In a nutshell, cheating is being emotionally or sexually disloyal to your monogamous partner. In most cases, being sexually or emotionally sexual with another person is considered cheating.

However, when you get more specific and discuss different actions and behaviors, determining what constitutes cheating can be a difficult question to answer, and, contrary to popular belief, there is no complete universal answer.

Different rules apply to different couples. After all, cheating is a foggy business. However, in this day and age of tinder and online communication, it is critical that you and your partner define monogamy and infidelity.

You’d be surprised how many people marry with no idea that their beliefs are incompatible.

So, in this article, I’ll get specific and discuss the different types of cheating and the behaviors that may be included in each.

Remember that some couples may be fine with these behaviors, while others clearly will not:

1. Emotional Affair

What exactly is it:

This type of cheating occurs when a person develops an emotional attachment to someone who is not their partner or spouse.

This can occur even if you never interact in any physical actions that would indicate a loving relationship – holding hands, kissing, cuddling, or more; simply the act of communicating deeply on an intimately personal level while simultaneously allowing the emotional connection with their spouse to fall by the wayside.

When your significant other is no longer the first person you turn to for most of your daily ups and downs, as well as your life’s greatest challenges, something is wrong.

“It’s all about the emotional connection when you’re emotionally cheating…

It is about crossing lines and sharing things that would make your partner uncomfortable (including negative talk about them.”

Of course, it would be foolish to believe that emotional cheating does not eventually lead to physical cheating.

How do you accurately determine what creates emotional cheating?

2. Online affair 

What is it:

A cyber affair is a modern epidemic, defined as an emotional connection formed online.

Many people try to make excuses for these types of relationships, and in many cases, they are successful in convincing their spouse that everything is fine.

Because everything happens online, a cyber affair may appear less serious than a traditional emotional affair.

There will be no lunch dates, meetings, or late-night restaurant discussions.

Cyber affairs are becoming more common simply because they are so simple to initiate – an unhappy marriage can lead spouses to seek better spaces online, and they can happen completely unintentionally.

How does one determine what constitutes online cheating?

I won’t deny it: it’s difficult to determine whether an online relationship with someone outside your marriage constitutes an affair or cheating.

So, how do you tell if it’s just a harmless online friendship or something a little more sinister?

You must consider the characteristics of the relationship.

Is your partner attempting to conceal the truth?
Is there a sexual or emotional undercurrent?
Is there a lot of flirting going on?
Are they confiding in them rather than in you for emotional support?

3. Sexual intercourse

This is the most common form of cheating. There is no room for ambiguity. Cheating occurs when you have sexual relations with someone other than your partner without their knowledge or permission. This can be extremely damaging because sex is the ultimate form of physically bonding with someone.

4. Sexual activity without intercourse

Cheating is when you engage in making out, basic foreplay, or even oral sex with someone other than your partner. Don’t be fooled: while sexual intercourse seals the act of cheating, basic sexual activity unquestionably qualifies as cheating.