Cheating is one of the many things that can lead to a couple divorcing. Of course, over time, society’s view of what exactly is considered infidelity can change. For one, changes in how people communicate and interact with one another can lead to things being added to the list of behaviors that constitute cheating. A recent survey indicates that the rise of the internet and online activity has led to such an addition.
According to the survey’s results, a vast majority of young adults now consider online relationships and online flirting to be ways a person can cheat on their significant other.
The survey was given to 1,000 people. These individuals were between the ages of 18 and 34. Eight-two percent of the respondents (88 percent of the female respondents and 77 percent of the male respondents) answered yes when asked whether it would be cheating against a significant other to get into an online relationship or engage in online flirting with another.
Thus, it appears that, among young adults, a spouse’s online conduct can be a factor when considering whether a spouse is being unfaithful.
This underscores that, for married individuals, it can be vital to understand that what one does online can have significant relationship impacts and thus that it can be remarkably important to be careful when it comes to one’s online activity.
Care when it comes to one’s online activity is also important when going through a divorce. Being careless with what one says or does online when going through a divorce could result in a person unnecessarily creating greater animosity between them and their ex-spouse (thus perhaps making it more difficult to resolve divorce issues) or unintentionally giving their ex-spouse ammo in divorce proceedings (online evidence sometimes shows up in divorce cases).
Source: Huffington Post, “Most Millennials Consider Online Flirting To Be Cheating, According To New Survey,” Brittany Wong, Feb. 6, 2015