It's every married person's nightmare to find out that their spouse has been cheating on them. And honestly, it's a legitimate and understandable fear. However, there are some things that couples can do in order to prevent their spouse from cheating in their marriage.
Why do people cheat?
Researchers working on The Journal of Sex Research (Ziv, Lubin & Asher, 2017) found that couples who are more invested in one another have more motivation to stay with each other. This means that people in marriages who spend a lot of time with their spouse, or who have been married for a long time are less likely to cheat on their significant other. They add that if a person's motivation to stay in the relationship outweighs their motivation to cheat or become unfaithful, then they're less likely to cheat on their spouse.
This also means that if a person no longer has the motivation to stay or maintain their relationship with their spouse, then they're far more likely to cheat on their significant other.
The researchers add that that there are 4 main factors that people take into consideration when comes to cheating, namely:
- Moral standards - This means that most of the time, people don't cheat because they believe in a monogamous relationship, and that they understand that cheating is wrong. This also factors in a person's religious belief, as well as how a person was raised.
- Effect on their children - The second factor that people consider is the effect that their infidelity would have on their children. Cheating has been known to have a significant negative impact on children, and is a factor that people consider as to why they don't cheat.
- Fear of being alone - Some people are afraid that if they cheat, their spouse would leave them, as well as the person that's involved in the affair.
- Effect on other people - Lastly, cheating also has an impact on people outside of the marriage, most especially the person involved in the affair. This is another factor that people consider on whether they will cheat in their relationship or not.
How can cheating be prevented?
With these things in mind, how can cheating be prevented in a marriage? While there's no sure-fire way to ensure that your spouse would be faithful, establishing a good relationship with your spouse is by far one of the most important things that you can do.
Spending more time with each other, as well as taking the time to rekindle your relationship are all important things if you want to prevent your spouse from being unfaithful. Building intimacy is also important, as being intimate with each other can deepen your bonds as a couple.
Having a happy and loving relationship means that the both of you are deeply invested in your marriage, and that bond is what makes your relationship work, and is what keeps you or your spouse from being unfaithful.
Source: psychologytoday.com
READ: What to do and what to avoid when it comes to dealing with your cheating spouse
