Exploring Women’s Lived Experiences of Emotional Infidelity in Digital Interactions

Abstract

This study aimed to explore women’s lived experiences of spousal emotional infidelity in digital interactions and its psychological consequences. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used. The participants included 15 married women living in Tehran who had experienced their spouse’s emotional infidelity in online environments and were selected through purposeful sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The findings showed that digital emotional infidelity was associated with the collapse of emotional security, persistent preoccupation with virtual spaces, feelings of comparison and inadequacy, enduring distrust, and attempts to rebuild the relationship. The results indicated that hidden digital interactions, even without physical involvement, can cause profound emotional harm and weaken marital relationship quality. Therefore, couple therapists should pay special attention to digital relational boundaries and trust reconstruction in damaged relationships.