According to the study, there are 8 key reasons why people cheat

psychology
Study reveals 8 key reasons people cheat

It is well known that understanding things usually helps to accept them and to make peace. Granted, sometimes knowing the motivation behind something makes things worse, but let’s focus on the norm. Cheating is usually one of those actions that we find rather difficult to understand. After all, everyone knows that an affair is the ultimate betrayal of trust and usually at least one person is deeply hurt as a result. Nevertheless, infidelities happen again and again – and the fewest “culprits” are empathetic and ruthless villains.

Of course, the reasons that motivate people to take this step are individual and can sometimes vary greatly. It is therefore almost impossible to ever fully understand “cheating” as such – at best we can understand a very specific fling when those involved describe and explain their situation to us. Nevertheless, of course, there is nothing wrong with dealing with “cheating” and looking for patterns and abnormalities. Because the more we know about it in general, the easier it will be to understand and classify individual cases – and to make our peace.

Study reveals 8 key motives for cheating

For a new study, psychologists interviewed almost 500 people who had cheated before to have, about their motives for cheating. Instead of focusing on specific factors, such as flaws in the relationship or personality traits of the cheats, they asked subjects the open-ended question, “Why did you do it?” From the large number of answers, they were able to identify eight key motives to which all the information could be assigned. In fact:

1. Anger

According to this study, a typical motive for cheating is acute or chronically suppressed anger towards the partner. Many expressed that their affair was a reaction to an infidelity of:the other – or to an argument, a smoldering conflict …

2. Self worth

“I wanted to feel better”, “It made me feel independent” – many of the responses people gave in this study related to their self-esteem and suggested that they might lack validation and appreciation in everyday life .

3. Not enough love

According to this survey, another common motive for cheating is insecurity about one’s own feelings for the person one is with. For example, some of the test subjects said things like, “I didn’t know if my darling was really the:the one for me.”

4. Lack of commitment

If there is not enough clarity within a relationship about how serious both parties are about the partnership, according to the study, this apparently increases the likelihood that one of the people involved will give up or take a completely two-pronged approach. It may not always have to be the ring on your finger, but a recognizable intention to grow old together is apparently required for both of them to feel committed to loyalty.

5. Need for variety

Boredom, monotony, lack of variety, as expected, can also motivate a fling – and it did in the test group of this study.

6. Rejection

Anyone who feels rejected by the treasure seeks closeness with another person. Many of those surveyed gave something like “My partner was emotionally distant” or “Didn’t let me get close” as a reason for their infidelity.

7. Sexual desire

Although only one of several motives, what some consider to be the most important reason for an affair was mentioned significantly more often: If the sex life in the partnership does not correspond to the wishes and ideas of both parties, this increases the probability that one will cheat.

8. circumstance

Films and series are usually not just based on fantasy, but are also inspired by reality. And so the psychologists identified a situational, mental derangement as the eighth motive for cheating, for example due to too much alcohol or excessive stress, which left the side jumper standing next to him.

Conclusion: What does this tell us now?

At first glance, when it comes to an affair, things usually seem relatively straightforward: anyone who cheats on another person and violates their trust in such a painful manner faces condemnation and deserves no forgiveness. Guilty, case closed. But the eight motifs mentioned alone, which are just patterns and abstractions of real cases with real feelings and stories, indicate that the topic becomes much more difficult and complex at second glance – and that most people may, under certain conditions could become cheaters.

Sources used: psychologytoday.com

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Bridget