When a relationship goes wrong it can spiral out very quickly, and cheating is an unfortunate part of that that frequently happens when things aren't going great. Cheating is a low move, and never the best thing to do if you are upset with your partner because it really hurts them in the long run, and it won't make you feel any better. Here are 5 of the major reasons people cheat on their partner, and how to prevent it.
This might be hard to believe, but not everyone thinks that cheating is a big problem in a relationship. A lot of different things can impact this but most are rooted to the way we grow up and what we see in the relationships of our friends and family.
If early on in your childhood you have even just one of your parents cheat on the other it makes a huge imprint on you, even if you don't consciously recognize it. It turns out that people who have one parent cheat are twice as likely to go on to cheat on a partner.
The idea that cheating is an acceptable behaviour is one that is deeply ingrained and most of the times a subconscious belief. To break this subconscious thought process in yourself or loved one consider therapy or rewarding the positive behaviors associated with faithfulness.
People with low self esteem are more likely to cheat because that extra person provides the ego boost that they are in search of. Even if you are trying to be as supportive of your partner as possible they won't always feel it, and that is when they are likely to cheat.
It is hard to know if your partner is the kind that needs external validation but there are some things to look for as warning signs. A big one, especially in this era, is overusing social media. This can be a way to get constant validation that boosts a low self esteem.
The only real way to counter this is to get someone who has low self esteem to see all of the value they have, on their own. This is easier said than done, and might take professional help from a therapist as long as help from their friends and family.
This one is usually the first thing that people think of when cheating comes to mind, but actually is not usually the first cause. Sex is an important part of most adult relationships and when this key part is missing things start to go wrong.
Everyone has different sexual preferences, and some people feel awkward about letting theirs be known. This is even more the case when the preference is a bit more unusual. It might feel awkward at first but it will be better for both of you in the long run.
When you have been with a partner for a long time, it is easy to fall into a bit of a sexual rut or routine. This can increase the chance of cheating because someone is just looking to spice up their sex life to replace what they are lacking with their partner.
This one is a bit harder to pin down because it looks different in every situation. Some people might go their whole life without considering cheating but then get out in a situation where they see someone that makes them want to step out on their partner.
This sudden onset of a wandering eye that didn't exist before can sometimes be blamed on a mid life crisis. Realizing you are getting old is a strange feeling, and can make you want to feel young again, which leads to doing something rash like cheating.
If you are in that spot where you are considering cheating or think you might end up doing something impulsive it is much better to talk to your partner about it before you do something you regret. Better to talk it out than cause a problem you will regret in the end.
This is probably the worst cause for cheating on your partner. If you are hurt by something your partner has done, the solution should never be to try to hurt them back, as the old saying goes 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.'
When a problem of the magnitude of where it might lead to you or your partner cheating, take things head on and talk out what's going wrong. Hashing out any issue with word will be hard, but will hurt a lot less than cheating would.
If you are in a relationship and worried about cheating, hopefully this guide has provided you with the tools you need to fix what ever issues you have going on. Being in a couple should be a happy supportive experience and cheating would ruin that.
