Sexting is actively used by people who have recently started communicating but are not ready to meet until they get to know each other better. Sexting is used to diversify intimate relationships and by lovers who are at a distance from each other. But if you already have a relationship, is sexting cheating? This can be treated in different ways, and we will consider various points about this in our article.
What Is Sexting?
Sexting is an intimate communication that may also include sending explicit photos and eroticized videos. Of course, as with any sex-related topic, sexting evokes controversial feelings in many people (especially when it comes to minors). However, this type of correspondence has its advantages.
In particular, sexting can often replace “traditional” offline sex if people are not ready for it or, for some other reason, cannot or do not want to meet for sex. In this way, for example, we can realize that a person is (not) right for us without wasting time and effort. We can have sexual pleasure with an Internet affair without the risk of unwanted pregnancy or infections. We can play out our sexual fantasies that we are not yet ready to fulfill in real life.
Is Sexting Worse Than Cheating?
Erotic correspondence and dirty talk on phone can spice up your sex life, but it can also destroy relationships. This conclusion was reached by scientists at Purdue University. They conducted a study that revealed that most sexting fans soon broke up with their partners. It turns out that many of them liked to flirt with other users and were too fond of pornography.
However, even without research, it is clear who asks for intimate footage or starts to send flirty texts, focusing only on sexual relations. Men or women who are addicted to sexting often neglect communication with their partners, which leads to quarrels and a lack of understanding. So be careful when trying to “refresh the relationship” by sending flirty texts. It may be better to do it in person. What is the function of sexting?
- Firstly, it helps to maintain passion in a relationship, even if the sext partner is at a distance. Exchanging erotic messages and photos can keep the relationship close and intimate.
- Secondly, sexting can be flirting and expressing affection for another person. Erotic messages can be a way to express your feelings and emphasize your attraction to the other person.
- Thirdly, sexting can help you explore your sexuality. In interactive correspondence, you can fantasize and express your desires, opening up new facets of sexual experience. In the process of sexting, people can better understand their sexual preferences and limitations.
So When Does Texting Become Sexting?
How to define sexting? SMS communications develop into sexting when the message content moves from consensual to openly sexual. The shift often means sharing intimate messages or images about adult subjects and commonly assumes higher confidentiality and trust between the individuals involved. Knowing and observing appropriate boundaries in this context is fundamental.
What Makes People in a Relationship Sext Other People?
People who are in a relationship find themselves sending cheating nudes for a variety of reasons. They might be out of a search for novelty, a desire for new experiences, or a secret desire for excitement. It may be a way for some to feel loved and valued in a way they can’t do at home.
Is sending nudes cheating? Such behaviors, though, can be quite risky, playing with fire with regard to trust and effective security. There is a complicated mix of private dissatisfaction, attention seeking, and an attraction to the unknown that often leads to potential damage to their primary relationship.
Signs Your Partner Is Sexting
Listen to your intuition if you’ve started to feel suspicious about your partner’s inappropriate sexting. As we said above, people usually hide sexting from a susceptible partner because they think it’s wrong and don’t want to get caught sexting. This makes them appear invincible because they are secretive, though there are still signs you can pick up on.
Considering this, any sign of secretiveness or being overly protective about privacy would indicate that your partner may be sending sexting. There are many ways your partner may be trying to sneak their sexual activities away from you, though here are the most common ones.
- Has sexually explicit images on their mobile phone that were not sent to you.
- Gets protective when you ask who they are texting with.
- Uses apps that don’t save chat history.
- Exit the room to reply to messages or calls.
- Uses a password on their phone that you do not know.
- Sets their phone face down.
- Switches off notifications.
- Sends text messages more often.
- They carry their phone with them everywhere.
- Removes text messages or calls.
- Places the phone outside of your reach.
- Sleeps with the phone tucked under their arm.
- Has unusual names in the contact list.
- Takes more time to respond to your texts.
- The daily routine has changed.
Is sexting cheating in a marriage? A person may feel good about themselves after sexting: more confident, meaningful, and attractive. If the betrayal was motivated by a desire for revenge, the person may feel that they have expressed their pain or resentment. If a person feels that they have acted badly towards their partner, they may begin to regret, feel ashamed, and feel guilty towards their loved one.
Does sexting lead to affairs? When sexting with another person happens, a person may experience a feeling of so-called false intimacy. Unlike their regular partner, this partner understands them better, treats them, and appreciates them. Such intimacy is false because it is not tested by time, responsibility, and obligations. If the sexting considered cheating is long-lasting, over time, a person may realize that they have difficulties with this person as well—the same as with a regular partner.
Why Is Sexting Cheating If You Are in a Relationship?
Is sexting cheating? Let’s start with the fact that each person defines cheating for themselves. If it means cheating, betrayal, and hiding any other relationship or communication from a regular partner, then yes, in this case, sexting is considered cheating.
That being said, many people consider sexting to be a form of simple communication that has nothing to do with cheating. The Psychology Today website conducted a study that showed that about 60 percent of people who sext intimate do not consider it infidelity. Most of them equate sexting with watching pornography and say it helps them refrain from literal physical contact.
How to Deal with a Partner Who’s Sexting Someone Else
Human relationships are a fragile, multifaceted process involving hundreds of emotions daily. When partners have feelings, it is common for them to get angry, fight, be jealous, and distrust each other. Sometimes, a man is afraid to express his concerns to his chosen one; he looks for advice from the outside, starting conversations with representatives of the opposite sex.
When a girl discovers this and succumbs to jealousy, she feels anger and rage. She doesn’t know what to do if her boyfriend talks to other girls. Finding the right behavior model takes a long time, and the answer usually lies in a frank conversation between the partners.
Is flirting cheating? It can be difficult to determine what constitutes a minor sin and what constitutes a real betrayal. What may seem like a serious offense to one person is an unforgivable act to another. Therefore, you should only determine the criteria for infidelity by yourself.
Your case will almost certainly be individual, which means that the standard methods will not work: you will have to “invent” something of your own, considering the situation. However, you should be guided not only by your feelings: even in such a situation, a little common sense and an outside perspective will not hurt.
Psychologists generally advise that you should not focus on fighting the investigation (spending time on a dating site) but rather think about the causes. To change or clarify the situation with “virtual infidelity”, you need to understand what exactly brought your partner to this place.
Once you understand the reason for your husband or wife sexting, you can draw appropriate conclusions: whether your partner is looking for casual relationships because of something specific in your relationship or is doing this only because they cannot keep in touch with one person. If sexting is cheating in your view, you should set clear boundaries and realize that it is quite challenging to “re-educate” such a partner.
How to Snoop Through Your Partner’s Phone for Sexts Without Them Knowing?
Some of the best and most advanced apps available on the market are perfect ways to spy on your partner’s messages. This is where the SpyBubble app can come to the rescue. Many suspecting partners become adept at deciphering cheating spouse text messages codes. Let’s take a look at how you can use this app to spy on your partner’s phone and find out if they are actually cheating on you or not because ignorance may not always be bliss, especially when you have suspicions about your husband sexting. While there are several other apps on the market, SpyBubble is the chosen one and is known for its several advantages:
- The app is extremely stealthy, and your partner would never know about it because it is almost untraceable.
- The app is extremely easy to use and sets up on your partner’s phone in less than 5 minutes.
- You can access your partner’s phone data and details to find out about every call, text, message, social media post, and all other phone activities. And do it remotely from any web browser by logging into your account.
- You don’t need to jailbreak or root the phone to install SpyBubble.
- You pay for it upfront, and there are no hidden charges.
The app works, among other things, to detect phone sexting. It is possible to use it to spy on spouses and loved ones to track location, read messages, monitor social media activities, and much more:
- Spy on instant messages on social media
- Track geolocation
- Monitor spouse’s calls
- Monitor text messages
- Monitor photos
- Log every keystroke
- Enable camera and video streaming
- Take screenshots when the phone is unblocked
How Do You Move Forward?
After you find your partner’s sexting affair, no matter how far it has gone, it has severely undermined your trust, made you doubt the relationship, and exacerbated existing disagreements. You can’t change what happened, but now is the right time to figure out how you feel about each other, what connects you, and what separates you.
Give yourself time, and try to understand what you want, what you have strived for in the past, and what you want to achieve. What exactly are you angry about? Does it feel like cheating? What is the most offensive? What do you feel besides hatred? What would your relationship look like if this story hadn’t happened? How would you feel about your cheating partner then? You can express this on paper and observe how your state changes. Discuss the situation with your partner: how your partner feels and what options you see for developing the relationship.
When you’ve done your best, there are only 3 tips to follow:
- Accept it. You are not ready to break up and need to accept this fact. You must overcome your jealousy and believe that your partner will not go further than correspondence, so there is no point in jealousy.
- Divorce. There is no point in waiting for a miracle. Ending such a relationship and finding a partner interested in only one companion is better.
- Visit a family psychologist. The specialist will help you pinpoint why this partner behaves and tell you how to act. The couple may have to undergo a course of joint therapy.
Each situation is individual. There are no universal tips that will help improve the situation with a sexting partner. It is necessary to consider the actual problem and the reason that led to its appearance.
Wrapping Up
Sexting is quite a popular phenomenon today. It can add spice and interest if it is done to maintain a relationship in a couple. However, if your partner is doing it about someone else, it can become a problem. It’s up to you to determine what constitutes cheating, but if you still think this behavior is unacceptable, it’s time to act.
First, you need to confirm the fact. To do this, use SpyBubble, which will help you track such correspondence. If sexting with another person has been discovered, you need to at least discuss it with your partner, and then it’s up to you to decide what to do about it.