Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate the love you have for your partner. And yet, relationships are often far from perfect, and as a result there can sometimes be an increase in partners cheating around the February season.
But why is that? Why does infidelity become a larger issue around Valentine’s Day? And what can you do if you suspect something is going on with your partner?
Let’s take a look.
Memorable & Exciting Holiday
One of the reasons that people may be more tempted to cheat around Valentine’s Day is strongly linked to the commercialisation linked to the holiday. The fact that it is seen as such a big deal means that people often want their Valentine’s Day to be special, memorable and exciting.
And if they don’t feel like their partner shares the same enthusiasm – any many people don’t take Valentine’s seriously – then they may look elsewhere to create those memories.
Of course the healthy thing to do would be for the partner to explain their desire for a special Valentine’s, and then they could enjoy it without having to resort to cheating. But for some people this may not be a choice that they view is available to them.
Lack of Validation & Self-Esteem
Valentine’s Day is seen as a novel holiday and so it can be quite good for people to get a sense of validation from their partner – seeing how much they care about them.
And then if their partner lets them down, they can start to feel emotions such as low self-esteem, wondering why they aren’t able to enjoy the excitement of this day.
This can again be another driving factor that pushes people towards an affair partner.
Fear of Missing Out
When relationships go through a rough patch, someone may feel like they aren’t appreciated or loved in quite the same way. They might be missing an emotional or physical connection.
And so, they may feel like they have to resort to cheating on their partner in order to find that. They don’t have the confidence to address it properly, nor do they want to make a more permanent decision to end their relationship. They wish to continue to work through the issues, but at the same time have someone on the side to meet their immediate needs.
Solutions
All of the above are genuine reasons why people may be more inclined to cheat on their partner around Valentine’s. But none of them are truly justified. Most of the psychological reasons related to cheating on or around Valentine’s are to do with a breakdown in communication – a partner is not happy with some part of the relationship, and instead of trying to resolve that through conversations, they instead act out, which can have much more devastating implications on the health of the relationship.