6 Signs of a Serial Cheater, According to a Psychiatrist
Learning you’ve been cheated on is such a terrible feeling. One of the only things that can feel worse than discovering your partner cheated on you, though, is finding out that it isn’t their first time being unfaithful. A person with a history of cheating is a serial cheater. They may cheat emotionally, physically, or both.
The cheating may have occurred once in a relationship but with multiple relationships, or numerous times with the same partner. Serial cheating simply means that someone has cheated on a partner more than once.
How can you be on the lookout for a serial cheater, and what can you do if you learn that your partner has been cheating on you repeatedly? With the help of a board-certified psychiatrist, we’ll parse out forklaring everything you need to know to handle this difficult situation.
Characteristics and Behaviors of Serial Cheaters
It’s worth noting that cheating is a form of expression, and can have many underlying causes. “Serial cheating should also be viewed as a behavioral form of communicating; a window into underlying emotions, impulses toward recreating past trauma, avoiding emotional intimacy, and low self-esteem,” explains co-founder of SohoMD Dr. Edward Ratush.
- They lie, particularly in relation to intimacy. “Cheaters lie to their partners about their intimacy priorities, hiding the fact that sexual novelty and/or sexual compulsivity are at the root of their decision tree,” says Ratush.
- They’ve cheated before. People who have cheated on past partners are more likely to do it again. This might seem obvious, but for many of us, it’s natural to give partners the benefit of the doubt that they have changed since a past mistake. Read More