Welcome to the age of the "e-motional" affair, where infidelity is just click away, and cheating has become easier than setting up a Wii. From i-phones and blackberries to Facebook, Twitter, and Craig's List, technology isn't just enabling infidelity, it's accelerating it at record pace: Flirtatious friendships, emotional affairs, the return of the ex; sexting, online porn and cyber-sex--with each new advance in technology comes a new way to cheat, and more and more of us are increasingly leading "digital double-lives."
With its quick hits of newness and novelty, the Internet enables us to easily tune out and turn off to our partners, when we should be making an effort to tune in and turn on. When two people meet in a chat room or strike up an email relationship, it's easy to begin idealizing each other and blur the line between fantasy and reality. An intense sense of intimacy is quickly fostered. Sharing personal details and desires is often easier over the Internet than it is face-to-face. The instant gratification of these technologies stimulates reward centers in the brain, and soon one finds oneself craving the quick hit of an instant connection or lamenting its absence.
And as much as I write and speak about it, I still get the same incredulous question from the guys:
"Emotional infidelity? What the ---? Do you really think it's possible to cheat without sex?"
My response? Absolutely. The brain is our biggest sex organ and most affairs begin in the mind. Attraction is magnified by an emotional connection. When one partner starts sharing himself or herself with another person, it chips away at the foundation of their relationship--and starts building a foundation for a new relationship. Part of what makes a couple's relationship special is the information they share only with each other. Some of it is seemingly meaningless daily details, like how bad the morning traffic was or what they had for lunch. Other times it's deeper desires, fears and goals. But as an emotional affair progresses, less and less of a person's sharing goes to his or her partner, and more goes to the affair partner.
When does a friendship cross the line and become an e-motional affair? Internet affairs are typically characterized by three distinguishing qualities:
With the Internet too many people hide behind their "right to privacy," when what they're really trying to protect is their right to secrecy. But nobody should have that liberty. The moment you have something to hide - the moment you write an email that you don't want your partner to see; the moment you're uncomfortable talking on the phone in front of your partner; the moment you have to delete your Internet history before getting off your computer; the moment you have to set up a special email address for certain correspondences; the moment you're uncomfortable sharing your passwords-- that's when a leak has sprung. And watch out: it could quickly lead to flooding.
A common myth is that only people in unhappy relationships have emotional affairs. In fact, many men and women who commit emotional infidelity report that they were happy when they became involved with their affair partners. Rather than seeking out love (or sex), unfaithful partners gradually blur the boundaries between friendship and intimacy over an extended period of time. Which is not to say there aren't a variety of factors that predispose a couple to online infidelity.
