Nearly half of marriages in the United States end, and one of the biggest reasons for this is infidelity. This article will help you understand exactly what infidelity is, why it happens, and how to cope with it if it happens to you.

Infidelity occurs when a married person engages in a relationship with another person, violating the sanctity of marriage. Infidelity often does not come overnight or by accident it usually takes place over a period of time, when experiences shared with the new person become more meaningful compared to experiences with a marriage partner. Infidelity can occur without sex coming into the picture.

According to studies, those who commit infidelity go through two stages. First, they consciously decide to seek fulfillment with someone else other than their husband or wife. They then go on to engage in acts of infidelity in secret but these acts need not be sexual. Whenever a person gives to a new partner outside the marriage what was previously reserved for his or her spouse (be it time, money, confidences, intimacies and other experiences), they are being unfaithful.

Men and women view extramarital affairs in distinctly different ways. Women are usually drawn into adulterous relationships emotionally, while men go about it using their sexual instincts.

It is interesting to note that both tend to assume that the other is acting out of the same motivation. Women may assume that her husband is emotionally attached to another partner, even when his attraction is primarily physical. Men on the other hand, think that the wifes reaction to another man is safe, as long as she does not show any physical attraction.

Infidelity is most often destructive and fatal to any marriage. Healing from infidelity requires that the betrayed spouse recover first from the trauma of the deception. Recovery from trauma requires tremendous support both from professionals and from loved ones. There is hope for marriages to survive infidelity if the couple is willing to work together to preserve their marital vows. In order for a marriage to survive after infidelity, the involved spouse must recognize the wrongness of his or her illicit affair and should be willing to stop it.