Apparently, micro-cheating is a thing in relationships, and here are the signs it’s happening

One of the worst situations to find yourself in is realizing that your spouse or significant other has cheated on you.  Not only is it a breach of trust, but it’s a punch to your self-confidence—and based on what happened, you may find yourself having trouble with relationships after such betrayal. That’s why it’s a bummer that a new type of cheating has been established. It’s called micro-cheating, and it’s something you may want to be on the lookout for—since it’s a total red flag.

As you can guess by its name, micro-cheating happens when a significant other does small things that, eventually, makes it obvious they are interested in someone else outside of your relationship.

For example, if your partner has a close friendship with someone at work that you’re completely unaware of, that’s considered micro-cheating. Why? Well, because even if they never physically crossed the line, they hid another personal relationship from you. And it may be because they, themselves, know they might have some feelings they won’t be able to hide if asked.

Need another example? If you’ve noticed your significant other checking someone else’s Facebook feed a little too much, it’s a sign that he or she may be micro-cheating. Even though their crime is—technically—refreshing a website, there’s a good reason why they may be so invested in finding out what someone else is up to.

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Of course, there’s a chance you’ve been micro-cheating and haven’t even realized it.

If you get a weird feeling about the way you interact with someone (as in, “I hope my significant other doesn’t question this,” or “My significant other would be slightly ticked off if they saw I did this”), it’s a good sign that you should re-evaluate your relationship. Are you actually happy in the relationship you’re in, or has it gone sour?

No matter what, micro-cheating can mean that things may not be built to last. And while we think there’s a lot of terms out there that have cropped up over the last year or so—we’re looking at you, “breadcrumbing”—this one may actually give you a bit of insight (or window for introspection) about your current relationship.

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