Whether it’s a one-night stand or a long-term relationship, infidelity has been the downfall of many relationships.
But scientists say there is more than one way for someone to be unfaithful to their partner.
In an analysis of more than 300 studies, researchers from Stony Brook University found three distinct forms of infidelity — most of which involve no sexual activity at all.
In addition to sex, cheaters can be guilty of “electronic infidelity” by having sex or participating in online relationships.
Partners can also cheat by forming deep emotional bonds with someone outside of their relationship.
This form of adultery was found to be even more common than sexual infidelity, with 35 per cent of men and 30 per cent of women admitting to ‘romantic infidelity’.
Researchers warn that this could lead to a situation where partners have very different ideas about what counts as cheating.
Lead author Dr Benjamin says: ‘For the average person, this highlights the importance of clear communication in romantic relationships about boundaries and expectations of exclusivity.’
ROMANTIC INfidelity: Dave Grohl (right) recently admitted to cheating on his wife Jordyn Blum (left) and fathering a secret child with another woman. Researchers say that forming deep emotional relationships with someone other than a partner is a common and particularly harmful form of infidelity, which does not always involve any sexual behavior.
As simple as cheating may seem, scientists have found that the definitions and meanings of cheating can vary greatly.
In a meta-analysis of research on the topic of infidelity, researchers collected 305 different papers that contained data on infidelity rates.
The resulting data set contained interviews and surveys with more than 500,000 people and provided new insight into the different forms of fraud.
Of those surveyed, 25 percent of men and 14 percent of women admitted to having been sexually unfaithful.
However, Dr Warach and his colleagues, in their paper published in Personal Relationships, write: “Forms of infidelity that involve non-sexual components are at least as prevalent, if not more prevalent, than infidelity that is purely sexual in nature”.
Cyberbullying, which includes behavior such as online flirting or engaging in sexual chats over the Internet, was admitted by 23 percent of men and 14 percent of women.
According to the study, this has become more common in recent years as the use of social media and digital technologies have become more widespread.
Likewise, twice as many women admitted to having been romantically unfaithful than to having had a sexual relationship with someone other than their partner.
SEXUAL INfidelity: Kevin Hart (right) admitted he had sex with another woman while his wife Eniko Parrish Hart (left) was pregnant. Sexual activity outside of the relationship is the best-known and best-studied form of infidelity, but researchers say it may not be the most common.
Despite how common these forms of adultery were, they were also the most overlooked by researchers.
Only 9.5 percent of the studies included in the meta-analysis dealt with emotional infidelity, while electronic infidelity appeared in only 5.6 percent.
What makes this especially problematic is that digital and emotional infidelity can be just as damaging, if not more so, than sexual forms of infidelity.
Researchers point out that a partner may feel more betrayed when they find out their partner has a long-term romantic relationship than they would learning about a momentary indiscretion.
However, the data collected in this analysis also show a surprising lack of taboos around non-sexual forms of cheating.
Previous research shows that people are more likely to admit to infidelity when they are anonymous than during face-to-face or telephone interviews.
However, when discussing romantic infidelity, there was no difference between anonymous and personal methods.
The researchers write: “This lack of finding for emotional infidelity is consistent with research suggesting that it is less stigmatized than sexual infidelity.”
ELECTRONIC CHEATING: Former footballer and BBC Sport presenter Jermaine Jenas (left) admitted sending inappropriate texts to women at the BBC while married to Ellie Penfold (right). This form of cheating has become more common due to the rise of social media and can include online flirting, engaging in sexual chats or sharing explicit images.
Combined with a lack of communication about what counts as infidelity, this can lead to serious relationship problems.
Speaking to PsyPost, Dr Warach says: ‘Research has previously shown that individuals have very different perceptions of the meaning of these terms.
“What one person considers ‘infidelity’ may differ from their partner’s understanding.
However, the problem of defining treason not only does it affect partners in their relationships, but also scientists trying to understand the psychology of cheating.
Of the 305 letters studied, around 30 per cent used extremely vague terms such as ‘cheated’ or ‘has been unfaithful’.
This leaves it unclear whether the infidelity in question was sexual, electronic or emotional in nature.
Dr Warach concludes: ‘Our study shows that inconsistent definitions and measurement methods contribute to the confusion about the prevalence of romantic infidelity in the research literature.
“This is a big problem for our research field.”
