Infidelity: Why Do People Cheat?
Introduction
Infidelity is defined as the act or fact of having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone other than one's husband, wife, or partner (Merriam-Webster.com). Although, this is the standard definition of cheating, the subject can hold different meanings to different people. One may feel betrayed by their significant other when only an emotional connection is made with someone outside of the marriage, while another person may not see this as cheating at all. Some feel that a person is only guilty of infidelity if there is sexual involvement. Regardless of the differences of opinions, when one person in a relationship loses the trust of their spouse due to infidelity,
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In simpler terms, it is human nature to meet, mate and procreate. In an article entitled Why She’s Gotta Have It, Lonnae Parker and Dr. Shirley Glass explain that as humans, we should not expect to feel predisposed to be monogamous. Instead, they report that “early infatuation, enchantment and a sense of swinging from the chandelier with a brand-new lover are nature’s sneaky ways of getting us to hook up often enough to make babies”. Additionally, they report that chemistry gives a euphoric experience and inhibits cheaters to get caught up in the moment of romance with the belief that this feeling will never go away. Unfortunately, all too often it does. Adding to the productive pull of nature, hormones also play a vital role in programming the human brain to reproduce and many times desire more than one mate. These desires can fundamentally correlate with levels of testosterone, which are generally higher in men than in women, in turn giving them a higher sex drive than women. The sex related hormone dominating more so in women, tends to be oxytocin, which is related to nursing offspring. However, these levels can vary extensively as can the sexual desires in men in comparison to women. This could in part explain why research has found that men are more likely to engage in infidelity where sexual intercourse is involved and in
It’s a way to show that person how much they mean to you and that as long as you live, hopefully, that’s the first and last person you’ll have it with. Purity has become such a lesser issue and put in the background of priorities in a relationship. The standard in that sense is not what it used to be. In the book Lennia gets on the elevator and one point and realizes that she has slept with every man in there with her. This doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on her. IT doesn’t make her feel like a whore. More or less it makes her feel proud in a sense. They’ve been brainwashed to think that not only is multiple partners a good thing, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. If you stop and look around you, it’s clear this is beginning to happen. Statistics say that “50 percent of marriages end in divorce each year”. (Do 50% of Marriages Really End in Divorce?) This is a fact, and a scary one at that! This would be a reduced amount of of a problem if people won’t get into a marrage just because they’re having a kid together for
Leaving us with the question as to why people cheat? One of the first things that comes to peoples mind when thinking of affairs are all set towards Hollywood rumors about celebrities, when in reality it can happen to anyone; “Affairs can occur in happy marriages as well as in troubled ones. Although the involved spouse may not be getting enough from the marriage, sometimes the involved spouse is not giving enough. Reasons for EMI include low self-esteem, relationship deficits (e.g., lack of affection), or a social context in which infidelity is condoned.” (glass) Even with a non-problematic relationship people can still fall under the pressure of cheating. One factor can include either spouse losing interest. In some certain cases if either a man or women were to be in fight, and they saw an attractive person of the opposite sex there would be a higher chance of either person committing an infidelity. About 30- 60% of married American citizens will cheat on their spouse. A marriage’s outcome only reflects the amount of effort that was put into it; “Some marriages end in a month and others last fifty years because of the partners beliefs about one another’s veracity.” ( “ Lying”) There are 3 main factors that causes people to cheat: lying, lack of communication, and neglection. All three go hand in hand when
About 17% of divorces are caused by infidelity (“Cheating”)! Infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce. Unfortunately, lack of communication can be a lead cause to infidelity. Couples who lack communication or common interests act out to other people. He or she find someone that is easier to talk to or someone who is more attractive. Sometimes these acts only happen once because the gilt gets to them, or they continue to see this other person until their spouse finds out. Children with cheating parents either follow in their footsteps or become the better person.
Unfaithfulness can cause a heart to break. It’s sad to think even those you trust the most can also hurt you the most.
romantic partners of having sexual relations with another individual, or thoughts of their romantic partner producing deep emotional attachment. Throughout the predictions, the larger proportion of men than women decided sexual infidelity is more distressing. These coerced forced-choice results were repeated in a second study in which men displayed signs of more physiological arousal when visualizing their partners having intimate relations with another individual. This has been duplicated in many studies; the original source employing Buss et al.’s forced-choice methodology. (Guadagno & Sagarin, 2010)
ere's a contort to the "magnificence predisposition," the possibility that physically appealing people remunerated socially and naturally: Lovely ladies might be off guard when looking for employments in which appearance is considered insignificant.
Spiritual adultery occurs when a Christian falls in love with things of the world. I remembered when I was in a courtship with my wife; we deliberated on how to sustain a lifetime partnership.
Sexual fidelity is part of the institution of marriage and any form of extramarital sex could often lead to the dissolution of marriage. This research provides an overview to identify cues on infidelity. This article also examines the relationship between people’s relative income contributions, a measure of household specialization and infidelity something that has received little regard (Munsch 2015). Any form of emotional or sexual intimacy with someone other than your spouse qualifies as infidelity. Although research on infidelity has been conducted for years it has produced varying results. In most studies the findings show that men are more likely to engage in infidelity. It also shows that a number of married couples are likely to engage in some sort of infidelity. In previous research it suggested that African Americans engaged in infidelity more than any other race (2015). Money also plays an intricate part in many marriages and the dissolution of marriages. Money and infidelity is one of the leading causes of disruption and the dissolution of many marriages. According to societal norms money is usually associated with infidelity. For economically dependent persons there is a higher chance on infidelity. Affairs are more common in today’s society and it is still morally wrong. Many married couples have broken their sacred promise of their vows “til death do us part.” Infidelity is the not the go- between for divorce, but it is more than likely the reason
Bonnie Steinbock in her essay “What’s Wrong with Adultery?” starts by quoting the data from studies to show that the number of women who have committed adultery has significantly increased. Despite this increase in female adultery, it is in some degree due to the attitudes changing toward sex and sexuality, but Steinbock thinks that people should use rational justification to evaluate the disapproval of adultery. Then in the rest of the parts of Steinbock’s essay, she is generally arguing against adultery based on the plausible claim that our views toward adultery are varied, and these views are bound to be connected to important conventions about marriage, fidelity, romantic love ( Romeo and Juliet’s case ), the
There are many ways in which infidelity can be explained depending on what you are reading or with whom you are speaking. Emotional and sexual infidelity is the two most studied forms of infidelity. The cognitive approach to infidelity explains that as our cognition is developing, we are also indirectly learning behaviors that could contribute to infidelity as adults. Infidelity no matter what the circumstances are surrounding it can leave both partners devastated. The circumstances surrounding infidelity can include a broad range excuses. The evolutionary approach to infidelity explains that men are more distressed by their partners committing sexual infidelity, whereas
"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed undefined, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous - Hebrews 23:4" is the most important principle humans must follow when entering marriage. "Infidelity is commonly understood as a violation of the marital disagreement, a betrayal of one's heart, and a threat to the marital bond." (Mao & Raguram, 2009). Infidelity is an act of disobedience to remain faithful to your partner. Although infidelity can be a source of personal satisfaction, it may also lead to marital disruption and divorce which will eventually destroy marriages and families.
The third cause for divorce is when there is infidelity in the marriage. In the past men were known for being unfaithful but now it is both men and women. Roughly, about sixty percent of men are unfaithful and forty percent of women are unfaithful. These numbers are outrages. Many men and women say they are unfaithful because there is no communication in the marriage. Their spouse does not know what is going on in their lives. Therefore, they turn to a coworker or friend for support and that became the gateway to their infidelity. Infidelity is one of the hardest things to cope with in a marriage. Because it makes the spouse feel insecure, self conscious, disgusted with their spouse, and embarrassed about him or herself, especially if the family finds out. Some spouses are not able to deal with the infidelity and they will end up getting a divorce.
Some people cheat with the hope of never being caught. Another reason why relationships fail are because of children, some people having children will help in reality it only makes worse. On the other hand, if a person may bring their child or children into the relationship, and the child and the other partner does not get along that usually cause a big problem.
This type of cheating is devastating to both the people in the relationship The person cheating may believe that no one will find out, however, that is usually not the case. Especially since they know what they did. Cheating has long term affects on trust and communication in all future relationships. Other people can be affected by the cheating, friends, family members and coworkers.
People utilize many different words to describe, define and even attempt to dismiss adultery; unfaithfulness, infidelity, playing the field, extramarital relations, having an affair are just a few. The net result of this choice however is the destruction of a personal reputation, trust and respect, while at the same time laying waste to spouse and children alike. Even in the earliest days of civilization adultery was understood to be destructive, thus earning its own “Thou Shalt Not”, in addition to, at least 40 other less than positive references and assorted stories in the Bible. Many societies, including our own, have gone so far as to outlaw this practice; in some cultures penalties range up to death. So why do we allow