It is common to see infidelity in drama and movies. In reality, infidelity is more common than you think. According to an article in Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, more than 50% of men and women admitted that they committed infidelity in any relationship they ever had. In this sense, we are more susceptible to infidelity than we think. There are various factors contributing to the likelihood of a person committing infidelity. One of the factors is whether the person has personality disorders or some traits of personality disorders. In fact, people with some personality disorders have higher potential for committing infidelity.
For those who have Borderline Personality Disorder, their self-image is unstable and they have poor impulse control. Due to their unstable sense of self, they tend to engage in behaviors to avoid being abandoned. They also tend to see things in dichotomous terms, that is, they tend to idealise or devalue a person in relationships. People with Borderline Personality Disorder may commit infidelity because of poor impulse control. They may have an affair out of anger towards their partners. They also may engage in infidelity due to their wish to avoid abandonment.
People with Narcissitic Personality Disorder have constant feelings of grandiosity and needs for admiration. They also do not have adequate empathy towards others. Due to their sense of self-importance, they have a high sense of entitlement. In fact, they are exploitative and tend to take advantage of others in order to achieve their goals. For them, they may commit infidelity due to their constant needs for admiration by others other than their partner. They believe that they are so special so that they deserve being in relationships with many people at the same time. Their lack of empathy also contributes to their inability to understand their partner’s hurtful feelings towards their infidelity.
As a person with Antisocial Personality Disorder, he or she tends to disregard the rights of others and frequently violating others’ rights. One also often fails to act according to the social norms and rules. In fact, he or she is always deceitful in order to achieve personal goals. Without much empathy and being impulsive, he or she frequently acts recklessly regardless the pain one may cause to others. With these traits, a person with Antisocial Personality Disorder may commit infidelity because of his or her impulse to act against social norms. He or she may also have an affair simply because of wanting to hurt one’s partner for seeking pleasure.
Of course, not all people committed infidelity have personality disorders. There are many other factors contributing to whether a person would commit infidelity. If one’s partner frequent commit infidelity without remorse, one may consider to explore whether the partner has some triats of personality disorders.
