this information to break your relationship down so that they can create an opening for them having a chance to date you in the future.
- If you can talk to someone about issues you are having, but not your significant other… you are allowing yourself to be vulnerable with someone who isn’t your person. Those types of vulnerabilities are meant to be shared with your partner and if you feel like you can’t be vulnerable with who you are with…. You may need to evaluate the relationship you’re in and discuss how you’re feeling with them or remove yourself from the relationship altogether if you feel like you can’t be your true self with the person you’re involved with.
Sharing negatives about the relationship
You should never belittle or trash talk the person you’re dating with anyone. You two are supposed to be a unit and for each other. You two are supposed to protect each other and support each other. If you truly feel that negative or unhappy, then breakup… but don’t trash them as if you two aren’t even together or you’re considering ending it. Either end it or stop saying negative things about your significant other.
Consistently talking to someone who you know maybe interested in you
So I feel like most people know when someone is into them, but a lot of people will act aloof like that’s not the case because they don’t want to end the relationship. If a person is interested in you and you continue to interact with them in general, this is awful. It’s bad not only because you’re not thinking about how your significant other would feel, but to some degree you are also leading the person who is interested in you on. Cut that relationship so that they can be happy with someone who is actually available versus someone who is already taken.
If you start choosing this person over your significant other
If you take their side about a situation… If you choose to spend time with them or talking to them over who you’re in a relationship with.. If you start puting this other person’s needs over your SO (significant other’s)… Ignoring your partner’s feelings for the other person..
Having a possessive relationship (either you, them, or both of you being possessive of each other)
Sometimes certain situations can get out of hand where you spend time with someone and eventually they start expecting things of you. Sometimes they may get upset or you may get upset that they’re talking about their significant other or that they should always be there for you.
Example: Let’s say you have befriend someone (that could potentially be interested in you whether you were in a relationship or not) who you share personal life details with. You two talk on the phone or hang out from time to time. One day the person gets upset with you for not being able to hang out one day because you’re spending time with your significant other or they’re upset for not talking to you for a few days. They could be feeling possessive of you which they shouldn’t be doing since you’re just friends.
When you share things with them that you’ve never shared with the person you’re with..
I was watching a sitcom from the 90s where this actually happened in an episode. I feel like it was Frasier. If you start sharing parts of you that you haven’t shared with the person you’re with, that’s a big red flag of being interested in another person altogether as well as being vulnerable/comfortable.
If what you’re saying or messaging them can’t be said in front of your significant other…
If you feel like you have to hide what you’re saying or if you are disrespecting your relationship where you’re not thinking about how your significant other would feel… it’s emotional cheating. If you are saying inappropriate things (being flirty) or just flat out sharing thoughts that paint your relationship in a negative light… to someone that could potentially be interested in you.. it’s emotional cheating and it’s wrong.
If you feel the urge to delete messages or phone calls from someone where you have to hide them..
There’s no reason why you should have to hide something. If you wouldn’t like it being done to you if the roles were reversed, then it’s a bad thing to do.
RELATED: My boyfriend cheated. I forgave him for cheating but I cant forget | Relationship Advice
So those are the different emotional cheating and emotional affair signs.
Let me know if you have any others or your thoughts about emotional cheating by leaving a comment down below!
