How to Protect Your Relationship Against Infidelity

Infidelity in a relationship is usually complicated, and you can never fully cheat-proof you and your partner. However, cheating also doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There are risk factors that make some people more likely to engage in an affair, there are relationship risk factors and there are known reasons why most people cheat. There are also ways that you can minimize the odds that your relationship will fall victim to infidelity.

What Are the Cheating Risk Factors?

It helps to first know what traits and factors in individuals and relationships put them more at risk for affairs. There have been many studies that have sought to unravel the mystery of cheating and why it happens. What we know is that age is risk factor, and it’s not all about being middle-aged. One study of nearly 1 million men found that those at “9-ender” ages, that is 29, 39, 49 and so on, were more likely to be re-evaluating their lives and more likely to try an affair. Gender is a factor, too. Men are simply more likely to cheat. That gender gap is closing, though, and a more important factor is opportunity. Men or women who travel often for work, for instance, are more likely to cheat. Heredity, having a parent who cheated, can make you more susceptible, and being dissatisfied with your relationship also ups the odds that you will cheat.

Do These Things to Affair-Proof Your Relationship

Many of the risk factors for cheating are totally out of your control, but how you cope with them is not. Keeping your relationship satisfactory for both individuals is also within your control for the most part. Try these things to keep satisfaction levels high and to keep affairs at bay:

  • Communicate regularly. You can’t read each other’s minds. Your partner doesn’t necessarily know that you want to have more sex or more adventurous sex, so tell him. Talk about other things, too. Communicating well and often keeps you close to each other and makes cheating more difficult.
  • Get involved with each other. Having separate interests is great and is important, but you also need to be involved in each other’s lives. If he likes to run marathons, but you hate running, go to his races to cheer him on. Ride your bike with him while he trains. Encourage him to get involved in your activities, too.
  • Don’t keep secret friends. Secret relationships can be dangerous, even if they start out as innocent friendships. Have a work friend you enjoy talking to? Tell your husband all about him and if you hang out together after work, bring your husband along.
  • Keep your sex life interesting. You should never do something that makes you uncomfortable, but do try to stretch that comfort zone a little bit. Keeping things fresh in the bedroom will keep you both satisfied.
  • Make time for each other. We are so busy these days that it can be easy to neglect our relationships. Even if it is the central relationship in your life, it can easily fall by the wayside.Make it a point to make time for each other and to do something together, just the two of you, at least once a week.

The most important thing for avoiding infidelity is a strong and satisfying relationship. You get that by spending time together, remaining close both physically and emotionally, and by communicating your needs.

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