What Is An Emotional Affair?

When your partner has begun an emotional relationship with somebody else, it can be hard defining this type of relationship. So what is an emotional affair anyway? Oftentimes, an intimate, close friendship with an outsider to the relationship can turn into an emotional affair. Despite the fact that there might not be any physical aspect to the relationship, the emotional involvement with the other person can be so intense that it is just as harmful to the relationship as a physical affair.

An affair can be defined as any relationship between a person and someone else besides his or her partner that has an affect on the closeness and overall dynamic of the relationship. This description touches on emotional affairs in addition to physical affairs.

When your partner has established a friendly relationship that has evolved to become deeper with time, the friendly relationship might have crossed the line and become an emotional affair. If your partner develops an emotional bond with a person outside the relationship, that detracts from the intimacy that should only be in your relationship. If the emotional bond with an outsider starts to harmfully affect your relationship, that is when it has crossed the line into an emotional affair.

There may be a thin line between a innocent friendship with someone outside the relationship and one that has developed into an emotional affair. This is why you may be wondering what is an emotional affair, because it is often hard to identify one. If you have questioned your partner about an emotional affair, they will predictably say that they are only friends and may accuse you of not wanting them to have friends of the opposite sex. This will often cause you to doubt yourself even more.

Having friends who are the opposite sex is completely normal and alright, but when one partner goes beyond the relationship to get something they are not getting in the relationship, then the friendship has crossed the line. This fulfillment that is sought out of the relationship does not have to be physical to call it an affair. Intimacy and emotional fulfillment are crucial in a relationship, and when one partner is going outside the relationship for emotional fulfillment, that might be really damaging.

A way to tell if your partner is engaging in an emotional affair is whether they tell the truth about the relationship with the other person. Does your partner try to conceal the friendship from you, or are they totally forthcoming about it? Do they report to you when they have texted or talked with the other person and share what the conversation was about, or do they try to conceal it?

With an emotional affair, your partner will commonly know that their behavior is incorrect and feel the need to hide it. It is common to feel guilty about conversing with someone outside the relationship on an intimate level, so there may be a feeling of needing to conceal the truth about it. Your partner is also likely to get defensive when asked about the emotional affair and maintain that it is only a friendship and say that it should be acceptable to have a friend of the opposite sex.

If you still have any confusion as to what is an emotional affair, just ask yourself whether or not something feels wrong. Your gut instinct will usually be right, so trust yourself if you feel that your partner has been developing an emotional relationship that feels inappropriate. You may just be right and you have every right to know the truth.