Micro-cheating: A modern day minefield?
A new Streetbees study investigates different nationalities’ attitudes to relationships, and what constitutes cheating — from liking a photo, to sliding into the DMs.
The smartphone revolution has changed the dating world for everyone. And, our research shows, it’s changed the face of cheating, too….
Streetbees’ latest study explores the murky world of micro-cheating: small acts that don’t necessarily break the boundaries of infidelity, but might do, depending on where people draw the line — creating a new dimension of what’s right and what’s wrong within the confines of a modern relationship.
Speaking to 5363 people across 10 countries, patterns began to emerge for what people in each nation thought were acts of micro-cheating that crossed the line:
The UK and US
The results from both countries were almost identical, and the primary indication of micro-cheating was a straightforward one: if you have a dating app on your phone while you’re supposed to be in a relationship, that’s a red flag.
Close behind, saving phone contacts under a different name was considered uncool — it’s already admitting deceit, whether it’s acted upon or not.
In third place was giving out your phone number to someone you find attractive — an act that, in the eyes of American and British women, is firmly in the wrong.
France
As national stereotypes go, the liberal attitude of the French towards love is one that refuses to go away… and appears to be confirmed by our survey.
When asked what constitutes cheating from the list of scenarios, 67% of French women said that none of them even came close. Put into perspective, the global average for this response was around 20%.
For the French, it seems a little extra-curricular flirting — regardless of the intent — is part and parcel of the partner process.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, the French attitude to cheating couldn’t be more alien.
A comprehensive 95% believed that at least one of the scenarios presented a legitimate case of cheating — but their sense of forgiveness was extremely prominent, too.
On average, around 21% of women stated that if they caught their partners micro-cheating, they ‘would make their partner suffer for a while, but then probably forgive them’.
For Nigerians? That figure rises to 49%.
Perhaps this has something to do with their own experiences — 31% of them admitted to saving someone’s name in their phone under a different alias, almost twice as much as the global standard (16%).
Italy
Strong family values are often a cornerstone in many of Italy’s cultural exports, and with good reason.
While 35% of all the women we surveyed described themselves as ‘in a committed relationship’, 85% of our Italian respondents considered themselves in this category.
And their steadfast belief in loyalty was apparent, too: one-third of them had never committed a single offence from the micro-cheating checklist (compared to a global average of 19%), and the same figure had faith that their partners hadn’t either.
The game has changed
Handing out a phone number, saving a potential love interest under a different name: these have all been relationship red flags for decades now, but the parameters of modern relationships have been redrawn somewhat.
It’s never been easier to interact with people digitally, but being liberal with your likes isn’t always as innocent as you think.
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from 5363 people across 10 countries, carried out in February 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
Streetbees is an independent research platform, founded on the principle of humanising how we collect data. Join our community today by downloading the Streetbees app.
