Emotional Affairs and Infidelity

Emotional Affair: It is Just as Bad When most people think of infidelity, typically a physical affair is the only type that comes to mind. Emotional cheating is nowhere near as prominent a thought as physical, but it is just as bad. “When we think “affair,” we think sex. Sex outside marriage can be a knife through a spouse’s heart. But an emotional affair can be just as dangerous to a marriage, and often a more complicated situation to remedy.” (Neuman. 26.) So it is not very shocking that most people do not even understand what emotional infidelity is or that it is extremely harmful; not only to a marriage but any kind of romantic relationship. When a person cheats emotionally they are being intimate in any and/or every other way than physical with someone other than their partner. Also, people have no idea how an emotional affair starts, how it differs from a friendship, the warning signs, how it can lead to something more, how it can be just as devastating as a physical affair, and how to protect their relationship from an emotional affair People should not cheat emotionally because any form of cheating inevitably hurts a person’s partner and could also have repercussions that emotionally harm the cheater. An emotional affair is also referred to as an affair of the heart and can start as an innocent friendship that develops into something unexpected, or it can be started deliberately. Most affairs start when one partner is not having their needs met, whether they are emotional and/or physical, and they deliberately seek elsewhere to have their needs fulfilled. “All people want to be loved, acknowledged, validated, and needed. Humans want to be desired. If those needs aren’t met through their partner, they go online and find someone who meets their needs and begin cyber-cheating” (authorsden.com). Some of these needs may be sex or just meaningful conversation. Nevertheless, they are needs that are not being met. Even though emotional affairs can start as

Bibliography: Alexander, Stephany. “Emotional Infidelity: Top 10 Signs of Emotional Infidelity.” authorsden.com. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Ambekar, Ashwini. “Physical Infidelity.” articleswave.com. 15 March 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2011 This source shows statistics and signs of infidelity Neuman, M. Gary. Emotional Infidelity: How to Affair-Proof Your Marriage and 10 Other Secrets to a Great Relationship. New York. Three Rivers Press. 2002. Print. Potter-Effron, Ronald T. and Patricia S. Potter-Effron. The Emotional Affair: How to Recognize Emotional Infidelity and What to Do About It. Oakland. New Harbinger Publications. 2009. Print.