Exploring Women’s Lived Experiences of Husbands’ Cyber Infidelity
Keywords:
cyber infidelity, online infidelity, lived experience, women, marital relationship, qualitative research, phenomenologyAbstract
This study aimed to explore women’s lived experiences of husbands’ cyber infidelity and to understand its emotional, cognitive, relational, and identity-related consequences within marital life. This qualitative study was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological approach. The research population consisted of married women living in Tehran who had experienced the discovery or disclosure of their husbands’ cyber infidelity. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. A total of 18 women participated in the study. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Each interview lasted between 45 and 85 minutes and was audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and prepared for qualitative analysis with participants’ consent. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis supported by NVivo software. To enhance trustworthiness, member checking, peer debriefing, analytic memoing, and an audit trail were used. Data analysis led to the extraction of five main categories: sudden collapse of trust and the shock of betrayal, ambiguity around the boundaries and reality of cyber infidelity, erosion of self-worth and gendered shame, emergence of a cycle of digital monitoring, anxiety, and interrogation, and redefinition of relational boundaries with decisions between reconstruction, suspension, or separation. Women did not perceive cyber infidelity as merely virtual behavior; rather, they experienced it as a violation of commitment, secrecy, displaced intimacy, and a threat to marital identity. The findings indicated that cyber infidelity is a multidimensional experience for women that extends beyond discovering messages or online interactions. It produces crises of trust, attachment insecurity, reappraisal of self-worth, and renegotiation of marital boundaries. Couple therapy interventions in this area should focus not only on stopping harmful online behaviors but also on rebuilding trust, clarifying digital boundaries, processing betrayal-related emotions, and restoring relational security.
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