Revealed: What people think is cheating and what isn't during lockdown

The activities people think constitute cheating on your partner and what doesn’t have been revealed in a new sex survey.
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People were asked what they thought counted as cheating during the coronavirus lockdown – and the results threw up some surprising answers.

Sexy phone or video calls, as well as sexting and exchanging nudes are all considered cheating.

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But likes on social media, flirty banter in a group chat, and chatting to an old flame fall into the not cheating bracket.

What constitutes cheating during lockdown?What constitutes cheating during lockdown?
What constitutes cheating during lockdown?

And porn is only cheating when it’s paid for, and faithful when it’s free!

The results come from a study of members on IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s largest extramarital dating site.

This is what people said is cheating

Cheating

Sexy phone or video calls

Sexting

Exchanging nudes

Porn you’ve paid for

Using online dating sites

Catcalling

Not Cheating:

Likes on social media

Free pornographyFlirty banter in group chats

Chatting to an old flame

Sexy thoughts about somebody else

Reading erotic novels

Sexy phone calls and video calls are unanimously considered cheating by men (98%) and women (100%)

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A quarter more women than men agree that porn you’ve paid for is cheating.

1% more women (98%) than men (97%) agree that exchanging nudes is adulterous.

Nearly all of the men (96%) and women (91%) do not recognize likes on social media to be unfaithful. Keeping social media in the safe zone for committed couples.

There were a few discrepancies between genders, with 86% of men saying free ponography was not cheating compared to just 74% of women.

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73% of men believe flirty banter in group chats is not considered an act of deceit, whilst just a little over half 56% of women agreed.

More women (70%) than men (57%) concede that chatting to an old flame is not cheating.

Sex and relationships expert Jessica Leoni said “It’s about time myths around what is and what isn’t cheating were debunked. We're going to reach a virtual cheating spike over the next couple of months as tensions are high at home and spouses are looking for an outlet.”

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