Think cheating only involves sleeping with another man or woman? Nope. Cheating happens in many forms, and emotional cheating is one of them. 

The effects of emotional cheating are endless; you don’t want to be the person to break your boo’s heart. 

So what’s the best thing you could do for yourself and your partner? To identify the signs that it’s considered as emotional cheating in relationships. 

Like how all relationships usually start off, it always begins with a friendship. Hey, we’re all allowed to have friends right? But it becomes a problem when emotions get involved. 

“Am I crossing the line? My partner may not be okay with this.” If this is what you’re saying to yourself, then you might be showing some emotional cheating signs that you didn’t even realize at first. 

That’s okay, we’re all humans with emotions. Instead of dwelling on it, let us help you find out whether you are indeed emotionally cheating with your partner. 

15 signs that show emotional cheating in relationships

1) You’re more in contact with them than your partner 

How often do you text the other person? Does your recent call log show their names at least once every day? 

No one would like it when someone else is always calling you up at night time or video calling every now and then. Would you do that if that person is your best friend? 

Clearly, this would make your partner feel like something fishy is going on. And yes, this is one of the emotional cheating signs to look out for and there is such a thing as emotional cheating texting. 

 

2) You’re hiding things from your partner 

Hiding your phone or laptop, or suddenly putting a password on your devices clearly shows that you’re trying to hide something from your partner. 

Your beau will obviously notice this and alarms would go off. If you really love your partner, there’s really nothing to hide, unless you’re doing something bad. 

Even worse, if you’re hiding the actual relationship itself from your partner, then it’s another red flag that is considered emotional cheating in a relationship. 

 

3) You’re not being entirely truthful to your partner 

These days, it’s all about secrets. You’re no longer being truthful and honest with your partner. 

You start lying to them about who you’re hanging out with; knowing that if you told them the truth, they’d get upset about it. 

Perhaps your partner already told you before that they’re not comfortable with you going out with a person (except if it’s your best friend), but you do it anyway despite their wishes. 

Trust is extremely important in a relationship, and if you can’t be trusted, the relationship would go downhill in no time.

 

4) You’re always sharing every detail with them 

Are you regularly updating each other about your day and sharing all the deets about your schedule?

You may not think this isn’t emotional cheating in a relationship, but it is! The only person you should be sharing every detail about your daily life with is your partner. 

When you’ve just got a huge promotion, they will be the first one you’d call, with no hesitation. We all know the first person you’d want to share it to would be your one and only beau. 

So if you’re not sharing the good news and bad news with your beau, it might be because of you two lost connection. 

 

5) You get defensive when your partner mentions something about it

Do you call your partner crazy whenever they try to talk things with you? 

Maybe they’re just merely expressing their thoughts about the way you’ve been acting nowadays, and the first thing you do is to defend yourself by saying they’re wrong. 

 

6) You tend to get mad or upset at them often

Sure, fights and arguments are normal in a healthy relationship. But not when you’re trying to pick a fight for no reason at all. 

Is your relationship all about fights more than having a good time with one another? Yikes! 

It’s one of the emotional cheating signs to take note of because that means you’re feeling like the other person is better than your current partner. 

 

7) Your partner is no longer a priority 

Your beau needs some comfort and calls you up to come over immediately, but you say that you’re ‘too busy’. Hmmm, are you really now? 

It shows how little you think of your partner because you’re no longer emotionally invested in your relationship as much as before. 

Once you start to show signs of emotional cheating in your relationship, you won’t bother making plans with your partner, let alone carving out time just to spend time with them. 

 

8) You feel like they understand you better than your partner 

You think this person just understands you emotionally. They know how to comfort you as you think there’s a unique connection going on. 

In fact, one of the emotional cheating signs is when you find yourself thinking that they’re doing a better job at understanding you than your partner. 

 

9) You compare your partner to them 

Oh, this is a huge no-no. Comparison is never okay. Maybe you’re comparing in the sense that you wish your partner is doing what this other person does for you. 

From here, you’ll start to think that your current partner is just not good enough. The effects of emotional cheating when it comes to comparison is really impactful and may last a long time. 

This is because your partner would feel hurt when they’re always getting compared to, causing them to be affected mentally. 

 

10) You no longer want to jump their bones 

Sex with your beau is pretty much off the table. The only person you’d like to get in the bed with is the one that is currently in your mind right now, and it’s definitely not your partner. 

You see, you don’t have to actually sleep with the other person to consider it cheating. The fact that you’re always thinking about having sex with someone else is considered emotional cheating in your relationship. 

Doesn’t matter whether it’s just holding hands or any sort of intimacy with your partner, the thought of it could even disgust you. 

 

11) You always try to look your best before meeting them

Do you spend extra time trying to look good before heading out with that certain someone? You don’t even make an effort to dress up with your current partner, yet you’re picking out the best clothes from your closet. 

Doesn’t that ring a bell already? You’re not an innocent angel here! What would your partner feel if they were to find out you’re trying to look attractive for someone else? 

 

12) You’re trying to impress them in every possible way

Whether it is through your knowledge, skills or expertise, you’re always trying to show off and impress this person. 

Maybe you’re trying to show how good you are at a certain subject in hopes of them complimenting you or finding it attractive. 

In short, you’re basically trying to look good in their eyes. And your partner? Nah, you wouldn’t even care about what your partner thinks. What matters is what this other person thinks of you! 

 

13) They are always on your mind, even more than your partner

Well, it’s quite obvious that this is one of the confirmed emotional cheating signs. When your mind is all about this other person, you’re not just hurting your beau, but it shows how you may not love them anymore too. 

If someone else is in your mind all throughout the day and night, you might have fallen in love with this person. And of course, this is considered as emotional cheating in a relationship! 

 

14) You find yourself wanting to spend more time 

You probably see this person more than your current partner. Why? All because you’re always making plans to see them! Heck, you might just prefer their company over your partner’s. 

That’s a clear sign you might have developed romantic feelings for this other person, which, of course, is considered emotional cheating in relationships. 

 

15) You’re always wanting to know what they’re up to  

You simply can’t bear the thought of not knowing where they are at, what they’re doing, or staying updated with what’s going on in their lives. 

And your partner? You couldn’t even care less. Sounds exactly like you? Hey now, that’s emotional cheating. 

 

I’m emotionally cheating, what should I do now? 

We can’t tell you what to do, but you could consider either breaking up with your current partner or stop your relationship with the other person, once and for all. It’s not exactly ideal to continuously hurt a person. You either fix it or move on with your life. 

But what if both just didn’t work out the way you expected after you made a decision.

Well, there are many other ways where you can meet new people, probably even better ones, for example, Sugarbook is where you’ll be spoilt for choice.

If you’re not ready to jump straight into another committed relationship, you can slowly ease your way to dating again with an honest & beneficial relationship. Start a conversation online with any of the potential dates via the app, and get the ball rolling.