Marriage is an institution where two people come together for life. It involves making promises to be faithful, honest, loyal, and supportive towards each other.
Some couples may find themselves attracted to someone outside their marriage. This can create feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal that often lead them to keep these feelings secret from their spouses. But what are the consequences of keeping such secrets?
Secrecy about emotional or sexual attraction can damage trust in a marriage because it creates an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. When one partner hides their true feelings, they make the other feel insecure and unimportant. They may wonder why their partner needs to hide something from them and question whether there are other things being hidden too. This can cause tension and resentment, leading to further secrecy and deceit. In addition, the person who feels rejected due to this secrecy may begin to withdraw emotionally, which can strain the relationship even more.
Secrecy about attraction to others can also undermine intimacy between partners. Intimacy requires openness and honesty, which are impossible when one partner keeps important information hidden.
If one partner has been flirting with another person or having an affair, they will likely struggle to share their thoughts and feelings freely with their partner, leading to distance and distance over time.
Secrecy breeds distrust and prevents couples from connecting on an emotional level.
Secrecy about attraction to others can also hurt children in marriages with kids. Children need stable, loving relationships with both parents to thrive emotionally and mentally. When parents are hiding something significant from each other, it makes it harder for them to work together as a team for their family's well-being. It can lead to conflict and arguments that kids witness, affecting their sense of security and stability at home.
Keeping secret attraction towards someone else harms trust in committed marriages because it creates mistrust, damages intimacy, and hurts children. Couples should be honest and transparent with each other so that they can work through any issues that arise and strengthen their bond instead of hiding behind lies and deception.
How does secrecy about emotional or sexual attraction to others undermine trust in otherwise committed marriages?
The secrecy about one's emotional or sexual attraction to others is likely to be detrimental to the trust level between partners in an already committed marriage as it creates confusion and mistrust in the mind of each other partner.