Which Is Worse, An Emotional Affair or Physical Affair?

The primary difference between a physical affair and an emotional affair is actual, physical contact. Usually, cheating involves people meeting face–to-face, and then engaging in physical intimacy.

With an emotional affair, there may be a meeting, but it can occur on a cell phone or a computer and there is no physical intimacy. Many of the people who are emotionally cheating don’t consider it to be infidelity. Their thinking is that, because there is no actual physical contact, the behavior can’t be considered cheating.

The end result is that the unfaithful spouse is paying more emotional attention to someone other than their partner, and they are removing themselves from the commitment they made to their marriage.

An emotional affair can lead to a physical affair.

An emotional affair begins with the exchange of personal information. As the people involved get acquainted, the information becomes more personal. Some argue that an emotional affair is harmless because it is more of a casual relationship than traditional cheating; however, the intimate nature of the communication, plus the emotional investment made by...read more about emotional and physical affairs