Why do partners cheat on each other

Sometimes, affairs occur at times when you might assume people would be the most secure in their relationship, such as after getting engaged or when someone is pregnant. But worries over commitment can be very destabilising. Sometimes, people can sabotage what they have, consciously or unconsciously, as a way of rejecting feelings of responsibility. Affairs can also arise from personal insecurities.

It may also cause someone to feel insecure in their own relationship, so much so that they might cheat as a way of rejecting rather than being rejected. Affairs can commonly be linked to problems with sexually addictive behaviours. This is where someone habitually engages in sexual activity as a way of satisfying desires and relieving negative feelings they find hard to control.

These desires can be compulsive in the way that a drug or alcohol addiction might be. For some people, this can mean they end up engaging in affairs repeatedly or in multiple relationships.

For more information on sex addiction, visit the NHS choices page. Of course, many couples come to the conclusion that their relationship has run its course—with the affair being a symptom of what was wrong, rather than the cause. Whatever the case, trying to examine the issues together is your best chance to make sense of things. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance.

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Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Sophie Miura is an editor, journalist, and digital strategist with more than 10 years of editorial experience. The emotional aftermath of infidelity is a lot like the stages of grief. First, there's the shock that the person closest to you has committed such a betrayal and perhaps even denial as you grapple with their act. Then, pain and anger follow, which generally leads to one question: Why do people cheat?

According to Kelly Campbell, Ph. It's just that some people are naturally more in-line with those views and others are not. Meet the Expert. Kelly Campbell , Ph. Those who cited a situation as the primary cause were far less satisfied.

Much of the sexual activity was limited to kissing In fact, the study found that only half of the cheaters reported having vaginal intercourse. The reason for the infidelity also greatly impacted its length. In some cases, the relationship was a brief tryst, while others were a longer and deeper attachment. Women also had a longer affair on average than men. In the end, only a third of participants ultimately admitted the cheating to their primary partner.

Women were more inclined to fess up than men. Those who came clean were more likely to have cheated out of anger or neglect rather than sexual desire or variety. This suggests that their confession was possibly a form of retribution and a way to exact revenge instead of a way to clear their conscience.

The participants who confessed were also more likely to form a committed relationship with the affair partner. While infidelity is typically a clandestine enterprise, some cheaters were less careful than others, perhaps intentionally. Those cheating because of lack of love went on more public dates and displayed more public affection toward their partner. PDA was also common for those seeking variety or looking to boost their self-esteem. On the other hand, situational cheaters were less inclined to cheat out in the open, perhaps because they hoped to return to their primary relationship without getting caught.

So is an affair really a relationship killer? Cheating was more likely to end a relationship when it arose from anger, lack of love, low commitment or neglect.

And it was less likely to do so when the infidelity was circumstantial. Surprisingly, only one in five