Emotional vs. Physical Cheating

"Is Emotional or Physical Cheating Worse?"

May 28, 2012

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments!

Is emotional cheating the same as physical or is it worse? For me, I feel the obvious would be the physical, but I also feel that the emotional is just as worse because it is hard to come back from that only because it would have one's mind thinking and analyzing someone's movements. I had a conversation with one of my girlfriends about this and wanted to get other peoples' opinions about it . . . Thanks!

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10 Comments

egyptianmusk 1 year

One is worse than the other in a different way, but I agree that both are equally horrible. I would not forgive either. I do not believe that one could physically betray you but is still perfectly in love with you. Love is questionable in either situation, but I guess depending on what one seeks in a relationship and how long two people have been together, it takes tremendous effort if one wants to nurture relationship back to where it was.

jaan_black 1 year

they're both heinous but the moron usually thinks they've found their true "soul mate" when emotions are involved...lust seems to make people delusional, cheating is cheating

Muukah 1 year

i think emotional cheating is worse coz it cant be easily forgotten, when its physical after the act u can just forget about it

strippedlove 1 year

It's hard because they are both quiet bad. I feel like physical is a bad because you are physically acting upon a feeling. The emotional side of a relationship is then one where you actually decide if you like someone on more of a physical level its a tough question but i would say emotional. Whats the point in being there physically but not emotionally? Can you really call it a relationship?

CiaoBella01 1 year

i find emotional cheating to be worse and also the most common of the two. unfortunately, because it's all in the mind and it could go away for many reasons, a lot of couples tend to not tell each other when this is done. i find it the worst because physical can be done in one drunken moment whereas emotional takes time. unfortunately, i find that a lot of boys don't think emotional is an issue, so i find that i have to have this conversation with them before getting serious.

Bubbles12 1 year

Either of them can completely blow apart a primary relationship if a partner feels betrayed, and the betrayal can feel the same regardless. Having an affair of any kind has put their primary relationship on the gambling table and they are risking it completely. A physical affair without emotional attachment could have life-long consequences anyway. They can be sexually addictive, could pass disease, create pregnancy, the emotions might actually exist on the other side and a great deal of drama could ensue, it could become an emotional affair. An emotional affair can be tucked away and a lot of the other consequences aren't going to happen but it's definitely a drain on a primary relationship and having a partner invest romantically in someone else like that is a major blow to the ego. That said, it's almost inevitable to fall in love with others over a long period of being committed to someone else. Emotions are what they are. I think a lot of people, especially young people, see emotions as the most reliable truth they have about themselves and so they need to act on them to have integrity. Not true, emotions/feelings change but the ramifications of emotionally driven actions can be with you forever. You don't have to have an emotional affair because you are in love. Very painful, but saying no to an emotional affair can strengthen the primary one. There is even greater investment in the decision.

five7 1 year

I think emotional cheating is the worst. You can touch someone physically without having " feelings" for them but once the heart /emotions get involved then you're screwed.

pax4pax 1 year

Where the heart is, there is the person. A person can do the physical with less deep change than such can do the heart.

Raynne413 1 year

I think they are both equally horrible. I mean, it might not be physically cheating, but I'd be devastated to find out my boyfriend had fallen in love with someone else, even if he never did anything physical about it.

kmlvr9 1 year

Emotional cheating is still cheating. Sometimes emotional cheating can lead to physical cheating. The heart knows what it wants, whether it be emotiona or physical or both....

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10 Comments