In the vast majority of all romantic comedies, one of the main characters suspects that his or her romantic partner is cheating. And in almost 100% of these cases, it turns out to be a misunderstanding: the “love interest” is either an old flame saying a last goodbye, a travel agent who is helping to arrange a surprise vacation, or a secret investor who’s going to save the couple’s struggling business from financial ruin. Everyone has a good laugh about the mistake, and life goes on.
In real life, infidelity isn’t resolved this easily. Whether it ends in reconciliation or separation, it always involves emotional pain, anxiety, and uncertainty. Getting a handle on the situation is the best way to quell some of those negative feelings and get started on a plan of action. In this post, Toronto’s leading Infidelity Investigation team is sharing the types of infidelity that you need to be aware of, your potential courses of action, and how a Private Investigator can help.
Types of Infidelity
- Cyber infidelity takes place entirely online, via chat, webcam, email, or text. The people involved may be anonymous, or they may know some basic information about each other. The relationship might eventually move offline, or the people may never meet in person.
- Emotional infidelity occurs when one partner becomes emotionally attached to someone else. He or she confides in the other person, sharing problems, hopes and dreams, and other deeply personal material. Although this also characterises many friendships, it rises to the level of infidelity when the intimacy becomes deeper and more intense than the intimacy shared with their primary partner.
- Romantic infidelity involves both emotional and physical intimacy. This is what we traditionally think of as a love affair.
- Sexual Infidelity involves sexual contact without deep emotional attachment. Where that contact crosses the line into infidelity depends on whom you ask: is kissing all it takes, or does there have to be intercourse? What about oral sex? Bill Clinton didn’t think it fell under the definition of sex when he famously said: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” when in fact she had performed oral sex on him. The ultimate judge of whether a certain activity is infidelity is the person who is being betrayed.
- Opportunistic Infidelity is a sub-type of sexual infidelity in which someone gives into their sexual desire for someone else. This type of cheating is usually driven by situational circumstances such as alcohol consumption, a business trip, or alcohol consumption on a business trip.
- Conflicted Romantic Infidelity happens when someone experiences genuine love and sexual desire for more than one person at a time. Consensual relationships with this component are sometimes referred to as “polyamorous,” but if the arrangement isn’t out in the open, it’s still cheating.
Dealing with Infidelity
Not all the types of infidelity may result in the deterioration of a relationship. While your friend might think it’s unacceptable that your partner is sexting with someone else, you might be willing to overlook it as long as it doesn’t go further. If you do decide to take action, there are three possible routes:
- Confronting your partner with the evidence you already have, which could go smoothly if they admit to the infidelity and you take the next steps together, or it could introduce additional distrust into an already shaky relationship.
- Collect additional evidence before confronting your partner. This will take more time and energy, but there’s less chance it’ll backfire on you. A downside is that you’ll be facing what you discover on your own, with no filters.
- Hire a private investigator to collect evidence for you. While hiring an Investigator to collect evidence of the cheating behaviour may seem reserved for the world of reality TV, this may be the smartest, most effective choice based on your individual circumstances. Read on to find out how and why.
How a Private Investigator Can Help in an Infidelity Investigation
Whether you’re preparing to go to court, or you’re just looking for the clarity you need in your relationship, solid evidence is crucial. A complete and thorough Infidelity Investigation will provide you with a comprehensive set of facts, and this is difficult and time-consuming to do on your own. Here’s how a PI can help you get that:
- Gathering the type of evidence that is most valuable in court, namely date and time-stamped 4K video or photography evidence
- Collecting evidence legally
- Conducting in-person surveillance
- Tracking the subject using GPS technology
- Collecting witness testimonials
It’s important to know that in many Infidelity Investigations, our Investigators are able to uncover more than just evidence of cheating behaviour; often other lies or questionable activities are brought to the surface including evidence of alcohol or drug abuse, gambling, sex trade addictions, or other illegal wrongdoings.
If you suspect your partner is cheating, Star Quality Private Investigations® team of Infidelity Experts can provide you with the answers you want, need, and deserve. Reach out to us today to talk about how we can help.