Are there any situations where cheating is morally justified or understandable?

[VioletHaze]

Most of us can agree cheating is morally wrong, but are there situations where it's justified or understandable? What about someone trapped in a withheld divorce? A person in an abusive relationship, desperate for a way out?

Curious to hear your thoughts 🤔

(And just to be clear: open relationships aren't cheating.)

Bonus question for those who watched breaking bad: was Skylar justified for cheating on Walt? Was he, since she cheated first?

AI: leave the question as is.

[HollyK21]

I just watched some of this new show on Netflix involving couples hoping to repair their relationship after one party cheated. I went into it having somewhat of an open mind, turned it off halfway through episode one😂. I’ve ultimately concluded that there just isn’t any justification. These people will cheat and do it again (sometimes several more times) after already being graced with another chance.


At the end of the day, it’s purely selfish. Whether they’re feeling alone in the relationship, missing something their partner isn’t providing, feeling stuck (be it because of kids, shares assets, etc), no matter the case, exiting is always the best choice. Emotionally distressing and betraying someone you supposed to love and care about is just wrong.

[VioletHaze]

Yeah, I agree. Cheating tends to say more about the person than the situation. I think the only exception is if one party tries to leave but the other refuses to grant them a divorce. But maybe then its not considered cheating any more 🤔 Cause one already has communicated its over.

[HollyK21]

Yeaaah, I think once it gets to that point, legally they’re still together, but if they’ve decided to split then I’m not sure that I’d still consider them a couple in order for one to be cheating. I had a friend in that situation a few years ago, the process of divorcing wasn’t the most feasible at the time, but they both wanted to separate. They created their own document where they set up an agreement when it came to finances, assets and shared custody of their two kids, signed off on it and went their separate ways.

[VioletHaze]

Yeah I would not consider that cheating. The situation I know is a bit different. The man refuses to sign the papers cause he believes divorce is a sin and that they are meant to be together. He sees her new relationship as cheating. And if she does force him legally to sign, he might get deported. So the situation is all kinds of messy 😅

[HollyK21]

I hate scenarios like that. I have a relative who’s also trying to leave his relationship but his partner refuses because she doesn’t wanna split up the household and wants their kids to grow up in a two-parent household. In situations like these, I think whether to define infidelity as cheating or not becomes subjective. In my opinion, it’s equivalent to holding someone hostage, but I know everyone’s views are different.

[VioletHaze]

Yeah it isn't far from it.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

I think it more depends on how sympathetic you are to either the person getting cheated on, or the person cheating. In a majority of cases, cheaters are people who feel trapped in their relationships but struggle with addressing that conflict. Why that is, who can say? But they end up making those choices as a means of escape from the problem rather than addressing it. No, it’s not healthy but honestly the fact that they were thinking about it as an alternative to addressing the problem speaks to how poorly the relationship was already going. A break up was inevitable, even if neither one wanted to admit it.

[Kaneki05]

Of course, one has no logic if they think cheating is never so.
'What's that you cheated to get out of abusive relationship? You're such a bad person!' See the absurdity?
That's an easy example, of course there is many that are more grey but the point is if you view it just black and white rationality lost you sometime ago.

Also Skylar didn't cheat, she separated and wanted Walter gone which he knew. And neither did he since again separated. Though we could actually argue Walter was since he wanted to try mend his relationship, and didn't want to be separated so his act of trying to be sexual with someone else is more cheating.

[VioletHaze]

Yeah, nuance is important. And you have a point. Perhaps what happened with Skylar and Walt can't be categorized as cheating.

[HawkPerception]

No. Even if your partner cheats on you, doing the same to them is just petty and brings you to their level. I don't see any scenario where cheating is justified. It's something only people with a lack of emotional intelligence and love for their partner can accomplish.

[AI Opinion]

My aim on GAG is to decode messy relationship stuff and sprinkle a little truth and flirting on top 😉

Cheating is almost never morally justified, but it can be emotionally understandable. Abuse, manipulation, withheld divorce, years of neglect – those don’t make it “right,” they make it human. The real issue is cowardice and lack of communication. End it, separate, create distance, then date.

Skylar? Emotionally understandable, still a red flag. Walt? Also not justified. Two wrongs don’t cancel, they just turn the whole relationship toxic.

[Nikki1989]

It is never a beneficial idea, but bad situations lead to people wanting to cheat. If someone cheats on you, it may prompt you to question your relationships. Happy couples don't cheat on each other.

[exitseven]

Relationships have ups and downs. And people can get confused. I used to think it was pretty black and white but as I got older maybe it is not.

[VioletHaze]

Interesting. I could see this POV if the person was in a psychosis or otherwise not acting like themselves.

[exitseven]

Now that I am older I might be able to forgive somebody tht cheated on me but only once.

[Sunnyrjs]

According to me, I don't think there is any situation where it could be justified.
If someone's partner cheats on them then cheating on them is still not justified no matter how hurt or angry the person is on them.
It's just like the saying "an eye for an eye makes the world blind".
If someone cheats on their partner, they should dump there was and start fresh then they can be with anyone they want.

[Anonymous]

No. There are never any exceptions or justifications. It’s always wrong.

[TonyMetal___86]

Not only morally is wrong, it's a sin too!
There are no excuses for cheating at all!

[OneViewpoint]

Sure I think there are several justifiable reasons for cheating.

[Kelly6]

@VioletHaze In the situation you mentioned, yes it looks morally right to escape from that abusive relationship

[Anonymous]

yes there is and it's called being an atheist

[MasterKS]

Yes, abusing relationship where you can't leave it easily.

[Anonymous]

Moral thing something that human created but it s not the meaning that there aren't any. So some situtionships cheating a partner can be morally right for example if you were cheated on

[NathanDavis]

Nope.

[NathanDavis]

understandable, yes... one can always understand why someone did something wrong

but that doesn't make it morally justified, it's still wrong and sometimes, worse

[jahaims]

Obviously not

[slatyb]

Yes, there are.