10 Behaviors That Are Way More Damaging To A Relationship Than Cheating On Your Partner

If you were asked to name a few things that could quickly destroy a relationship, I’m sure you’d put cheating on the top of the list.

Cheating is often regarded as the worst thing in the dating world. You can overlook the forgotten anniversary, few broken promises, or maybe even the fact that you caught your significant other flirting with another guy or woman, but when it comes to cheating, most people consider it unforgivable and a good enough reason to walk away.

But is cheating really the worst thing?

Well, there are many other things that have the potential to break even the strongest of bonds. These things are usually overlooked at the beginning because they seem small and indiscernible, but they slowly rot the relationship. And this is what makes them so dangerous and harmful.

In what follows there is a list of 10 behaviors that are way worse than cheating and that have the potential to wreck your relationship:

1. Being fake.

You told your partner you like going out to clubs and restaurants when you actually hate such places. Or you pretended that you hate horror movies when you actually adore them. Or you even told your partner that you are not looking for anything serious when that’s actually all you’re thinking about.

You need to bear in mind that presenting a false version of yourself just to impress your partner or show them  that you have many things in common will never do you any good. In fact, it will only make the relationship quickly go downhill when your significant other realizes that you’re not the person he/she thought you were.

Therefore, it’s always better to be yourself with your partner and show them both your good and bad sides. Let them know all your bad habits, insecurities, and whims. If they truly love you, they’ll accept and cherish you for who you are.

2. Not showing your partner affection.

No matter what affection means to you – whether it’s being touchy-feely, having deep conversations about things that are close to your heart, taking care of your partner’s needs, or helping each other through problems and difficulties, treating your significant other with affection is a must.

The absence of it can cause doubts and issues within the relationship that have the potential to ruin it completely.

3. Lying to your partner.

Of course, occasionally telling white lies won’t doom your relationship for sure. However, if this turns into your habit, it undoubtedly will. Keeping little things from your partner because you’re just trying to protect their feelings can turn into a big issue and break their trust in you. And I believe we can all agree that once a couple starts having trust issues, this inevitably ruins even the strongest of relationships.

To prevent this, you should be able to talk to your partner about everything and always be honest with them. You should always tell them the truth no matter how harsh or painful it may be. And, of course, you should never allow yourself to put yourself into a position where you’d have to lie to them.

4. Being jealous.

Maybe you like it when your significant other shows they’re jealous because you see this as a sign that they love you and are protective of you, but be careful because frequent, excessive, unreasonable jealousy can quickly turn into possessiveness.

In fact, this kind of jealousy is worse than discovering your partner is having an affair since the suspicion alone can destroy everything you’ve built with so much love and effort so far.

5. Being stubborn.

You and your partner have most probably different backgrounds, beliefs, and values in life. So, undeniably, your attitudes towards life will differ as well. Therefore, if you want to make your relationship run smoothly, both of you need to be willing to compromise on a lot of things.

Compromise is an inseparable part of every healthy, meaningful, and successful relationship. However, if you hold on to the ‘my way or the highway’ attitude,  know that this can cause issues in the relationship that are beyond repair.

6. Bickering about banal things.

Of course, always arguing about whose turn it is to go grocery shopping doesn’t seem like something you should be worried about now, but that’s the kind of thing that turns into a great problem over time or even leads to bigger arguments later in the relationship.

You and your partner most probably play different, specific roles in the relationship, and that’s totally fine. However, this doesn’t mean you should always do only your share of work and expect your partner to do only theirs, be that chores or any other everyday, mundane things.

Swapping your responsibilities and helping each other from time to time will definitely not hurt your ego. It’ll only make you appreciate each other more.

7. Manipulating your partner.

Regardless of whether you are the one who is being manipulated or the one who is manipulating the other person, manipulation can often be so tricky that by the time you realize it exists in your relationship, the damage is already done.

Whether you’re giving your partner the silent treatment, guilt-tripping them, lying to them, or emotionally blackmailing them – it doesn’t matter because all these are different forms of manipulation that have no place in a healthy, harmonious, and lasting relationship.

8. Treating your partner with condescension.

Do you consider yourself smarter and better than your significant other? Do you think they’re gullible and ignorant? Well, if you answered both questions with a yes, know that you’re condescending to your partner.

Trying to make yourself smarter and more powerful than  your partner by treating them as your inferior and looking down upon them creates a power imbalance which has absolutely no place in a healthy, meaningful, successful relationship.

Treating your partner with condescension is way worse than cheating because it destroys their self-esteem.  And even if the relationship ends, they still have self-esteem issues.

9. Quietly resenting your partner.

Resentment festers underneath the skin as no other problem does. It usually begins slowly and by the time you express it, the damage is already done. Therefore, you should always tell your partner everything you feel about them.

If they have some habit that really irritates you or makes you feel uncomfortable or if they said or did something that hurt your feelings, don’t keep that inside of you. Instead, put everything out in the open and work together with your partner to fix it and reach a reasonable solution to it.

10. Staying together out of convenience.

When it’s clear that your relationship isn’t working and when you’ve done everything you could to save it, but failed to do so, it’s always better to walk out of it while you still have the chance to break up on good terms than stay in it just because it’s convenient and let things get worse.

It’s always better to break up than stay together with your partner because your families have high expectations of your relationship or because you’ve always hoped that your relationship will last forever.

Staying together out of convenience will only create bitter resentment and lead to more arguments and an inevitable heartbreak.