It's Cheating

It was something new even for a jaded public that had seen it all.  It was something new for everyone who had lived through Monica and Bill, Princess Di and Squidgy, and Jennifer and Brangelina.

The governor of South Carolina had gone missing.

The people of his state had no idea where he was. His staff had no idea where he was. And even though it was Father’s Day weekend 2009, his wife and four sons did not know where he was. Governor Mark Sanford wasn’t answering cell phone calls or e-mails. People worried because it was the first time a governor of a state had gone missing for five days. (more…)

A couple of years ago an Australian professor of psychology decided to find out whether intelligent people like her graduate students believe that having a relationship online is the same as conventional cheating on your partner.  Since the subject is complex,  Dr. Margaret Whitty deliberately sought complex answers.  Instead of having the 234 students answer simple yes-no or multiple choice questionnaires, she had them write stories, assigning one of these two sentences as a prompt:

Mark and Jennifer have been going out for over a year when Mark realizes that Jennifer has developed a relationship with someone else on the Internet …. (or) ….

Mark and Jennifer have been going out for over a year when Jennifer realizes that Mark has developed a relationship with someone else on the Internet…. (more…)

Even though millions of adults, especially those in the 18-to-34 age range, view pornography on the Internet at least once a month, many may be unaware of how online porn impacts their real-world sex life. A recent post addresses numerous impacts of porn on a person’s sex life, and the impacts aren’t positive. (more…)

When people suspect that their partners are having affairs, some prefer never to know for sure.  Others have to know. Still others want pictures and physical evidence of the affair to use in court during divorce proceedings.  The last two kinds of suspicious minds are the ones who hire private investigators. (more…)

Certain languages have different words for two different kinds of love. Intensely romantic love – the kind people describe as “getting hit over the head by a ton of bricks” – goes by a different word than the kind of love that exists between two people who have been married for years. One kind can be obsessive and all-consuming, while the second can feel comfortable, familiar and caring. (more…)

The Internet has clearly changed the way we meet people, and it’s definitely changed the way people cheat. But has our romantic image of love also been shifted by the Internet? Has early exposure to explicit images and a steady diet of pornography skewed young peoples’ expectations about sex and romance?  And with people hooking up using smart phone apps that can geo-locate a perfect match in seconds (and face it, often with someone who is already spoken for), we could make the argument that the Internet has killed Cupid.

Watch the first It’s Cheating Thought Video and tell us, what do you think?

Join the discussion on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ItsCheating

Studies on infidelity typically suggest that somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of people in marriages and other committed relationships are sexually unfaithful. Though cultural stereotypes tell us it is primarily men who “step out,” research says that almost as many women cheat as men. Of course, in today’s digital age the definition of cheating is a bit more nebulous than it was back in the day, when cheating meant actual, in-the-flesh sexual behavior with another person. (more…)

When it comes to cheating, many couples have openly discussed what their definition is. The incentive for the rule they create is the important part. According to Psychology Today, that rule regarding infidelity may be blunt and becomes complicated when you begin looking at scenarios that are in gray areas.

Every couple has an idea of what their definition of unfaithfulness or infidelity is. Sometimes they have even had conversations about it to reach an agreement. The question remains whether flirtatious or even sexual emails with people other than your committed partner is considered cheating? (more…)

Over a 20-year span, the use of sexual material or sexy imagery in advertisements across the gamut from beverages to financial services nearly doubled.

Why the growth in sex in advertising? A recent Psych Central explains that marketers realize that people are geared automatically to stop and pay attention to sexual content, so ads with people in sexy clothing or sexual positions get people to look. (more…)

It’s just messaging, right? Whether a message about your feelings or how you want to act on them— you know that by sending the first text message you’ve potentially entered the greyest of grey zones: technocheating.