When you’re in love, it’s easy to be fooled. You want to give the object of your affection the benefit of the doubt. You never want to believe he or she would hurt you. However, sometimes, that makes it all too easy to be deceived. That experience is common.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, the average person has about a 42% chance of cheating on his or her partner. However, in that same study, participants estimated only an 8% chance of their own partner cheating!
If you have a feeling you’re about to be the butt of the worst April Fools’ joke of all, check out these warning signs to avoid being duped.
You Feel Crazy, and Your Concerns Are Dismissed
When you confront your love with your feelings of suspicion, hurt, or insecurity, does he or she say that you have it all wrong? Are you starting to feel like your sense of reality is just off? When someone tries to convince you that your bad feelings are invalid–and they don’t offer any supporting evidence–that person could be lying to you.
If that is the case, your partner doesn’t want you to realize that you have every reason to feel the way you do. As such, he or she may do everything possible to make you think you’re going nuts.
Your Simple Requests Are Suddenly Grounds for an Explosion
You’re used to being a major part of your love’s life. Little requests to use your partner’s phone, borrow his or her car, or even be kept in the loop about scheduling are normal to you. Suddenly, your love is putting a stop to all these things. Your partner now needs “privacy” and takes offense if you infringe upon it.
Now, if your partner is a private person who’s been like this throughout your relationship, then you probably have little cause for concern. However, if this swing toward needing more privacy is sudden and unusual, it’s worth looking for some answers.
Trying to Keep You Away from Certain People
It’s incredibly difficult for cheaters to keep a secret relationship separate from every aspect of their life. Chances are strong that some of your love’s friends or family have seen evidence of straying, too, or perhaps know about it as a fact.
If your partner starts keeping you away from friends you used to see every weekend, or avoids bringing you home to mom and dad, be aware that he or she may be trying to avoid having someone else spill the beans. An honorable few might feel obligated to tell you what they suspect. So, your partner will do everything possible to keep that from happening.
Focusing Energy Elsewhere
Your Friday date nights have become a thing of the past. Your nightly catch-ups are actually nightly fly-bys. Suddenly, your sweetheart is too busy to spend this time with you. Instead, he or she is going out with friends, staying late at work, or spending a great deal of time on the phone.
Some of this time could obviously be spent developing another relationship. It could also stem from a sense of guilt. When you’re deceiving someone, it can be difficult to look that person in the eye and pretend everything’s just fine. It’s likely that some part of your partner still cares about you, and they know that what they’re doing will likely hurt you in the end.
Social Media Behavior Changes
Whether your love was a social media fiend or completely against all forms of online PDA, watch for swinging to the other end of the spectrum. Someone that used to post everything online might suddenly become private, not wanting you to see what’s going on. Alternately, a formerly private person who begins posting pictures of you everywhere might be doing this out of a sense of guilt, or to preemptively address your inevitable suspicions.
Becoming Overly Focused on Appearance
Have you and your partner become relaxed over the years? Maybe you’ve felt comfortable with each other and have let some grooming and self-care habits fall by the wayside. If your partner suddenly starts shaving more, buying nice clothes, or hitting the gym, it could be to impress someone else.
What does all this come down to? Your partner’s behavior is changing without explanation. 58% of men and 65% of women have been cheated on. If something changes in your partner’s behavior without warning, you may want to ask about it.
If you feel uneasy, use PeopleFinders to try and chase down some answers. You might be able to find information about your significant other’s social media profiles, or perform a reverse phone lookup to research any unfamiliar numbers that have been showing up on his or her phone.
The answers you may get could be difficult to accept but, when all is said and done, wouldn’t you rather know the truth?
Image attribution: rcfotostock – stock.adobe.com
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