Why people marry, and what follows marriages or more interesting WHY PEOPLE CHEAT - Research Paper Example

This however, has seemed to diminish in recent years. The high rates of divorce and empty shell marriages leave a person wondering just how important this institution is nowadays. Cohabitation, single parent families, separated spouses or even divorced couples are now common to find. This report aims to focus on both the causes and effects and the situations and circumstances that lead to the spouses cheating in marriage. However, there are various causes as to why this trend is increasing and how these affect us.

The way these broken families affect the individuals, the family, and the community as a whole is farfetched and the effects are not just for the time being. The stress in our lives today is a major cause for everyone going into their own shell and becoming isolated to a certain level, which results in marriages breaking down and people subjecting to cheating on their spouse. The number of people found with having extra marital affairs has increased in the last decade. The reasons for this may be numerous (Chappel, pp. 170). Often either of the spouses either is unhappy with the marriage or feels suffocated and frustrated.

In the fast-paced world today, people have become more self-absorbed and the time to bond and spend a healthy time together has greatly diminished. When one of the spouses is feeling lonely, suffocated, or feels that the relationship is not giving a positive outcome, it results as one of the spouses feeling the need to cheat or seek that attention from an outer source (Chappel, pp. 170). There are times when the person vents out to a friend either of the opposite sex or a colleague or someone who has gone through a similar incident and the bond develops and sometimes leads to an extra marital affair.

In some instances, after the couple has a child, the woman’s time is absorbed in the care taking of the baby, which causes the couple to start spending lesser and lesser time together. The man may result in feeling that he is not getting any attention and feels neglected. In such cases, he may start seeking that love and attention from an outer source. Sometimes, the reason may just be to gain the attention of the spouse, or it may actually be that the spouse gets involved in someone else, which gradually leads to problems, fights and may end up in separation or divorce (Meyer, 2001).

Another reason why people may cheat in marriages is the “lack of intimacy” (Meyer, 2001). If one of the spouses does not show interest in sex or withholds it, the other might get frustrated and seek for the fulfillment of that pleasure elsewhere. It is therefore essential that both of them take care of each other’s needs and fulfill them in order to provide that level of satisfaction that they would be compelled to find elsewhere as a result if they do not get it within the marriage. In some cases, one of the spouses may stop giving attention to their physical appearance and that attractive instinct (Swartz, pp. 145). The person dealing with the stresses of life or business or any other aspect might become involved in tension, exhaustion or depression and stops giving the attention to the looks or the qualities that attract the spouse.

When this need lacks at home, it results in the person starting to find other people attractive and start taking interest towards them because that quality begins to lack in their own partner. This also leads to cheating and the marriage becoming a problematic arena. Sometimes, this problem might arise due to natural problems and might not be the intentional or deliberate act of one person. The pressures and strains of the marriage relationship sometimes cause fights and