Are You Doing Something Suspicious in Your Relationship?

Summary

A Superdrug Online Doctor survey reveals common suspicious behaviors in relationships that may indicate infidelity, along with the methods people use to confirm their suspicions.

Abstract

The survey conducted by Superdrug Online Doctor, involving 1,000 people from the United States and Europe, identified behaviors that are likely to arouse suspicion in relationships, such as finding nude photos on a partner's phone or a partner frequently leaving the room to text. The study found that 93.5% of respondents noticed at least one suspicious behavior in past or current relationships, leading them to take actions like checking their partner's phone or social media. Despite these efforts, the effectiveness of these methods was mixed, with following a partner secretly being particularly ineffective and potentially harmful. The research highlights the prevalence of relationship paranoia and the lengths to which people will go to either confirm or dispel their doubts about their partner's loyalty.

Opinions

The survey suggests that certain behaviors, such as a partner not allowing others to use their phone or changing their passcode, are considered highly suspicious.
People are likely to engage in covert activities, like reading a partner's text messages or checking their browser history, to find evidence of cheating.
Researchers caution against extreme measures like following a partner, as it can be invasive and is often unfounded, with a high rate of incorrect suspicions.
The high percentage of respondents who noticed suspicious behaviors indicates a widespread concern about trust and fidelity in relationships.
Despite the effort put into investigating a partner's suspected infidelity, many of these methods do not yield conclusive evidence and can lead to emotional distress and relationship strain.

Relationship paranoia is deceitful above all things

While you may think you’re acting normal, your partner may be sleeping with one eye open trying to catch you doing something deceitful. To find out what behaviors are most likely to get people’s hackles up and make them suspicious of their partner, Superdrug Online Doctor conducted a survey of 1,000 people in the United States and Europe. The behaviors most likely to be considered highly suspicious by respondents were:

Finding nude photos of partner on their phone (62 percent)

Partner not allowing anyone to use their phone (40 percent)

Partner leaving the room when they text someone (31 percent)

Partner changing their phone’s passcode (30 percent)

Partner accusing them of cheating (23 percent)

Partner having less sex with them (21 percent)

Partner strongly condemning cheating (13 percent)

Partner spending more time with their friends (11 percent)

Partner granting full access to their phone (11 percent)

Partner having mood swings (9 percent)

“In less serious circumstances, it’s still a red flag that something in the relationship is wrong, even if there is a genuine cause for concern in the mind of the suspicious person.”

Of the people surveyed, 93.5 percent revealed that they noticed at least one of these suspicious behaviors in a past or current relationship. And when they did see these signs of deception, they did what any good sleuth would do — they sprang into action to get evidence. The following are the most common strategies they used to collect that proof.

Glancing at partner’s phone while they’re texting (61.7 percent)

Reading partner’s text messages (48 percent)

Following partner’s social media activity (48 percent)

Looking through partner’s browser history (40.5 percent)

Asking mutual friends about partner’s activities (22.5 percent)

Following partner secretly (10.1 percent)

That’s a lot of work to find proof of cheating, but did these techniques yield any useful information? This is what respondents said about the effectiveness of their subterfuge methods of choice:

Glancing at partner’s phone while they’re texting (19.7 percent)

Reading partner’s text messages (39.5 percent)

Following partner’s social media activity (25.1 percent)

Looking through partner’s browser history (32.2 percent)

Asking mutual friends about partner’s activities (38.2 percent)

Following partner secretly (54.9 percent)

Although it may seem like trailing your partner is a good idea if you suspect cheating, researchers warn that it’s ultimately not worth the time and effort.

“This might sound like a relatively high success rate, but putting it in context — people who followed their partners were wrong almost half the time — paints quite a depressing picture. Millions of men and women have been and are followed by their partners, despite there being no clear reason to doubt their faithfulness,” Superdrug Online Doctor explained in a blog post about this research. “Quite aside from its success rate at uncovering evidence, following one’s partner represents a commitment to investigating their loyalty that goes far beyond a casual and natural suspicion. Repeatedly following a partner, especially if it induces fear, is considered stalking and can have significant emotional effects. In less serious circumstances, it’s still a red flag that something in the relationship is wrong, even if there is a genuine cause for concern in the mind of the suspicious person.”

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