Exploring Microcheating In Relationships
Being in a relationship can be complicated at the best of times; as soon as you merge two personalities and have two people’s needs, moods and tendencies to consider, it can become a little messy from time to time.
In the age of social media, everything becomes just that little bit more complicated, and being in a relationship is like being in a minefield. It can often feel like social media is your best friend and your worst enemy in your relationship because of everything that takes place on social media.
One of the things that occur due to social media is micro-cheating, and we are here to discuss it.
What Is Microcheating
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We all know that cheating has more than one partner, whether it be sexually or only emotionally, in a relationship. Neither one nor both of those people do not know about the other person involved.
However, micro-cheating is a little different. It does not involve everything that a cheating relationship does, but that does not make it any less hurtful when it happens, and your partner finds out about it.
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Micro-cheating is simply the act of investing a lot of time and emotional space into a relationship that is not anything to do with your current romantic relationship. This means that time and emotions that you could be spending on your partner are being invested elsewhere.
Are You Doing It
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Okay, so micro-cheating isn’t sleeping with someone who isn’t your partner, but then what on earth is it, and how do you know whether or not you’re doing it? Micro-cheating involves so many small things that could be considered cheating.
It might be different from relationship to relationship and will depend on what you and your partner think is acceptable. Still, micro-cheating usually consists of you doing things that you know your partner would not approve of without ever crossing the physical cheating line.
How To Set Boundaries
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As I have said, what might seem like micro-cheating to one couple might not seem like it to another couple, so it is important to define with your partner what you find acceptable and what will not be tolerated by them
You can do this by having an honest conversation with your partner about what you expect from them in the relationship and what you determine to be unacceptable behavior.
What Does It Look Like
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Many things could constitute micro-cheating, and you must know that different people will perceive certain acts differently. This means that what you intended only as a friendly gesture, someone else might not see quite as innocently.
Some examples of micro-cheating are; paying more attention to someone who isn’t your partner than your partner in a social setting, interacting with one person on social media constantly, deleting a text exchange so that your partner doesn’t see it, or sharing personal information such as sexual desires or kinks with a person who isn’t your partner.
Bottom Line
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Micro-cheating does not have a universal set of rules that will define whether or not you or your partner is micro-cheating, and it will depend on how you feel about certain behaviors that your partner is displaying.
Micro-cheating .needs to be discussed in a relationship so that you and your partner can agree on what you will accept and what you would prefer they didn’t do. Your definitions might even change a couple of times during your relationship.