10 Common Types of Relationship Affair

An affair has the power to make even a strong relationship crumble. 

If you are hopelessly in love with your partner, it isn’t easy to reason why your partner resorted to infidelity.

A love affair isn’t only when your partner physically cheats on you and sleeps with someone else. There are many types of affairs and forms of cheating in a relationship.

Read on to learn about these different types of affairs. Understanding these different types can help you identify if your partner is cheating on you and effectively deal with such challenges.

What is an affair?

A love affair is when one of the partners is betraying the relationship or marriage by having a sexual or emotional relationship with someone else.

When people cheat on their partners, it is not necessarily about sex. People resort to infidelity even when they see emotional intimacy is lacking in their primary relationship.

What makes one have an affair?

Unhappiness in the relationship, whether it’s lack of respect from the other partner, not feeling wanted, or when the sex needs are not being met, people resort to infidelity. 

Also, when people are bored and the relationship is not emotionally or physically fulfilling, they go out looking for what’s missing. 

There are several different types of affairs, and they can all have the same devastating consequence on us and our relationships.

Understanding the motive behind cheating can be the key to healing the relationship.

10 types of affairs

Here are listed different types of affairs. Learning about these affairs will help you identify the reasons behind infidelity in relationships.

Identifying the cause is essential. You can only decide if you wish to give your partner another chance. 

Also, you can get closure and begin the process of self-healing only when you know the real reason behind cheating.

Related Reading: 15 Most Common Causes of Infidelity in Relationships

]1. Emotional affair 

Partner has developed feelings for the other person but hasn’t been physically intimate. Many people think cheating is not “real” unless you sleep with someone else, which is delusional. 

As per a study, 50% of female and 44% of male employees confessed that they developed feelings for colleagues and had a “work spouse” at some point in their career. 

An emotional affair implies that emotional needs in a relationship aren’t being met.

2. One-night stand

It wasn’t an accident. It doesn’t matter how drunk you were. If you consciously decide to go to bed with a person who’s not your partner, you are a cheater. 

It brings excitement but takes away trust and love from your relationship. It’s a sign you lack excitement in your marriage or relationship.

3. Repeated sex affairs

If a man or a woman engages in multiple sex affairs for a more extended period, they likely have a sexual addiction. 

A repeated sex affair maybe isn’t as pleasing to the cheating partner as it seems. It’s an addiction, and they probably don’t know how to stop this behavior.

Sexual addiction is a sign that their sexual needs are different from their partner’s, so they are looking for a way to satisfy their sexual hunger. It’s unhealthy, and they should seek professional therapists to help them deal with the addiction.

]4. Romantic love affair

A romantic love affair is the first one that comes to mind when we say “Affair,” it usually happens very quickly and is a sign that the person is seeking excitement and is maybe not attracted to their partner. 

The person falls in love, and the emotions they are experiencing are so intense that they believe it’s a sign they should stay with the new person and abandon their relationship.

5. Cyber affair

The modern age brings us endless possibilities for meeting new people online. Dating apps are being used by millions of people every day, and it’s only expected that cyber affairs will become a thing.

A cyber affair means someone texts another person romantically or sexually, sending photos or videos. A cyber affair can lead to a one-night stand, a romantic affair, and emotional infidelity.

All these different types of affairs undeniably indicate that something is not working between partners.

To know more about cyber romance or cheating, watch this video.

6. Revenge affair

A revenge affair is an everyday affair resulting from the previous infidelity of a partner in a relationship. 

“If he cheated on me, I would cheat on him and hurt his feelings too” is the idea behind it. But it is pointless!

Why doesn’t it work? 

It is because you’re doing it out of pure revenge, and you will shatter your self-respect, confidence, and dignity. It has been found that such affairs don’t end well.

People who commit revenge affairs know it’s not going to bring empowerment or healing, yet their resentment is so strong that they still do it. 

7. Double life affairs

Certain people are not satisfied with cheating with just one partner. Not only are they cheating, but they are cheating two people at the same time, convincing them they are the only ones. 

Disappointment is inevitable for one of them, but why in the world would you want to be on either side of this cheater? 

Whether you’re their spouse or the “real” partner, or you are someone they are cheating with, you’re in a losing game because even if they leave the other one and stay with you, chances are high they will cheat again.

8. Mind-body affair

Many experts consider this type of affair to be the most dangerous one. Why? Because it feels so complete! 

Two people feel connected emotionally, spiritually, sexually, and intellectually and this level of connectedness leads them to think about how they are meant for each other. 

Some believe in reincarnation and use this as proof that this is meant to be.

Some claim that the mind-body affair is the most common affair that leads to divorce and remarriage. It also leaves mixed consequences, especially if children are involved.

Related Reading: How Important Is An Emotional Connection In A Relationship?

9. Illicit affair

An illicit affair is illegal. It’s not approved; it’s unorthodox in many ways. 

For example, it can be with someone who is under legal age. It’s unlawful *or immoral in some way.

It’s a red flag, and if this is your partner involved in an illicit affair, you should seek professional help and possibly let the authorities know if it’s unlawful.

10. Sanctioned affair

Sanctioned affairs are gaining more popularity in our modern world as people are more open-minded. 

To be in a sanctioned affair means having other partners with the permission of your spouse (or relationship partner). Why is this good? 

It gives you freedom of excitement and adventure, and you can enjoy other people’s company. 

However, it still means you’re not enough for each other, and that’s like covering it up a little bit or putting patches and hoping marriage lasts forever.

When an affair affects your relationship

All of the above-mentioned types of affairs could impact a relationship. Understanding that a situation like this needs to be handled with maturity and clarity is crucial. 

If you had an affair or your partner’s actions are impacting your life, there are solutions you can look for. You both can try to mend your relationship and make it better. This includes accepting responsibility for actions and apologizing. 

If it’s your partner, you need to decide whether you want to continue with the relationship and give them a second chance. 

No one can predict if an affair will affect your relationship badly or for good. For some people, it breaks a relationship, and other couples might save theirs. 

If one of you cheated, it doesn’t mean it’s over. If both parties are ready to change and open up about how they truly feel, your relationship or marriage can heal. 

If you feel it was just the drop that filled the glass, it was only a symptom of a long-term disease and problems you two have been experiencing over a longer time.

Whatever you decide, taking a professional opinion is a must.

Do affairs ever work?

As with any relationship, there is no finite answer to the question, do affairs work? However, Susan Berger, a marriage and family therapist, states that 25% of affairs succeed. Although, this doesn’t mean that the quality of these affairs or relationships is always good or bad. 

Starting a relationship after cheating on someone needs more effort and skills to make it work. Here are some scenarios that play the most important role in making an affair work or not. 

1. A relationship that started as an affair could worsen if one of the two partners’ starts feeling guilt or remorse. 
2. If the affair is a rebound, there is a more likely chance it won’t work. When people look for a rebound, their emotional need is so strong that they forget to evaluate the outcome of the relationship, which might reset their equation after some time. 
3. If the affair has started because the person wants to run from their existing responsibilities, it might leave them dissatisfied, and they might resent the affair later.
4. The new partner might have trust issues, making it harder than the previous relationship, which may cause them to break off the relationship. 
5. Other than these factors, many other things impact an affair, such as distrust, prejudice against the relationship, social isolation, depression, denial, addictive activities, and many more. 

The bottom line is if two people are in love, have a satisfying understanding, and are happy in a relationship, it might work if they keep putting effort into it consistently; otherwise, it may fail. 

Wrapping up

Whatever the case, all types of affairs do mark the end of your life or happiness. Maybe you’ll heal and continue together.

Or maybe you’ll forgive and let go, and make space for welcoming new people after some time, someone who will respect you and find a way to solve things between you before things escalate to having affairs.