They say that cheating is a choice and not a mistake. I say cheating is much more complex than we think. To be more exact, the reasons women cheat are not that simple.
Worry not. Today we’ll talk about the psychological facts about a cheating woman. (And no, there will be no space for judging, generalizing, or similar because we’re better than that.)
Without further ado, you’ll find all you need to know about a cheating woman’s mindset, the background behind their infidelity, and much more below!
15 Psychological Facts About A Cheating Woman
Why do people cheat? Wait, why do women cheat? To understand things better, let’s go through the following psychological facts about a cheating woman:
1. Feeling unappreciated and unwanted
For both partners to thrive and become the best versions of themselves, they need to feel loved and appreciated. If a woman doesn’t feel valued in her primary relationship, she won’t feel complete.
If another man gives her the needed attention and special treatment, he will succeed in filling the gap by giving her what she is lacking. (Note that I’m not trying to justify cheating but provide the background behind it.)
A woman needs to feel VALUED and not just NEEDED in a relationship. If that need is not met, balance will not be established.
2. Commitment issues
She has issues being in a committed relationship, or she can’t stay in one for long. That’s the main reason why she cheats on her partner in the first place.
If a woman has commitment issues, she will exhibit the following red flags:
• giving mixed signals
• lack of emotional attachment
• avoiding talking about the future
• delayed communication (texting and calls)
• constant nagging (usually about trivial things)
• a history of short-lived relationships
Commitment issues can stem from events and traumas from childhood, toxic relationships, bad breakups, and similar. So, when a woman sees that things are becoming serious, she immediately pulls away to protect herself from investing emotionally.
For her, emotional connection is a risky endeavor she can’t afford. If her current partner (or potential partner) becomes too pushy, chances are she’ll run away and won’t think twice about cheating for the sake of regaining her freedom.
3. Indecisiveness + alcohol
Yes, women can be indecisive too. We often hear stories about men having trouble committing or choosing between two or more women.
With the arrival of social media and other elements of our modern lifestyle, our choices have multiplied. All this has resulted in indecisiveness being deeply ingrained in almost every aspect of our lives.
It becomes natural for us to suffer from the grass is greener syndrome and question almost every decision we make.
So, a woman might start overthinking the following questions: Is he the one for me? What if I’m better off being single? What if there is someone better than him?
Add alcohol to the equation, and there you have it: A recipe for becoming a cheater.
4. Struggling with low self-esteem
Low self-esteem can be a catalyst for many destructive behaviors, including cheating. The best way to describe a low self-esteem battle is by comparing it to a silent killer.
Most of the time, people are not even aware that they suffer from low confidence. They subconsciously start seeking self-worth and validation from others.
These insecurities might not seem like a big deal at first, but they are. Why?
If a woman (or man) doesn’t get this much-needed validation from their partner, they’ll start seeking it someplace else.
They might become addicted to their new source of a self-esteem boost, thus neglecting their primary romance and the consequences that come with the act of cheating.
5. Unfulfilled desire for dominance
I have a strong desire to debunk the generalized thinking that dominant behavior is only reserved for men because it is not. Some women also like to be dominant both in bed and in relationships (in general).
If their significant other doesn’t allow them to express their dominant side, they might start suffocating. The more they feel suffocated, the stronger their desire for dominance.
I’m not saying that only women should be the dominant ones in a relationship, but these dominant-submissive roles should be accepted interchangeably. Both men and women deserve to express their dominant and submissive sides (if they want to).
6. Craving excitement
The butterflies in your stomach, endless laughing, plenty of warm hugs and kisses…All these things happen during the honeymoon phase when our excitement is at its peak.
Once the honeymoon phase ends, reality kicks in! If partners aren’t willing or don’t know how to spice up their relationship, they will slowly but surely start falling into a rut.
And that is when the “craving excitement” part comes into the story. This is one of the reasons women (and men) start looking for that initial excitement in a new partner.
7. “Like mother, like daughter”
A study of men and women in the UK revealed that a woman is more prone to cheating if her mother cheated on her romantic partner(s).
They say that children learn mostly by imitating their parents. Perhaps we could connect this hypothesis to the psychological facts about a cheating woman.
Additionally, the science of cheating also confirms that infidelity can be genetically predisposed.
8. She’s fueled by revenge
Many people underestimate a woman’s rage until revenge becomes her fuel. A woman’s partner cheating on her is a surefire way to trigger her desire to avenge herself.
When a woman is fueled by revenge, she easily becomes a cheating wife or cheating girlfriend. I’m not taking sides, but I’ve always believed karma is a bitch.
One cannot know the pain of being cheated on until one experiences it. This goes both ways.
9. Lack of passion
Lack of passion with a primary partner is one of the most common reasons for relationship infidelity or extramarital affairs. Passion is not something that depends on one person.
Both partners should express their passion and ultimate devotion to their partner. If a relationship becomes devoid of passion, hookups filled with passion become an alternative.
Besides passion, emotional connection is also an important aspect of a healthy relationship. When a woman senses that both of these elements are long gone, she either decides to call it quits or subconsciously starts looking for them elsewhere.
10. Increased social media activity
Social media and the curse of having everything just one click away are the main culprits of infidelity. It has never been easier to meet someone new in record time.
So, once a relationship loses its initial charm and becomes unhealthy, women (and men) instinctively start looking for the missing elements elsewhere.
Specifically, we’re talking about emotional cheating that sometimes turns into physical cheating as well.
When it comes to cheating on the phone, every text filled with attention and appreciation gives you a dopamine shot, aka short-term happiness. That’s how you become addicted to receiving them.
11. She doesn’t believe in monogamy
Long-term relationships with one romantic partner are not something she believes in. To her, monogamy is unnatural. The idea of having one sexual partner for the rest of her life is not appealing.
She sees it as choosing one ice cream flavor to eat for the rest of her life. She’s not sure if that’s even possible.
If her current partner is not on the same page, she will feel pressured and misunderstood, which might result in cheating. This is especially true if her partner judges her and forces her to change her mind.
12. She’s a serial cheater
Both women and men cheat for various reasons. However, sometimes people cheat for no apparent reason other than being a serial cheater. Confusing, I know.
So, one of the reasons why someone cheats – I mean why women cheat – is because they’ve done it before and will most likely do it again.
Perhaps they get addicted to the adrenaline and euphoria that comes with the act of infidelity. We could compare this to kleptomania (feeling a strong urge to steal).
In both cases, tension is what gives them pleasure. Also, both men and women feel guilty or remorseful after the act of cheating or stealing.
However, this feeling of remorse for being a cheating partner is not enough to prevent them from doing it again. Why? Because the need for another shot of adrenaline and tension is stronger than them.
13. Narcissistic tendencies
Females who belong to the category of narcissists or have narcissistic tendencies choose to cheat to control their partners.
Sometimes, they do it out of fear that their partner will cheat on them. The need for being in control is something they can’t control. (What a brilliant sentence, I must admit.)
Here are some of the narcissistic traits that will help you better understand the background behind their cheating tendencies:
• poor impulse control
• lack of remorse
• exaggerated feelings of self-importance
• delusions of grandeur
• lack of empathy
The most important factor in all of this is their thinking that they can get away with cheating. Also, their lack of remorse makes it easier for them to continue cheating on their partner without ever feeling any regret.
14. Impulsiveness
I daresay that impulsiveness is not too common among female cheaters because women are mainly great at overthinking, empathy, and re-evaluating their decisions. However, it sometimes happens.
Making impulsive decisions is often linked with mental health issues. It also happens when a woman decides to shut down her rational thoughts and emotions for her primary partner.
Now, why would she do that?
Perhaps she already thought about suggesting a break up but, for some reason, didn’t mention it to her partner. Maybe she decided to wait for something to change, but unfortunately, it didn’t.
Now, she’s at a crossroads.
She met a great guy she’s totally attracted to, but she’s still in a relationship. Usually, she would question her decisions, but this time, she let her impulses get the best of her.
15. Lack of emotional connection
If we had to summarize the psychology behind cheating women, it would be this one sentence: Lack of emotional connection.
We all know that women are emotional beings. They don’t feel the need to hide their feelings from the rest of the world (like the majority of men). Women enjoy expressing themselves in various ways.
When it comes to romance, establishing a deeper emotional connection is a prerequisite to everything else that follows. A lack of emotional connection is the main reason for emotional infidelity.
Women are more prone to having emotional affairs than men. Why? Because men are capable of separating their physical needs from emotional ones, whereas many women have difficulties doing so.
What Are The Signs Of A Cheating Woman?
Some of the main warning signs of a cheating woman are a sudden change in her appearance, avoiding communication, and being overly protective of her phone. Here’s a list of common signs of a cheating woman:
• being overly protective of her phone and/or having her phone on silent mode
• she’s treating her current partner more like a friend than a romantic partner
• change in her appearance
• distraction
• not interested in physical intimacy with her current partner
• lying
• acting annoyed when being asked questions about her whereabouts
• avoiding communication
• asking to try new things in the bedroom
• passive-aggressive behavior
If a cheating woman is confronted, chances are she’ll tell her partner that he’s imagining things. She will act insulted when in reality, she knows that her partner is right for suspecting that she’s cheating on him.
Truth be told, when cornered, most of them decide to tell the truth sooner or later. When the guilt becomes unbearable, the urge to tell the truth seems like the right thing to do.
Conclusion
I’m sure the above psychological facts about a cheating woman helped you better understand the whole thing about cheating. As you can see, cheating is not only a matter of choice, but it goes way deeper than that.
Cheating tendencies are connected with a woman’s personality, her current mental state, dissatisfaction with a current relationship, and many other factors.
Some women feel remorse after cheating, while others don’t. Some of them decide to tell the truth after being questioned, while others need more time to do so.
Cheating is an individual thing, and everyone experiences it differently. No matter why a woman (or man) would decide to cheat, they don’t deserve to be ostracized from society because tomorrow, this might be you or me.
The least we can do is try to understand things before judging.