The survey also revealed how common cheating is among people.
A survey reveals men and women in the UK have differing views when it comes to what is considered cheating.
YouGov’s Big Survey On Relationships has explored how people in Britain define cheating, from having sex with someone else to using OnlyFans.
It examined both physical and emotional cheating within relationships.
Physical cheating was defined as sleeping with someone outside a relationship. Emotional cheating involved forming a “deep emotional or romantic connection” with someone else.
The research found clear differences between men and women when it comes to both forms of infidelity.
Men were more likely to be unhappy with a sex-led affair, with 46% considering it a serious issue. By comparison, 35% of women shared this view.
However, women were more likely to be concerned about emotional cheating.
Around 29% of women said they would be unhappy with emotional cheating, compared with 20% of men.
Eleven per cent of Brits believe there are circumstances where cheating on a partner can be socially acceptable, while 76% said there’s no reason that would justify cheating on a partner, including waning sexual intimacy.
The study asked participants about 12 different behaviours and if they count as cheating.
There were six behaviours that the majority of people agreed were cheating:
- Having sex with someone else (94%)
- Sending naked photos to someone else (82%)
- Using a dating app while in a relationship (80%)
- Kissing someone else (73%)
- Secretly messaging or meeting up with an ex-partner (69%)
- Forming a deep emotional attachment with someone else (52%)
Women were more likely than men to consider every behaviour in this group as cheating.
The largest gender difference concerned kissing someone else.
Eighty per cent of women considered it cheating, compared with 65% of men.
There was also a notable difference around emotional attachment. Some 60% of women considered it infidelity, compared with 43% of men.
The remaining six behaviours were more commonly viewed as not constituting cheating:
- Directly engaging with sexual content creators, such as OnlyFans or similar sites (47%)
- Developing romantic feelings for someone else, even if nothing physical happens (40%)
- Using AI chatbots or virtual companions for romantic or sexual conversations (30%)
- Flirting with someone else (26%)
- Fantasising about sex or intimacy with someone else (16%)
- Having a crush on someone else (15%).
Again, women were more likely than men to consider each behaviour unfaithful.
OnlyFans produced the biggest gender gap in this group.
Fifty-seven per cent of women considered engaging with a creator to be cheating, compared to 37% of men, highlighting differing attitudes towards digital sexual content within relationships.
The survey also revealed how common cheating is among people.
Almost one quarter of Brits (23%) admitted to being unfaithful in the past.
Seventeen per cent said they had a sexual relationship with someone else, while 18% had been disloyal emotionally.
A further 12% admitted to both sexual and emotional cheating.
However, attitudes towards infidelity remain complex, particularly when comparing sexual and emotional affairs.
Four in 10 Brits (40%) said they would be more upset if their partner had a sexual affair without romantic feelings.
