What is Cheating? - All Things You Should Know
Evelyn Skye
Updated Jan 02, 2024
At first thought, it may seem that cheating is an easy word to define, have sex with someone other than your partner, and you become a cheater.
However, when you really ponder on the definition of the word, you’ll see that what is considered cheating goes way deeper than that.
This is important in a relationship as it can help you identify the emotional and physical bounds to follow and have your partner do the same.
So read on as I help you clear your understanding of what cheating is and how to identify the telltale signs of a habitual cheater.
So, what is considered cheating? Check out this section to know about its various forms!
Cheating is one of the most common examples of betrayal. You have entered into an agreement with your partner, defining what is considered cheating in a relationship, and whoever breaks that agreement is a cheater.
This betrayal of trust is often devastating to the relationship and can easily spell the relationship’s end.
Do note that although cheating is often defined by what both the partners consider acceptable, when the emotional focus of a partner shifts from his significant other to someone else, this almost always feels like a betrayal of trust.
Relationships are flexible nowadays, and partners like to define themselves as what is and is not considered cheating. This is why it’s important to set boundaries before entering into a serious relationship with someone.
However, once those boundaries are set, and still a violation of the agreement occurs, that is classic cheating. This violation can be either physical or emotional, with studies showing that about 70% of people consider an emotional offense a deal breaker.
Many people in a relationship consider physical cheating a serious offense but will often underestimate the intensity of an emotional violation.
This emotional violation can come in many forms, such as sexting or having a flirtatious conversation with someone, all depending on what you and your partner deem acceptable.
Depending on the expectations of you and your significant other, you can easily define what is cheating in a relationship. However, it also depends heavily on gender, as both genders have slightly different perspectives on what counts as cheating.
Let’s begin with our women.
Following are the some behaviors women consider as cheating:
Regardless of whether you actually go on a date or not, keeping your dating profile active is a clear red flag and will be considered cheating by the feminine gender.
Discussing your problems other than your significant other or seeking comfort in a different woman than your partner is a clear sign for women that you are cheating. You can go with your friend of an
Sending or receiving flirtatious remarks from someone and doing nothing about it will upset most women as you show that you are available for them if the opportunity arrives.
Men find these things as cheating in a relationship:
The masculine gender is a lot more serious when it comes to sexual intimacy. More than 70% of men consider it a serious offense and will often lead to the end of the relationship.
When someone keeps their options open and has backup plans where they can fall back on should the relationship fail, they can expect the man in the relationship to be upset.
There are several different types of cheating, and if you are not careful, you might be cheating without realizing it, hurting your partner and your relationship. Here are some of the forms of cheating:
The classic example of a cheater is someone who engages in sexual relationships with people other than their partner. This breaches sexual exclusivity and will often result in breakups.
While not meeting physically, conversing with people online and engaging with them emotionally and sexually will be considered cheating.
Purchasing gifts or spending extravagantly on someone other than your partner without knowing will count as a red flag, and many people will consider it cheating.
Most people underestimate the importance of emotional attention and can become emotionally attached to people other than their partners.
This happens as people forget what is emotional cheating, and although it is often overlooked, for some people, it can be more devastating than physical infidelity.
We are all humans, and our minds often briefly daydream about people we like. However, obsessing about the person will often translate into your speech and physical actions, leading to cheating.
Micro-cheating is also often overlooked as it is subtle and will, most of the time, not involve physical intimacy. However, flirting with people or keeping an active dating profile behind your partner’s back can result in cheating.
It isn’t necessary for someone else to perform intercourse to be considered cheating. If your partner is continuously flirting with other people despite being in a committed relationship, it is undoubtedly a form of infidelity.
If your partner or spouse is more focused on a specific hobby or an object than their relationship with you, then you can call it cheating, but it is pretty harmless, and you can figure your differences out through therapy and talking.
In case your partner is not in love with you anymore, and they are simply hanging on to the relationship just for the sake of it, then they are being dishonest. Such a level of cheating can have a long-lasting impact on all personnel involved.
Forming feelings for a fictional character and then consuming an unhealthy amount of time fantasizing about it is another ill form of cheating.
If you still don’t have a clear idea of what is considered cheating and what its different forms can look like, here are some examples:
Physical cheating is the simplest to explain; you have sexual relations with someone other than your partner. This can be someone from work or a close friend.
Emotional cheating happens when you confine yourself emotionally to someone other than your partner.
For example, if you had a bad day at work, instead of communicating about it with your partner, you shut him/her off and discuss your troubles with another person.
Digital cheating happens when you talk with someone online, sexually or flirtatiously, without your partner’s knowledge.
Micro-cheating is a little hard to tell, as people might call you paranoid when you call it out. However, when a person engages in small intimate acts with someone else, for example, when your partner tries to talk erotically to someone else or when he/she tries to contact their ex regularly.
Unless not agreed upon earlier, all of this classifies as micro-cheating.
You can keep track of some telltale signs of cheating to ensure your partner doesn’t lead you to a disastrous association, depending on what is considered cheating in a relationship between you.
Regardless, here are some signs you should be aware of:
When you notice all the signs of a cheater coming from your partner, there is a way you can confirm your suspicions once and for all. This can be done through a software called Spylix.
Spylix tracks all important information from your partner’s phone and relays it to you through a dedicated dashboard. This allows you to keep close track of your partner’s actions as you thoroughly deserve to know if you are being cheated on.
Here are some of the features of Spylix you can use to expose your cheating partner:
Here is how you can easily catch a cheating using Spylix:
Step 1: Create an Account
Create an account to track your partner’s device location. Enter your email address on Spylix’s main page and click “Sign Up”.
Step 2: Set up the Phone Tracker
You will receive the instructions in your email. Follow these instructions and then click “Continue”.
Step 3: Track the Android Phone
You are all set! Now, head over to the control panel, and from there, “GPS Locations” and “Key Features”.
Once there, click the “View on Google” link and look at all the visited locations.
Step 1: Create an Account for Your iOS Device
Create an account to track your partner’s device location. Enter your email address on Spylix’s main page and click “Sign Up”.
Step 2: Enter iCloud Login Details
Enter your partner’s device iCloud details and then click “Continue”.
Step 3: Start Tracking the Device
You are all set! Now simply head over to the control panel, and from there, “GPS Locations” and “Key Features”.
Once there, click the “View on Google” link and look at all the visited locations.
Spylix can do a whole lot more than just track your target device’s location. You can access the target phone’s notes, gallery, installed apps, call logs, browser history, emails, etc.
All this data can be accessed through your Spylix account control panel, helping you confirm your doubts about your partner.
I hope at the end of this article you have a pretty good idea of what is cheating, its different types, and the signs of a regular cheater. This is helpful when confronting your partner about their unfaithful behavior so you can avoid being mistreated in a relationship.
There is so much you can do with Spylix that there’s simply no way to fit them all into one short list. Here are some of the prominent features that our customers love the most!
