Is Cheating Linked With (Low) Emotional Intelligence?
The psychological underpinnings of cheating.
I was watching the Ashley Madison documentary on Netflix the other day and I was shocked with how many people are ready to cheat in their relationships.
If you haven’t seen it, it explores the story of Ashley Madison, an infidelity dating website for married people, and focuses on how it got hacked and millions of users’ intimate data was exposed. The absolutely crazy thing is that despite the controversy following the hack, the site now has 70 million members.
So I’m here thinking — what drives so many people to cheat? Is there something about our emotional intelligence — or lack thereof — that plays a role in these decisions?
It was in 1995 that Daniel Goleman introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in his book, and reshaped the world’s understanding of relationships and human interactions.
Since then, everyone’s been talking about how emotional intelligence makes you a better partner. But how does this concept relate to infidelity? Could low emotional intelligence make someone more prone to cheating?
Let’s clarify here that the reasons behind infidelity are complex. They’re multifaceted. Research, however, suggests that emotional intelligence…
